Megan & Talina’s Wedding Ceremony

This sweet-smelling room, decked for love,
now takes you in, away from the splendour.
Faithfully guided, draw now near
to where the blessing of love shall preserve you!
–“Bridal Chorus” From Wagner’s Lohengrin

KAZOOS!!

Welcome on this beautiful day to a celebration of life, friendship, and love. We have come together to celebrate in joy and solemnity the union of these two women.

Megan and Talina, you are already a couple whose lives are deeply connected. You have experienced adventures and journeys together, just as you have weathered the hopes and frustrations of everyday life. You know the future may bring the unexpected, and you know your love is strong enough to manage with integrity all that may come. Today, we are gathered to witness your vows to each other to continue to share hopes, frustrations, journeys and, most importantly, adventure! Please turn towards each other and join hands as a sign of your commitment.

The brides sisters, Khylia and Ana, will share a poem by Pablo Neruda with us.

Love Sonnet XVII

I do not love you as if you were a salt rose, or topaz
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
So I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Megan and Talina, as you celebrate the wonders of life, and face its challenges, think often about what has brought you together today. Remember that even the smallest gesture of generosity will build trust and enable you to manage life’s changes. Remember to live together with joy, and to comfort each other’s sorrows. By uniting your separate lives, and making each other the most important individuals in your new life, you vow to understand and embrace the good, the bad, and the strange in each of you.

Talina and Megan asked that I share with them some thoughts on marriage arising from my marriage with Paul. Paul and I find that simply being kind and polite to each other goes a long way toward making a happy life. There is no chore so small that it doesn’t deserve a “thank you,” no day too busy to forget to say “I love you.” We are, all of us, confident and sometimes headstrong. Remember that we are also fragile. Hold each other close, and also encourage your separate lives and experiences.

Friends and family gathered with us, Megan and Talina wish to express their appreciation to you for being with them today. They have asked you here today because you are their home. You are their walls and their roof and their foundation. In sincere gratitude they make a promise, as a couple, to give freely to you the same loving care and consideration with which you have blessed them over the years. In the future, Megan and Talina may need your support and comfort in times of celebration and in times of hardship. Will you, friends and family, pledge your love and care to Talina and Megan as individuals and as a couple, joined together in marriage, from this day forward? You may say Yes! (YES)

Would whoever has the rings please bring them forward?

These rings, like the circle of loved ones surrounding you, signify your unity in marriage. Made of two distinct metals joined together, their pattern beautiful and unpredictable, they serve as a abiding reminder of the path you have chosen and the love that binds you.

Talina, please take Megan’s ring and repeat after me.
{bride says} Megan, please wear this ring/ as an unending reminder of my affection, respect, and desire for you./ With this ring, I join my life to your life in marriage.
{Carol says} Talina, do you vow to be a trustworthy, loving, warm, and generous life-long partner to the amazing person standing by your side? (YES)

Megan, please take Talina’s ring and repeat after me.
{bride says} Talina, please wear this ring/ as an unending reminder of my affection, respect, and desire for you./ With this ring, I join my life to your life in marriage.
{Carol says} Megan, do you vow to be a trustworthy, loving, warm, and generous life-long partner to the amazing person standing by your side? (YES)

No contract or promise will ever entirely ensure our love will be returned. Still we look for love. Relying on our intuition and intellect, we commit the ultimate act of bravery. Without any real reason to do so, we entrust others with our future happiness. In marrying today, you thus courageously defy all fears. You trust in each other enough to promise to be home for the other from this day onwards.

By virtue of the authority vested in me by all those present, I now pronounce you MARRIED