Although this is not a legally binding ceremony, ------ and ------ consider it binding and permanent as if it were.

------ and ------, it is this day you make a giant step of courage, commitment, communication of your love, understanding, and growth. When a commitment this strong is made by two people, the force of that commitment, of that love, of that courage, reaches out and touches all of us around you, so that our lives are changed and we share a part of your love. Like a stone dropped in a small pond, the ripple of the love from this celebration extends and changes the world we live in.

------ and ------, you are now taking into your care and keeping the happiness of the one person in all the world whom you love best. You are adding to your life not only the affection of each other, but also the companionship and blessing of a deep trust. You are agreeing to share strength, responsibilities, and love.

In human history, we have not discovered a better way of life than sharing it together in love in a lasting and responsible way. This arrangement seems to meet our deepest human needs for love and companionship, for someone with whom we can share in an intimate and trusting way all the hopes, joys, and dreams of life.

But real love, ------ and ------, is something beyond the warmth and glow, the excitement and romance, of being deeply in love. It is caring as much about the welfare and happiness of your partner as about your own. Real love is not total absorption into each other, it is looking outward in the same direction together. Love makes burdens lighter because you divide them. It makes joys more intense because you share them. It makes you stronger so you can be involved with life in ways you dare not risk alone.

Vows
(------ and ------ in turn)

I offer myself to you as companion, lover, and friend
I promise to love you
And to honor our love even if I fear other's disapproval.
I respect your strengths and accept your weaknesses.
I vow to be faithful to you and to love you with all my heart,
To always strive for our happiness, harmony, and future together
for as long as I shall live.

Ring Ceremony

(------ and ------ in turn)

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.

Closing

------ and ------, may your lives together be joyful and content, And may your love be as bright as the stars, warm as the sun, accepting as the ocean, and enduring as the mountains.