Weddings by Church of the Green Wood

Charge to the Couple

 

The Charge to the Couple is the time that is taken to address the significance and magnitude of the vows about to be taken.  This is an important and meaningul aspect of your ceremony where you can consider what it means when two people commit their lives to each other's love and care.   It is a time for reflection.  This could be a place for a reading or exchange of love letters. 

1. Today is the public affirmation and acknowledgment of all that you are to each other.  Seemingly you relationship will be as it always has been, yet there is a power in the spoken word.  May that power bring you all the warmth and closeness, security and comfort, joy and happiness that this world has to offer.
   
2. We are gathered here today to celebrate one of life’s greatest moments, to recognize the love, bond, and promise between you, (Bride) and (Groom).
   The promises you make to each other today are not to be undertaken lightly. This commitment requires passion & compassion, kindness & strength, laughter & loyalty, forgiveness & patience, effort & faithfulness, and most of all, love. The joining of two lives forevermore creates something new. Knowing that you must not only gaze at each other, but in the same direction, so that you may grow together rather than apart, you are united in commitment. Just as two threads woven in opposite directions will form a beautiful tapestry, so too can your lives joined together make a beautiful marriage. To make your relationship last will take love; that is the reason you are here today. It will take trust, to know in your hearts that you truly want the best for each other. It will take dedication, to stay open to one another and to learn and grow together. It will take faith, to go forward together without knowing exactly what the future will bring; and it will take commitment, to hold to the journey you both pledge today to share together.
   
3. Today is a celebration of the most intimate of human experiences, the sacred space created when there is a union of souls has both a sublime quality and a part that speaks to the very core of human experience.  (Bride) and (Groom) share a common bond with every human who has ever felt the presence of thier beloved within their own spirit.  They also share a moment in time with all of those who in the real tangible, physical, day to day world have found the one person they could share it all with.  The joys and the sorrows, the triumphs and the tragedies, the large and the small ae all theirs together.  Not only are we here for the celebration of the joining of these two wonderful people, but to get a glimpse of what this truly means from their perspective.  To this end, they have written letters to one another.  I invite you now to share with them as they reveal their innermost thoughts and feelings both to each other and all of us. 
   
   Couples may read their letters to each other or minister will read for them.  Groom to Bride, then Bride to Groom.
   
4. (Bride) and (Groom), I remind you as you stand in the presence of God, that love and loyalty are the foundation of a happy and enduring home.  During your engagement, you have given thought to the meaning of your marriage and began the joining of two lives.  We pray that you will continue to grow together throughout the time you share.  The future is unknown, yet your love for one another and trust in the goodness of God's will make possible the act of faith you now make in our midst.  As you exchange your vows of faithfulness, we will be listening and supporting you with our love.  As you make your promises to each other, we will be reminded of promises we have made and be moved to renew our own. 
   
5. (Bride) and (Groom) , I would ask that you both remember to treat yourself and each other with respect, and remind yourself often of what brought you together today. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your marriage deserves. When frustration and difficulty assail your marriage - as they do to every relationship at one time or another - focus on what still seems right between you, not only the part that seems wrong. This way, when clouds of trouble hide the sun in your lives and you lose sight of it for a moment, you can remember that the sun is still there. And if each of you will take responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.