Standard Wedding Vows

INTRODUCTION – OFFICIANT (to congregation):

Welcome, everyone. Friends and family who have traveled to be with ______________________________and___________________________ today: we thank you for being here to share this special day. You may be seated. 

INVOCATION – OFFICIANT (to congregation)

________________________________and____________________________________, love is the force that brings us all here today. In fact, love is the force behind much of what we do every day. Whether making a meal for our family, taking time to teach our children, or lending a listening ear to a friend—even in the mundane, commonplace routines, love is always the reason. 

We are all here to support ____________________________and ___________________________________ on their first day as husband/wife/partner and husband/wife/partner. As you go into married life, remember the reason: the reason you get up each morning, get ready, do your best in the world, and look forward to coming home. Remember the reason you sacrifice, the reason you give, and the reason you laugh. 

The reason you are legally becoming a family.  ____________________________, let __________________________ represent love. And________________________________, let__________________________________ represent love. This mutual love stays strong as long as you both invest in and cherish it. This love is alive: it is active, dynamic, and powerful. Cling to it during good times and bad. All marriages have ups and downs—if you will make a habit of returning to your “reason,” you will find the strength to choose each other in every moment, in every place, and at all times. 

A strong and lasting marriage is built on love, trust, and respect. 

OFFICIANT (to couple):
To truly love, you must both enter your life together with vulnerability. To truly trust, you must, in good faith, allow for freedom and autonomy. To truly respect, you must consciously treat your partner with reverence.    ________________________ and ___________________________________, cherish one another. Never stop doing the small things that convey respect and trust. Hold doors, write notes, listen and strive to understand. Let kindness and tenderness be the rule, not the exception. Remember that you’re both on the same team. Together you will fight demons, defeat enemies, build a life, and forge a bond that is greater than the sum of its parts.

DECLARATION OF INTENT – OFFICIANT

 (to ________________________):Now, __________________________________, do you, of your own free will, take ___________________________________________, as your lawful, wedded husband/wife/partner, to love, protect, and defend—as long as you both shall live? _________________:I do. 

OFFICIANT (to __________________________________):
Now, _________________________________________, do you, of your own free will, take __________________________________________ as your lawful, wedded  husband/wife/partner, to love, protect, and defend—as long as you both shall live? ___________________: I do. 

VOW/RING EXCHANGE – OFFICIANT (to ___________________________________________________):
Do you ____________________________________, vow to place _____________________________________________ above all others, before all others, and stand true and unmovable in your support for him/her/them through good times and bad?

____________________________________: I will. 

OFFICIANT (to ___________________________________):
Do you, ________________________________________, vow to place _________________________________ above all others, before all others, and stand true and unmovable in support for him/her/them through good times and bad? ________________________________: I will. 

OFFICIANT (to couple):
You may now exchange rings. 

PRONOUNCEMENT – OFFICIANT (to couple)

With these public promises and vows, and the symbolic exchange of wedding bands, I now pronounce you, by the power vested in me by the Universal Life Church and the state of ________________________________________________, husband/wife/partner and husband/wife/partner

CLOSING STATEMENT – OFFICIANT (to congregation):The audience will please stand and congratulate Mr./Mrs./Mx. and Mr./Mrs./Mx. _______________________________.