Garden Wedding Ceremony Script
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12 Minute Ceremony
Weddings confined to an indoor location are not as typical as many may imagine. In fact, countless couples prefer the beautiful energy offered by the great outdoors. If you enjoy the bounty of nature, a garden wedding may be the perfect fit. Review this sample script and learn everything you need to know about throwing a celebration amidst a lush landscape.
Introduction/Welcome/Wedding Sermon
Officiant (to guests):
Welcome one and all. We gather amidst the splendor offered by nature to bear witness to the joining of _______________ and _______________.
Officiant (to couple):
_______________ and _______________, you have proven that you have a love that is as fertile as the scene we find ourselves in today and as boundless as the skies above. Your friends and family have come together beneath the warm rays of the sun to celebrate your union and the next step you are about to take together.
Reading
Officiant (to guests):
The couple has selected an appropriate reading for an outdoor ceremony that will now be shared.
“Your marriage should have within it,
A secret and protected place, open to you alone.
Imagine it to be a walled garden,
Entered by a door to which only you
Hold the key.
Within this garden you will cease to be
A mother, father, employee, homemaker
Or any other of the roles which you fulfill in daily life.
Here you are yourselves –
Two people who love each other.
Here you can concentrate on one another’s needs.
So take my hand and let us go back to our garden.
The time we spend together is not wasted but invested.
Invested in our future
And the nurture of our love.”
“A Walled Garden,” Anonymous
Declaration of Intent
Officiant (to Partner 1):
I will now ask _______________ and _______________ to take each other’s hands as you declare your intent before all gathered today. Do you, ___________, take __________ to be your lawful partner?
Partner 1:
I do.
Officiant (to Partner 2):
And now I ask _______________ the same. Do you take ____________ to be your wedded partner in law?
Partner 2:
I do.
Exchanging of Vows
[The exchange of vows is an important moment in a wedding because it is the part the couple has the most control over. Typically, the officiant handles most of the talking. However, the vows are an opportunity to put a custom spin on things and speak in a way that best reflects the bond being celebrated. These suggestions are an easy template to build from.]
Officiant:
The couple has prepared vows that they would like to now exchange before those gathered here today. _______________ and _______________, please step forward and speak your promises to one another before all who are here to witness your love.
_______________, you may begin.
Partner 1:
_________, I promise to stand beside you no matter what the future may hold. I vow to be yours through all that life throws our way, and only the power of death itself can tear me from your side during the journeys ahead.
Officiant (to couple):
Partner 2:
________, I vow to honor you in every way you ask of me and more. I promise to stand with you no matter what, and to love you until the day I take my very last breath.
Exchanging of Rings
Officiant:
I now request the rings be brought forth to the couple so that they may exchange them. Much like your love has no true beginning or end, so do these rings act as a perfect symbol of the bond you forge today. Please present the rings to each other. I ask ____________ to place the ring on _________’s finger and repeat after me. “With this ring, I make an eternal promise to love and cherish you forever.”
Partner 1:
With this ring, I make an eternal promise to love and cherish you forever.
Officiant (to Partner 2):
I now ask the same of you, _______________. Please place the ring on the finger of ________ and repeat the same words. “With this ring, I make an eternal promise to love and cherish you forever.”
Partner 2:
With this ring, I make an eternal promise to love and cherish you forever.
Pronouncement
Officiant (to couple):
_______________ and _______________, today you have proven your commitment to one another while surrounded by nature’s bounty and witnessed by all those who have loved you along your journeys so far. We now stand together and watch as you take your first steps together as one. By the power that has been vested in me by the Universal Life Church Ministries, I now officially pronounce you a married couple. Share a kiss and let us all rejoice!
