What a long, strange trip it's been - Krista & Brian's Wedding Ceremony

I was honored to be able to perform this beautiful couple's ceremony.
My nephew Brian and his lovely wife, Krista.

Good afternoon and welcome as we gather to celebrate the union of Krista and Brian. Please turn off your cell phones, personal gaming devices, smart watches, GPS’s, pagers, etc., etc.

Before we begin today, we would like to take a moment of silence to remember those loved ones and friends who have gone before us that we wish were here today to join in this celebration. Please join hands and let us take a few seconds to recall those we have loved and lost and remember that love never dies, it lives on within all of us.

Krista. Brian. The only way I can think to start today is to quote the great prophet, Jerry Garcia…”what a long strange trip it’s been”.

Your love story has been 12 years in the making since your first date at Michael Timothy’s in 2004. You have endured many hurdles along the way and today you are standing before one another to say to the world this is the person I have chosen to spend the rest of my days on earth with.

When you left for San Francisco, I recall saying to the two of you that you should not leave your hearts there, but find your collective heart. And you did just that. 2,943.9 miles, one big house and 3 dogs later, here you are. It is that collective heart that will carry you through the next hurdles in your life together and allow you to forgive one another when perhaps someone leaves too many empty, corked wine bottles around the house or when someone rips all the doorknobs off the doors without knowing how to put the new ones on or leaves the tags on everything in the house, just in case you need to take it back. It is that collective heart that has created a warm and loving home, open to family and friends for backyard barbeques and pool parties. It is that collective heart that will continue to share its love for great wine, good cheese and pizza. It is that collective heart that will create new life in the form of two-legged children that will hopefully be easier to housebreak.

With this in mind, I would like to ask Krista’s aunts, Linda Baxter and Debbie Beetz, to come up for today’s first reading, “I carry your heart with me” by e.e. cummings.

I would now like to call up Doris Harmon for our second reading, which is an excerpt from Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne.

Each of us has our own definition of love and marriage…and it is hard to put a definition on either of these words. Instead of trying to stand up here and talk about what they mean, I would like to share a little story.

This past spring, Rich and I were in a little seafood shack having dinner. The door opened up and in came an older woman in a wheelchair with an older gentleman behind her, pushing her in. They ended up sitting down at the table right next to us and we struck up a conversation with them. We had just finished up our meal and they were just beginning theirs. In just 30 minutes, we learned their life story. How they met and got married, how they struggled to make ends meet in the beginning, how he left a job with a good company to start his own business and although she was scared and did not agree with his decision, she supported him every step of the way, how they grew that business into a success together, how they built their family together and now, how they are dealing with her degenerative muscular disease that has limited her mobility and will continue to do so. It was apparent they loved each other. When we asked them how long they have been married, they replied 57 years. Which prompted us to ask, “What’s your secret?” They took a few seconds to think and he replied, “Take care of each other.” And she agreed. She added that they did not always agree with each other, but they knew the other would always be there no matter what. He went on to talk about how much they were struggling in their home with her in a wheelchair and he said, “If I won the lottery tomorrow, I would tear down our house and rebuild it to be more comfortable for her.”

And that, my brothers and sisters, is love. That is marriage. Krista and Brian, today you are standing before one another to say, I will take care of you. I will be your eyes when you can’t see. I will be your ears when you can’t hear. I will be your voice when you can’t speak. I will be your legs when you can’t walk. I will take care of you to the end.

Before we begin your vows, I would like to challenge the two of you to continue to show your love, respect and care for one another so that 57 years from now, a younger couple looks at you and asks, “What’s your secret?”

Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another – acquaintance, friend, companion, boyfriend and girlfriend, ex, fiancé…and you have learned much from one another the past 12 years. Shortly, you shall say a few words that will take you across the threshold of life, and things between you will never be quite the same. For after today, you shall say to the world – This is my husband. This is my wife.

Vows:

Krista/Brian, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.

I vow to love and serve you as long as we both shall live.

I take you with all my faults and strengths as I offer myself to you – with all my faults and strengths.

I vow to help you when you need help and turn to you when I need help.

And with this ring, I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife/husband, my constant friend, and my love from this day forward.

Now that you have given yourselves to each other with solemn vows, the giving and receiving of rings, in front of all who have assembled here today…it is with great joy and the power vested in me through the interwebs that I pronounce you finally married. You may kiss.

Please raise your glass and toast the bride and groom!