Performing a Wedding Today

So today will be my second wedding I have been asked to perform. It really is a nice thing and a wonderful step towards a temple sealing. I was having trouble locating my notes from the previous marriage I performed so I thought I would put my notes for this ceremony here on my blog so I could find it again in the future. I wont be reading the notes below but will reference those parts I feel impressed to share during the ceremony. I have also included the words I am to say in order to perform the legal ceremony.



Love defined:
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
“ 4 aCharity bsuffereth long, and is ckind; charity denvieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself aunseemly, seeketh not her bown, is not easily cprovoked, thinketh no evil;
 6 Rejoiceth not in ainiquity, but rejoiceth in the btruth;
 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never afaileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.”

Right Now there is great happiness—here is how to maintain it
“The secret of a happy marriage is to serve God and each other. The goal of a marriage is unity and oneness, as well as self-development. Paradoxically, the more we serve one another, the greater is our spiritual and emotional growth.” Ezra Taft Benson

In a few weeks
“Two people coming from different backgrounds soon learn after the ceremony is performed that stark reality must be faced. There is no longer a life of fantasy or of make-believe; we must come out of the clouds and put our feet firmly on the earth. Responsibility must be assumed and new duties must be accepted. Some personal freedoms must be relinquished, and many adjustments, unselfish adjustments, must be made.

One comes to realize very soon after the marriage that the spouse has weaknesses not previously revealed or discovered. The virtues which were constantly magnified during courtship now grow relatively smaller, and the weaknesses which seemed so small and insignificant during courtship now grow to sizable proportions. The hour has come for understanding hearts, for self-appraisal, and for good common sense, reasoning, and planning. The habits of years now show themselves; the spouse may be stingy or prodigal, lazy or industrious, devout or irreligious, may be kind and cooperative or petulant and cross, demanding or giving, egotistical or self-effacing. The in-law problem comes closer into focus, and the relationships of the spouses to them is again magnified? ("Marriage and Divorce," Brigham Young Devotional, September 7, 1976, p. 4.) Spencer W Kimball.

Final piece of advice
Elder Maxwell said that "Love is never wasted, for its value does not rest upon reciprocity." Stated another way, you may give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. Love simply won’t be wasted when your intentions are right and you are the giver of the love. Love requires giving with pure intent, with no expectation of reciprocity or reward. When reciprocity is the expectation love struggles to stay alive.
"Indeed, nothing is more critically connected to happiness—both our own and that of our children—than how well we love and support one another within the family." M. Russell Ballard - Oct. Gen. Conf 2005

Words of the Ceremony

“Please take each other by the right hand.”

“[Bridegroom’s full name and bride’s full name], you have taken one another by the right hand in token of the covenants you will now enter into in the presence of God and these witnesses.”

“[Bridegroom’s full name], do you take [bride’s full name] as your lawfully wedded wife, and do you of your own free will and choice covenant as her companion and lawfully wedded husband that you will cleave unto her and none else; that you will observe all the laws, covenants, and obligations pertaining to the holy state of matrimony; and that you will love, honor, and cherish her as long as you both shall live?”

(Bridegroom responds)

“[Bride’s full name], do you take [bridegroom’s full name] as your lawfully wedded husband, and do you of your own free will and choice covenant as his companion and lawfully wedded wife that you will cleave unto him and none else; that you will observe all the laws, covenants, and obligations pertaining to the holy state of matrimony; and that you will love, honor, and cherish him as long as you both shall live?”

(Bride Responds)

“By virtue of the legal authority vested in me as an elder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I pronounce you, [bridegroom’s name] and [bride’s name], husband and wife, legally and lawfully wedded for the period of your mortal lives.

“May God bless your union with joy in your posterity and a long life of happiness together, and may He enable you to keep sacred the covenants you have made. These blessings I invoke upon you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

“You may kiss each other as husband and wife.”