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Our Wedding Ceremony
The following is our wedding ceremony - we wrote it ourselves and it expresses the love we feel for each other.
Main Ceremony
Eje Gustafsson and Beverly Benner, you have come here today to celebrate
the love which you have for each other. We share in this with you by giving
recognition of your decision to accept each other as friends, lovers and
companions. Today you come before us, your friends and family, to be united
in the state of marriage, to become one together as husband and wife.
Marriage is not only a commitment between lovers, it is also an agreement between two friends. Your love for each other is being publicly declared today in this ceremony, witnessed by friends and family, of the joy of your love for each other. Love is always patient and kind, it is never jealous, love is never boastful or conceited, it is never rude or selfish, it does not take offense, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasures in other people's sins but delights in the truth, it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes. Love does not come to an end. Your love for each other will be cemented today by your marriage to one another.
Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage must be created. The little things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands. It is remembering to say I love you at least once a day. It is never going to sleep angry. It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through all the years of your lives. It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is standing together facing the world. It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family. It is doing things for each other, not because it is your duty or because you must sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy and the love you have for each other. It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways. It is not looking for perfection in each other. It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding, and a sense of humor. It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow. It is finding room for the things of the spirit. It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal. It is not only marrying the one you love, it is marrying your friend.Eje and Beverly, you are about to make promises to one another. Today, these vows are beautiful words representing even more beautiful intentions. But you will find that as you live these vows over the years, investing your time and your love and your commitment to one another, the happy times of your life will be twice as joyous, because there will be someone to share those joys with. And when life gets tough, it will only be half as bad, because there will be someone by your side to help carry the burden. This is what the state of marriage is all about.
| The Vows | |
| I, Eje, have chosen you, Beverly, I promise to love you without reservation, |
I, Beverly, have chosen you, Eje, I promise to love you without reservation, |
Family Vows
Leah and Sara, you will have a share in this marriage, for your lives
will be touched by the promises made by your mother and Eje here today.
We now ask you to promise that you will all join together to create a
family of mutual respect and support. We ask that you help to create a
home and a way of life in which all of you may grow into the best people
you can be. In this spirit, will you pledge to continue to grow together
and honor this new family for all the days that follow? They respond,
"We will".
Beverly and Eje, as you give yourselves to one another in today in marriage, will you also promise always to keep room in your new life together for Leah and Sara? Will you commit yourselves to respect and honor them as individuals and members of this family? Will you pledge to cherish, encourage and care for them as long as they need you? We respond, "We will".
As a symbol of the two families joined as one today, a heart of gold
will now be presented to each of you. As you receive your token of family
unity, always remember the love that has brought all of you together and
that will guide you and nurture you in the years ahead.
US:
In the placing of these hearts of gold
we pledge to you
to surround you with a chain
of continual support,
understanding, and unconditional love.
Exchanging Of Rings
The wedding ring is the most significant ring a person wears in this day
and time. Above all rings the wedding rings denote purity, loyalty, and
spirit grace. It is made of the purest metal to speak of the purity of
the marriage and is made in a circle to note the never ending commitment
you are about to enter.
| Eje says: I give this ring in token and in pledge of my constant faith and abiding love with all that I am and all that I will become. Beverly says: Eje, I accept you as my husband with your strengths and weaknesses I will be true to you in all things I will share what I have and who I am I will love enough to risk being hurt Trust when I misunderstand I will keep with you in heartache Celebrate life with you in joy And receive you as my equal |
Beverly says: I give this ring in token and in pledge of my constant faith and abiding love with all that I am and all that I will become. Eje says: Beverly, I accept you as my wife with your strengths and weaknesses I will be true to you in all things I will share what I have and who I am I will love enough to risk being hurt Trust when I misunderstand I will keep with you in heartache Celebrate life with you in joy And receive you as my equal |
These two families are now joined in one unbroken circle. Wherever they go, may they always return to one another in their togetherness. May these two find in each other the love for which all men and women long. May they grow in understanding and in compassion. And may these two rings symbolize the spirit of undying love in the hearts of both of them. Keep in your remembrance the sacredness of your trust. Keep in your awareness this love which knows no end. May you enter into sweet mystery, which is the awareness of one another's presence, no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when you are side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or even distant cities.
I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride and bridesmaids.