The Wedding Ceremony
for
Amber Reifert
&
Michael Tresca
November 13, 1999

Friends, we are gathered here at a time of happiness to help celebrate the love of Michael and Amber, and their commitment in marriage. As each person grows more deeply to love and understand the other, there comes a time to make a firm and continuing commitment, and to welcome family and friends into the celebration of their love.

Marriage is a commitment which the religious institution may bless and the state make legal, but it is first created and maintained in the minds and hearts of the individuals. It is a union created by love, secured by trust, sustained by courage, renewed by hope, and nourished by a strong personal faith.

A wedding is many things. Foremost, it is a rite of passage, an end and a beginning, a fulfillment and a promise. It is one of three watershed events in the life of man, and, in the company of birth and death, the only one that is voluntary, premeditated, undertaken in full consciousness.

You may now kiss!

Marriage is an act of faith and personal commitment, as well as a moral and physical union between parties. It has been described as the best and most important relationship that can exist between two human beings; it is the construction of their love and trust into a single growing energy of spiritual life. It is a moral commitment that requires and deserves daily attention, since no earthly happiness exceeds that of marital satisfaction. Marriage should be a life-long consecration to the ideal of loving kidness, backed with the will to make it last.

The vows that you are about to make are so old as civilization, and as universal as love itself. They serve to reaffirm your spiritual unity and the life's journey you will be sharing.

With a love that will not falter and an abiding faith in each other, you will now make your vows to one another, as weill vow to support you as you begin the weaving of your lives together as husband and wife.

Amber and Michael, as you prepare to enter into the bond of wedlock, answer in the hearing of those assembled.

Michael, do you of your own free will and consent, take Amber to be your wife? And, do you promise to love, honor, and cherish her as long as you both shall live?

Amber, do you of your own free will and consent, take Michael to be your husband? And, do you promise to love, honor, and cherish him as long as you both shall live?

Now Michael, please repeat after me your vows to Amber:

Amber, my friend, I take you to be my wife, lover, playmate, and companion...
in joy and sorrow, the inspiration for my hopes and comfort for my fears
partner of my soul for the dance of life, my one true love, ever growing and evergreen, in perfect harmony and trust, through this lifetime and time beyond measure.

Now Amber, it is your turn:

Michael, my friend, I take you to be my husband, lover, playmate, and companion...
in joy and sorrow, the inspiration for my hopes and comfort for my fears
partner of my soul for the dance of life, my one true love, ever growing and evergreen, in perfect harmony and trust, through this lifetime and time beyond measure.

Michael has chosen to write his own vows for this occasion:

When we first met, it was in a virtual castle, in a fantasy land.
Since then, it's been a long journey:
We've journeyed across a thousand miles,
moved over five times,
across a period of four years
and during that time earned three degrees,
and survived two hospital visits.
All this, just to reach, "...and they lived happily ever after."

Someone once said, "There are no happy endings, because nothing ever ends,"
but I think we're just beginning a new chapter of our lives.
We turned our dreams into a reality.
The castle is real.
The knights are real.
And now everyone can see you as I see you.

As my Queen. I love you.

Amber has chosen the words of Elizabeth Barret Browning for this occasion:

If thou must love me, let it be for naught
Except for loves sake only. Do not say
"I love her for her smile - her look - her way
Of speaking gently, -- for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day." --
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee -- and love, so wrought
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry, --
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose they love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.

What token of devotion do you offer your beloved? The rings¹ please.

Michael and Amber have exchanged vows before us. But words are fleeting, and their sound is soon gone. Therefore, the wedding rings have become enduring symbols of the promises Michael and Amber have made to one another here today.

Michael, place this ring on the finger of your bride as a token of wedlock and repeat after me:

I give you this ring as the pledge of my love and as the symbol of our unity.

Amber, place this ring on the finger of your groom as a token of wedlock and repeat after me:

I give you this ring as the pledge of my love and as the symbol of our unity.

May these rings be blessed as the symbol of this affectionate unity. Your two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle. Wherever you go, may you always return to one another in your togetherness. May you two find in each other the love for which all men and women yearn. May you grow in understanding and in compassion. May the home which you established together be a place of sanctuary where many will find there a friend. May these rings, on your fingers, symbolize the touch of spirit of live in your hearts. Amen.

Let us rejoice with you Amber and Michael, in your meeting of life with love. In your loving of each other, may you grow to experience the love of humankind.

Through your trusting of each other, may you grow to trust life, and not be afraid. May your dwelling place be a haven of peace, a home where childhood may be wisely nurtured, a place of faith, of hospitality, and of happiness.

May you find comfort in your hours of shadows, and may your days in the light be many.

To the commitment each of you began to make for each other in time past, have publicly affirmed here today, and will strengthen and remake in days and years to come, may you bring strength and grace, growing in fullness of vision and compassion through the days of many years.

Let is be that all of us here, and beyond this place, who follow your lives with interest and affection, will have cause often to rejoice, not only in your happiness, but in your brave and generous living.

We who are gathered here wish for you a good marriage. We pray that you may find together a richness beyond the wealth of money -- a depth of soul that will mke beautiful everything you do in life, separately, and together.

With joy in our hearts, we send you off with our deepest blessings. Let all others honor you and the threshold of your home. May you find here the good beginnings for the spending of many years.

In consideration of the events which we have witnessed, including the exchange of vows, the joining of hands, the giving of rings between Michael and Amber, and their willingness to share a life of faithfulness and love, I declare that they are husband and wife. May their marriage be blessed by God.

You may kiss!

1. It is unknown when wedding rings were first worn. They were probably made of a strong metal, like iron, so that it wouldn't break easily which would have been a very bad omen. The early Egyptians believed that a circle was the symbol of eternity, a sign that life, happiness, and love having no beginning and no end. The ancient Romans believed that the vein in the third finger ran directly to the heart, so wearing the ring on that finger joined the couples' hearts and destiny.