Our Wedding: Ceremony Part II

{© Epic Image Photography}

Big Spoon and I chose to write our own ceremony and vows. We wrote the ceremony together after extensive research on my part and we wrote our vows separately. We chose not to share them before we said them. Our ceremony was a fusion of traditional "I do's" and ring exchange as well as modern gathering words and closing.

{© Epic Image Photography}

It was short and sweet. We used no unity candles or sand ceremonies or hand fastings, but we did sign an unofficial marriage certificate during the ceremony to a snippet from Train's "Marry Me."

We had both a celebrant and an officiant because neither of us wanted a religious official. We asked my younger sister's father-in-law to officiate. He happens to be a county clerk and we're so thankful he agreed to be there. Our celebrant Ryan is a dear friend of ours. He read the personalized text of our ceremony and Mr. Lee read the official text.

I haven't asked Big Spoon how he feels about sharing our vows on the blog, but I would like to share our ceremony text in hopes that it inspires other couples who may be writing their own ceremony.

Gathering Words

Little Spoon and Big Spoon have brought us together here
for an occasion of great joy and cause for celebration.
Having found each other, they have built the kind of relationship
that will serve them well as the foundation for their marriage.


Each of us knows that a marriage is not created by a law or a ceremony;
rather it occurs in the hearts of two human beings.
It grows out of loving, caring, and sharing ourselves with another.
And so it is that Little Spoon and Big Spoon have connected their hearts,
One to the other, drawing upon the depths of their being,
Into the deep well of human need – the need to live united, loving, and complete.


So, in witnessing this ceremony today,
we are observing only an outward sign of an inward union
that already exists between Little Spoon and Big Spoon.
Today, they have come before us to publicly affirm their love;
to promise to nurture themselves, each other and this union;
and to acknowledge its centrality in their lives.
They do so knowing that marriage is at once the most tender,
yet challenging of all relations in life.


Personal Vows


Little Spoon and Big Spoon have written vows to one another that they would like to share at this time.

{© Epic Image Photography}

Legal Vows

Do you, Little Spoon, come here freely, willingly and not under duress and is it your desire and intent to enter into a legally binding marriage? (bride replies: yes *except I screwed up and said I do)


Do you, Big Spoon, come here freely, willingly and not under duress and is it your desire and intent to enter into a legally binding marriage? (groom replies: yes)


Little Spoon, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish, from this day forward? 

Bride: “I do”


Big Spoon, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish, from this day forward?


Groom: “I do”

Ring Ceremony

Just as we bear witness to a written covenant with our signature, so, too,
do we exchange wedding rings to seal the vow of marriage.
Wedding rings are an enduring symbol that remind us of the pledges
we have made to each other and of our responsibility to honor each other
by honoring our promises.

Repeat after me:


I, Big Spoon, take you, Little Spoon, as my wife. I promise to be your loyal husband from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as I shall live.


I, Little Spoon, take you, Big Spoon, as my husband. I promise to be your loyal wife from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as I shall live.

{© Epic Image Photography}

Signing of Marriage Certificate

Closing Words

Little Spoon and Big Spoon, look at one another and remember this moment.
Before this moment you have been many things to one another -
acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, confidant, even teacher.
Today, you have exchanged vows that will take you across a threshold of life,
and things between you will never quite be the same.
For after today, you shall say to the world: This is my husband. This is my wife.

Pronouncement

By the power vested in me as county clerk and according to the laws of the State of Tennessee and Pickett County from upon the vows you have taken in the presence of witnesses, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.

{© Epic Image Photography}

I happily present to you Dr. and Mrs. Spoon.

{© Epic Image Photography}