You have come here today, Keith and Danielle, because
you believe that by being together your lives will be better and more
productive than they would be apart.
In marriage a new perspective is created by the joining
of male and female views of life and the world. Through this partnership,
each partner becomes stronger, each becomes wiser, each becomes more loving.
But marriage is a garden which needs to be tended every
day: the benefits we receive through marriage are not free. If we don't make
time to tell our partner how much we value what we have together, we will
begin to take each other for granted and lose the very special quality that
we originally united to enjoy.
The importance of marriage to humans is so great, that
it is the oldest rite or ritual of any kind recorded in history; its scope
so great that it is virtually the only custom recognized by every human
government and religion. It is into this dynamic and wonderful state of
partnership that you two come, today, to be joined.
In honor of the solemn pledge you are about to make,
and symbolizing its unbroken perpetuity, please join right hands.
Keith, do you take Danielle to be your lawfully wedded
wife; to have and to hold from this day forward, for richer for poorer, in
prosperity or adversity, to love and to cherish, so long as you both may
live? I Do
Danielle, do you take Keith to be your lawfully wedded
husband; to have and to hold from this day forward, for richer for poorer,
in prosperity or adversity, to love and to cherish, so long as you both may
live? I Do
A READING FROM THE PROPHET by Kahlil Gibran ON MARRIAGE
You were born together, and together you shall be
forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter
your days. Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But
let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens
dance between you. Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it
rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's
cup, but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not
from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one
of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone, Though they quiver
with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of life can contain your hearts. And stand together yet
not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the
oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
May I have the rings please, and join all your hands
together.
Throughout human tradition, when you make a pledge, it
has been deemed good to have a token to remind you of that pledge. For this
purpose you have chosen rings. They are appropriate to the task because they
are circles never ending, like the promises you make to each other today.
And they are made of precious metal, never to be tarnished, like the love
you express before myself and these witnesses. Please place these rings, and
honor each other in their giving.
Repeat after me: I Keith, take you Danielle to be my
wife. I promise you love, honor and respect; to be faithful to you, and not
to forsake you, until death us do part.
Repeat after me: I Danielle, take you Keith to be my
husband. I promise you love, honor and respect; to be faithful to you, and
not to forsake you, until death us do part.
From this day forward, may you live together in peace;
may you grow each day in understanding and compassion. When you are apart,
may you return to one another in togetherness. May the home you establish be
a place of sanctuary, where many will find a friend. And what we have joined
together, let no one put asunder.
Because you two came here today intending to marry.
Because you joined hands and made solemn vows, and exchanged rings to remind
you of those vows, and you are now joined as partners in mutual love and
respect: according to the powers vested in me by the Territorial Court of
the United States Virgin Islands, and the highest power of the land and the
sea; I pronounce that your wedding vows are sealed and you may henceforth be
known to all as husband and wife.
