WEDDING CEREMONY
MELANIE JANE SCHOFIELD and CHARLES HINDLEY
MT COOT THA BOTANIC GARDENS
WEDNEDAY 1st SEPTEMBER 2010
2:00 PM
Good afternoon; my name is Ashley Bergh and I am a Civil Celebrant. On behalf of Mel and Charlie I welcome you here today, as friends who’ve shared many special memories with them to be fellow witnesses with me in their marriage. Mel and Charlie you share today the joy of a deep commitment and a sacred trust; you have given each other the most precious gift of love. Treasure it, nurture it, and encourage it with all the honesty you used to create it. You are sharing something rare and beautiful. Always speak the truth and listen attentively, so that you may understand each other’s thoughts and intentions. Inspire each other by sharing your accomplishments. Say, “I Love you” often to retain the warmth between you. Laugh a lot, too, even when you are angry, remember you’re each other’s best friend. Stand together and for each other always, be content in mind and spirit. May each day be a blessing and a fulfilment of your dreams. Mel and Charlie dream your own dreams and follow your own star. There wouldn’t be a heaven full of stars, if we were all meant to wish on the same one. There will always be dreams grander or humbler than your own, but there will never be a dream exactly the same as your own, for you are unique and more wondrous than you know. Do your best, there are no shortcuts on the way to a dream, so give all that you have to all that you do. And above all believe in yourselves, this is all your dream asks of you, but this is everything, Mel and Charlie love is a precious gain to both man and woman, it always has been and always will be but it started first as a dream, your dream.
Friends the first reading that Mel and Charlie have chosen for their special day comes to us from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. And today Mel and Charlie have asked Savanah Keegan to read it for us.
Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being in love, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two
Mel and Charlie happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage must be created, in the art of marriage the little things become the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands; it is remembering to say, "I Love You" at least once each day. It is not taking each other for granted, the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it needs to continue through all the years, it is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives; It is standing together and facing the world. It is forming a circle that gathers the whole family, it is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy, it is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating Gratitude in thoughtful ways. It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo, or the wife to have wings of an angel; it is not looking for perfection in each other. It is in cultivation flexibility, patience, Understanding and a sense of humour. It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow, it is a common search for the good and beautiful, it is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal. The dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal. It is not only marrying the right partner it is being the right partner. Poem “The Art of Marriage” Wilfred A Peterson” ®©
I Ashley Bergh a civil marriage celebrant am duly authorised by law to solemnise marriages according to law. Before you Mel and Charlie are joined in marriage in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are about to enter. Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.
I now call upon all present to bare witness to vows that Mel and Charlie are about to make.
[Page Break]VOWS
Charlie please repeat after me:
I Charles Hindley | take you Melanie Jane Schofield | to be my lawful wedded wife, | I promise I will love you, | comfort you, | honour and keep you, | in sickness and in health | and forsake all others | to keep only unto you | for as long as we both shall live.
Charlie please repeat after me:
I Melanie Jane Schofield | take you Charles Hindley | to be my lawful wedded husband, | I promise I will love you, | comfort you, | honour and keep you, | in sickness and in health | and forsake all others | to keep only unto you | for as long as we both shall live.
Friends the next reading comes from our Apache brothers and is normally spoken by the chief of the tribe or a trusted member of the family. Consequently, Mel and Charlie have asked Tim Garland to read it for us
Mel and Charlie now you will feel no rain for each will be shelter to the other. Now you will feel no cold for each will be warmth to the other. Now there will be no more loneliness for each will be companion to the other. Now you are two persons but there is only one life before you, go now to your dwelling to enter into the days of your life together. May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years. May the happiness of your companion and the days of your life together be good and long upon the earth.
Poem “Apache Wedding Prayer” Author Unknown
RING EXCHANGE
Mel and Charlie the circle of your rings are a token of the endlessness of love, their pure metal speaks of the purity of love. They are a symbol of wholeness. Perfection and peace. Their value reminds you that you should defend and protect that which you hold most valuable in life. May they always remind you of the love you share this day.
Charlie please repeat after me:
Mel wear this ring | as a pledge | of my love | and as a symbol | of all we share.
Mel please repeat after me:
Charlie wear this ring | as a pledge | of my love | and as a symbol | of all we share.
Mel and Charlie marriage is the joining of two people, the union of two hearts. It lives on the love you give each other and never grows old, but thrives on the joy of each new day. May you always be blessed in your hearts with the wonder of this special day. May you always be able to talk things over, to confide in each other, to laugh with each other, to enjoy life together, and to share moments of quiet and peace when the day is done. May you be blessed with a lifetime of happiness.
Friends Mel and Charlie have grown in knowledge and love of one another. They have agreed to go forward in life together and have made promises to each other before us all. I now pronounce them husband and wife.
Charlie this is when you first kiss your wife:
The Register and Certificates are then signed
PRESENTATION
Mel and Charlie please accept this certificate as a memento of this occasion. Let us hope, that you will be united in love, throughout your married life. That your love will be patient and gentle, ever ready to trust and endure whatever comes, may you grow together in joy and in sorrow and always be grateful, for the gift of each other. In this life we have three lasting qualities, Faith, hope and Love. But of these the greatest is love. Love is not possessive, it is neither anxious to impress. It can out last anything; it is the one thing that lasts when all else has fallen. And at the end of your lives, may you be able to say these two things to each other. Because you have loved me, you have given me faith in myself, and because I have seen the good in you. I have received from you a faith in humanity. Friends as you have heard the two parties of this marriage freely consent to live together in lawful marriage. In the age old tradition you have witnessed them exchange both vows, and rings. You have also heard them pronounced man and wife. Mel and Charlie may your love last, for all eternity and support you through all the trials and triumphs that lie ahead of you. May I now present Mr. and Mrs. Hindley. Go now in love; and with our wish, for eternal happiness throughout your lives.
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