A JEWISH WEDDING CEREMONY

PRESENTATION OF THE BRIDE
Who is it that brings this woman to this man? / “I do”

TO GUESTS
We, as a community of friends, are gathered here to witness the marriage of _(Bride)_ and _(Groom)_ .
By our presence here, we all accept responsibility for helping _(Groom)_ and _(Bride)_ and for encouraging them in the new relationship into which they are about to enter. We are called to rejoice with them in their happiness and to help them when they have trouble.

TO COUPLE
_(Bride)_ and _(Groom)_ , today you are performing an act of complete faith, each in the other. This is the heart of the marriage relationship you are initiating today. In a world where faith often falls short of expectation, it is a tribute to you that you desire this depth of commitment and relationship.
_(Groom)_ and _(Bride)_ , remember to treat both yourself and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty or fear assail your relationship – as they threaten all relationships at one time or another – remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part that seems wrong. In this way, you can ride out times when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives – remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there. If each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your lives together, your life together will be marked by abundance and delight.

DECLARATION
_(Bride)_ and _(Groom)_ are about to commit themselves in marriage to each other. If anyone knows of just cause why they may not be lawfully joined in marriage, let them declare it or else forever hold their peace.

_(Bride)_ and _(Groom)_ , you receive each other from your fathers and mothers, who give you into each other’s keeping, by saying now, each to the other, words which will tell of your love.

VOWS
_(Bride)_ , please pass you bouquet to your maid of honor.
Will you please face each other and join hands?
_(Groom)_ , will you please repeat after me your vows to your bride?
_(Bride)_ , I choose you to be my wife,
to have and to hold,
from this day forward.
It is your intention
to be your best friend,
to respect and support you,
to be patient with you,
to work together with you
to achieve those things
that are important to us as a couple,
to accept you unconditionally,
to share life with you throughout the years,
to love and to cherish you
as long as we both shall live.
_(Bride)_ , will you please repeat after me you vows to your groom?

_(Groom)_ , I choose you to be my husband,
to have and to hold,
from this day forward.
It is your intention
to be your best friend,
to respect and support you,
to be patient with you,
to work together with you
to achieve those things
that are important to us as a couple,
to accept you unconditionally,
to share life with you throughout the years,
to love and to cherish you
as long as we both shall live.

RINGS
The circle reminded the ancients of eternity, for the circle is so fashioned as to have neither beginning nor end. So your wedding rings of precious metal are a fitting emblem of the purity and permanence of marriage. The gold of the ring is so incorruptible that it cannot be tarnished by use or time. So may your union be incorruptible in its purity and more lasting than time itself.

May I have the bride’s ring please?

EXCHANGE RINGS
_(Groom)_ , as you place your ring on _(Bride)_ ‘s ring finger would you please repeat after me you commitment to _(Bride)_ ?

Wear this ring forever,
as a symbol of my love for you
and of the delight and fulfillment
I desire to bring to the life
we will build for each other
in our marriage.

May I have the groom’s ring please?

_(Bride)_ , as you place your ring on _(Groom)_ ‘s ring finger would you please repeat after me you commitment to _(Groom)_ ?

Wear this ring forever,
as a symbol of my love for you
and of the delight and fulfillment
I desire to bring to the life
we will build for each other
in our marriage.

PRONOUNCEMENT
Inasmuch as _(Groom)_ and _(Bride)_ have declared their love and devotion to each other before family and friends. By the authority vest in me as a minister of the Gospel, it gives me great delight to pronounce that you are now husband and wife.
You may kiss the bride.

JEWISH BLESSING–Sheva Barchot

“Blessed are You, LORD, our God,
sovereign of the universe,
who created joy and gladness,
groom and bride, mirth, song, delight and rejoicing,
love and harmony and peace and companionship.
Soon, LORD our God,
may there ever be heard in the cities of Judah
and in the streets of Jerusalem
voices of joy and gladness,
voices of groom and bride,
the jubilant voices of those joined in marriage under the bridal canopy,
the voices of young people feasting and singing.
Blessed are You, LORD,
who causes the groom to rejoice with his bride.”

BREAKING OF GLASS_OPTION #1
Now _(Groom)_ and _(Bride)_ will break the glass. / “Mazal tov.”

BREAKING OF THE GLASS OPTION #2
The destructive crunch breaking of a glass hearkens back to the intense suffering of Hebrews throughout our history and especially during the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD. It is a reminder that the time between the joy of an occasion such as this and the heart ache of severe reversal may be brief. We need to make the most of all that life provides, no matter what.

(Groom breaks the glass with his foot and everyone yells Mazel Tov!)

BREAKING OF THE GLASS OPTION #3

In keeping with Jewish tradition the groom will now partake in the “breaking of the glass”, signifying the groom’s intention that this marriage will last as long as the glass is broken …FOREVER!!!, and, from a more feminine perspective, symbolic that this is the last time _(Groom)_ will put his foot down!

(Groom breaks the glass and everyone yells Mazel Tov!)

DOVE RELEASE
DOVES are universal symbols of peace, but for we who cling to the Scriptures they also speak of deliverance, for they remind us of Noah, who, along with his family and animals to repopulate the earth, at the end of the great flood sent forth a dove. That dove returned with an olive branch in its beak – another universal symbol of peace. So _(Groom)_ and _(Bride)_ release their doves today, in symbol that wherever life may lead them, they will always return to each other with the sweet peace of a dove, carrying an olive branch.

BLESSING
Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be sanctuary to the other.
Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no isolation for you.
Now there is no more loneliness.
Now you are two, but there is only one life in front of you.

SIGNING OF DOCUMENTS

ANNOUNCEMENT
It gives me great delight to introduce Mr. and Mrs. _______ .