OFFICIANT (to congregation):

Thank you for being here today as _______ and ______ enter into a lifelong civil union. Today we celebrate the separate journeys that brought them together, and we usher them toward the new journey they will embark upon as partners.

OFFICIANT (to congregation):

A true lasting marriage requires effort, commitment, and unending respect. As _____ and ______ declare their love on this day, we reflect on the meaning of partnership and its importance to a successful union. Partners, in life, think of one another as teammates, equally capable, but each arriving with their own special skills.

A marriage thrives when each partner chooses to value the other: for everything they are, and for everything they’re not. There is no limit to what a partnership can accomplish when trust and admiration flow abundantly. Today, ______ and ______ acknowledge this with excitement as they prepare to join hands in marriage.

First, a reading of the couple’s choosing.

OFFICIANT (to congregation):

Marriage is not
a house or even a tent
it is before that, and colder:
the edge of the forest, the edge
of the desert
the unpainted stairs
at the back where we squat
outside, eating popcorn
the edge of the receding glacier
where painfully and with wonder
at having survived even
this far
we are learning to make fire

OFFICIANT (to congregation):

Thank you. Do you, as witnesses to this day, support and encourage this union?

OFFICIANT (to couple):

As I guide you in exchanging your vows, you, ______, and you, _______ will declare your intentions for a lasting partnership in love and marriage. Are you prepared to do this?

OFFICIANT (to couple):

Without further ado, let’s begin.

OFFICIANT (to _________):

Repeat after me.

I, _____, take you, _____, to be my husband/wife/partner. I promise that from this day forward I will regard you not only as my equal partner but as my closest friend. I promise to comfort you in sickness and in health. I promise to demonstrate my commitment to you through love, laughter, and compassion. I love you.

OFFICIANT (to _________):

I, _____, take you, _____, to be my husband/wife/partner. I promise that from this day forward I will regard you not only as my equal partner but as my closest friend. I promise to comfort you in sickness and in health. I promise to demonstrate my commitment to you through love, laughter, and compassion. I love you.

OFFICIANT (to couple):

Please present one another your rings. These rings symbolize the strength of your commitment to this marriage and the love you share.

OFFICIANT (to couple):

By the power vested in me by the Universal Life Church before your witnesses, it is my great pleasure to pronounce you spiritually and lawfully united. You may kiss.