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so. THe time is 4:55 and I am...well if I were to tell you then you wouldn't be curious what I'm doing, now would you? I love to stretch things out for those of you who can't stand it.

The elements of the wedding script are as follows.

1. Entrance, processional & music

2. Introduction

3. Readings, songs, activities and/or prayers

4. Questions of intent ("Will you have this man/woman?)

5. Readings, songs, activities and/or prayers

6. Wedding Vows ("I promise to love you..." wink

7. Readings, songs, activities and/or prayers

8. Introduction of the couple, recessional and instructions for receiving line.

The Presence of Love,
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
And in Life's noisiest hour,
There whispers still the ceaseless Love of Thee,
The heart's Self-solace and soliloquy.
You mould my Hopes, you fashion me within;
And to the leading Love-throb in the Heart
Thro' all my Being, thro' my pulses beat;
You lie in all my many Thoughts, like Light,
Like the fair light of Dawn, or summer Eve
On rippling Stream, or cloud-reflecting Lake.
And looking to the Heaven, that bends above you,
How oft! I bless the Lot, that made me love you.

#46 and #5, you met in a modern format, growing close to each other through an electronic medium even your parents couldn't have imagined. Yours was a growing but cautious relationship before you ever saw each other in person. It deepened through the written word imprinted on a cathode ray screen. And that relationship grew and developed into a deep and abiding love, a love which brings you here to bind yourselves in marriage.

#46 and #5, you have shared with me that you believe marriage to be a promise to live two lives together, to create for each of the two a life more full and more joyful than either could have alone. We who are with you today share your joy. We wish for you a love that makes both of you better people, a love that continues to give you joy and zest for living, and a love that provides for you the energy to face the responsibilities of life together.

We wish for you a home not simply a place of stone and wood, but an island of sanity and serenity. We hope that this home is both a place of private joy and retreat and a temple wherein the values of your lives are generated and upheld. We hope that your home stands as a symbol of human beings living together in love and in peace.

Are you ready to make the promises by which you commit yourselves to each other in love? If so, answer, "We are."

(Bride and groom so respond)

(#1 says to #46 then #5)

Do you, #46, take #5, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love, respect, trust, and remain faithful to, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?

If so, please say, "I do."

(Bride so responds)

Do you, #5, take #46, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, respect, trust, and remain faithful to, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live? If so, please say, "I do."

(Groom so responds)

(#1 to those assembled)

Will all of you here gathered who have witnessed these promises help #5 and #46 to cherish and protect each other and to stand faithfully by them through the sorrows and joys of their lives? If so, respond by saying, "We will." (nuh uh.)

(Crowd so responds)

VOWS (bride hands flowers to bridesmaid)

#46 and #5, please face each other and hold hands for the exchange of vows.

#5, please repeat after me:

I, #5, take you #46, to be my wife. I will share with you everything I have, and everything I am, my heart and soul, my mind and body, and my joys and sorrows. I will love, respect, trust, and care for you, remaining faithful to you as long as we both shall live.

(Groom so repeats)

#46, please repeat after me:

I, #46, take you #5, to be my husband. I will share with you everything I have, and everything I am, my heart and soul, my mind and body, and my joys and sorrows. I will love, respect, trust, and care for you, remaining faithful to you as long as we both shall live.

(Bride so repeats)

EXCHANGE OF RINGS

From the earliest of times, the circle has been a symbol of completeness, a symbol of committed love. An unbroken and never ending circles symbolizes a commitment of love that is also never ending. As often as either of you looks at this symbol, I hope that you will be reminded of the commitment to love each other, which you have made today.

(Best man holds rings in his hand; #1 lays her hand over them.)

Let us bless these rings. Let them be the visible signs of the vows here made, that they who give them and who wear them may ever be reminded of their promises, evermore living and growing in the spirit of Love. You may now exchange rings.

(Best man hands bride's ring to groom)

#46, this ring is a symbol of my love and respect for you, my trust in you, and my faithfulness to you. Its shape, a circle, symbolizes that these will never end. The gold it is made of symbolizes the value we place on them. The hole it forms symbolizes the emptiness of my life without you. Fill it, then, with your hand in marriage, and make me whole.

(Best Man hands groom's ring to bride)

#5, this ring will be a reminder to you that I will love, trust, respect, and remain faithful to you forever. It will be a symbol to the world of our commitment to each other.

UNITY CANDLE

When two people marry, they unite their lives and their spirits, yet they do not give up their individuality. The candles you see before you represent two independent lives, formed early in the homes represented by the parents lighting the candles. #46 and #5 will light the third candle to signify the unity they find in their love for each other.

(Pause in silence. Parents move into gazebo. #789553 lights taper held by #789554 who lights right hand side votive (#789553 touches his hand as he lights). He passes the flame to the taper held by Mr. Nasjleti who lights the left hand votive (Mrs. N. touches his hand as he lights). #46 and 5 use the first two tapers which they light from the votives to light the middle candle.)

BLESSING (#1)

#46 and #5, may the warmth of your love melt the snows of all your barriers, and may you truly be united as one, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Your parents, your families, and your friends now recognize your commitment. Let us pray.

Most holy God, mother and father of all creation, may your blessings continue for #5 and #46. May you encourage and help each of them to develop into a more complete person, by becoming a more united couple. May the spirit of life grant them patience to mend their differences and wisdom and guidance in all their decisions. May they find grace in times of disappointment and peace that comforts them all the days of their lives.

DECLARATION

You have consented together in marriage, declaring your love for and commitment to each other. By the authority vested in me by the laws of this state and by the power of your own love, I now declare #46 and #5, henceforth, wife and husband. Go forward from this moment as partners in life, giving and sharing in all that you do with the love that you hold for each other.

CLOSING WORDS

Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will be a shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
for each of you will be warmth to the other.

Now there is no loneliness for you;
now there is no more loneliness.

Now you are two bodies,
but there is only one life before you.

Go now to your dwelling place,
to enter into your days together.

And may your days be good
and long on the earth.

(Apache song, translator unknown)

PRONOUNCEMENT/BREAKING THE GLASS

The breaking of glass in the Jewish tradition is often a joyous conclusion to a joyous occasion such as a wedding ceremony. The shattering of the glass reminds us that even in the presence of today's joys we remember the splintering sadness of the past. But today, today, we shatter the glass so that all our happiness may break out as we celebrate this new union. It gives me great pleasure to present to you who are gathered here today #5 and #46, husband and wife.

(Silence while Best Man places "glass" on ground between them as they face the congregation.)

(Bride and groom break glass together.)

(Bride and groom embrace as Chossn Kalah Mazel Tov is played.)

RECESSIONAL

Bride and Groom together, the two attendants, parents, then #1.

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Now wasn't that inspiring?
-not exactly-