On April 9, 2006, I was lucky enough to marry my best friend. These were our vows, and pictures below.
Chris :
We are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Geoff and Kim. For them, this marriage is both a pledge of enduring love, and an expression of their commitment to each other grounded in law. For the rest of us, this marriage is an occasion where we are reminded of the bonds to our own families and friendships and how important and wonderful these bonds are to us.
Marriage is dedication. You give yourself, your life, and love into the hands of the one you love. You do so trustingly and generously. By the same token, each of you receives a gift–the life and love of the other. You receive this gift not only from the one you love, but also from the parents who brought you into the world and reared you and from the personal world of friends and family who are joined in friendship and faith in your marriage.
The union of Geoff and Kim brings together two family traditions, two systems of roots, such that a new family tree will become strong and fruitful. Their life will be enriched by the support of the families from which each comes, and we thank the families for the lives they have created, the values they have instilled and their blessings today.
Geoff and Kim have asked Geoff’s mom, Lynda, to read Shakespeare Sonnet 116.
Mom:
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
Oh, no! It is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
VOWS
Chris: As a testament of their love and devotion to one another, and to express the bonds that shall bind them from this day forth, Geoff and Kim will now exchange vows.
Geoff, please repeat after me:
Geoff: I, Geoff, take you, Kim, to be my wife, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful husband in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to explore the world and climb mountains with you, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.
Chris: Kim, please repeat after me:
Kim: I, Kim, take you, Geoff, to be my husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful wife in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to fill our lives with adventures, to kayak with you, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.
Chris: Traditionally, the marking of the passage to the status of husband and wife is marked by the exchange of rings. These rings are a symbol of the unbroken circle of love. Love freely given has no beginning and no end. Love freely given has no giver and no receiver, for each is the giver and each is the receiver. May these rings remind you always of the vows you have taken here today.
Geoff, please repeat after me:
Geoff: “I, Geoff, give you, Kim, this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you.”
Chris: Kim, please repeat after me:
Kim: “I, Kim, give you, Geoff, this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you.”
Chris: And now, may the confidence, trust, and affection you have for each other on this day sustain you as you go forth upon your journey of life together with its joy, its laughter, its sorrow, and its pain. May you fulfill your personal goals with each other’s help and guidance. May you dwell together in peace, love, and joy. Geoff and Kim, having witnessed your vows for marriage with all who are assembled here with you, I announce with great joy that you are from this time on, husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!
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