The Ceremony: Love is like a Ring

After we exchanged our vows we still had a few more things to do before we were announced Husband & Wife.

Exchange of Rings

D: Love is like a ring. It comes from humble beginnings, rock dug up from the earth, the metal liquefied, poured, molded, cooled and polished. Love, like the ring is the process of making something beautiful where there was once nothing at all.

With that in mind, BM B, may I have the rings?

Her Mr, place the ring on C’s finger and repeat after me:

My Mr: With all that I am / With all that I will become / With this ring / I thee wed.

D: C, place the ring on your Mr’s finger and repeat after me:

C: With all that I am / With all that I will become / With this ring / I thee wed.

Signing of the Marriage Certificate

(Marriage Certificate inspired by Quarker Marriage Certificates I saw online, made by my mother)

D: In the presence of the love of family and friends, C and her Mr will now commemorate their vows by signing their marriage certificate.

As members of their community, having been present in caring witness of this union and as a promise to honor and support their unity, we ask that you take a moment after the ceremony to sign the certificate.

Love Reading #3

In closing, I’d like to have MOH K and MOH M please step forward and read an excerpt from “I Like You”, by Sandol Stoddard Warburg

(When researching different readings to use for our ceremony, I was very particular on find ones that reflected our personalities and beliefs but didn't focus on religious doctorine. One of my favorite bloggers, Ms Awesome, had used "I Like You" for her ceremony and when I read it I thought it was perfect. Unfortunately, I didn't think I had enough time to have the entire poem read like Ms Awesome did but rather pick out a few excerpts that I felt best reflected our relationship.)

MOH K:

I like you and I know why.
I like you because you are a good person to like.
I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it's special
And you remember it a long, long time.
You say, "Remember when you told me something special?"
And both of us remember

If you go away, then I go away too

or if I stay home, you send me a postcard

You don't just say "Well see you around sometime, bye"
I like you a lot because of that


And I like you because when I am feeling sad
You don't always cheer me up right away
Sometimes it is better to be sad
You can't stand the others being so googly and gaggly every single minute
You want to think about things
It takes time

MOH M:

I like you because if I am mad at you

Then you are mad at me too

It's awful when the other person isn't
They are so nice and hoo-hoo you could just about punch them in the nose


I like you because I don't know why but
Everything that happens is nicer with you
I can't remember when I didn't like you
It must have been lonesome then
I like you because because because
I forget why I like you but I do

Even if it was the 999th of July
Even if it was August
Even if it was way down at the bottom of November
Even if it was no place particular in January
I would go on choosing you
And you would go on choosing me
Over and over again

{All photos by Darren Hull Studios}