The Traditional Wedding Ceremony

Traditional Vows - Secular and Religious*

* Religious vows are in parentheses, and are excluded from the Secular Ceremony.

GREETING

Dearly Beloved: We are gathered here today (in the sight of God, and) before these witnesses, to bring together this man and woman in the bonds of (holy) matrimony, which is an honorable state among all people. If anyone here can show just cause why these two people may not be lawfully joined together, let them speak now--or forever hold their peace.

Please join hands...

DECLARATION OF INTENT

To the Groom: __________________, do you before (God and) these witnesses, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, and do you promise from this day forward to be her faithful and devoted husband, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?

Groom Answer: I do.

To the Bride: _________________, do you before (God and) these witnesses, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, and do you promise from this day forward to be his faithful and devoted wife, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?

Bride Answer: I do.

EXCHANGE OF RINGS AND VOWS

Place the ring on her finger and then repeat after me:

I, ___________, (in the sight of God), take you, ___________, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, forsaking all others, for as long as we both shall live. With this ring, I thee wed...

Place the ring on his finger and then repeat after me:

I, ___________, (in the sight of God), take you, ___________, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, forsaking all others, for as long as we both shall live. With this ring, I thee wed...

PRONOUNCEMENT

This man and woman have promised to take each other as husband and wife, and to live together in a loving and faithful marriage. They have given each other these rings as a symbol of their love and faithfulness, and they now enter into the (holy) state of matrimony. (That which God has joined together, let no man put asunder.) By the power vested in me through (The Universal Life Church, and by) the Commonwealth of Kentucky, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife.

You may kiss the Bride.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs.______________.


Copyright 2011 LouisvilleMetroWeddings.com
All Rights Reserved