Our “stars and moon” short agnostic wedding ceremony script

I wrote this ceremony script with the help of Offbeat Bride, and I am really happy with the results.

My very non-religious, scientific-minded fiancé is very happy with it as well. My mom, who has always told me that we are made of star dust, is absolutely in love with the Carl Sagan reading we selected for her. I am really excited about the music sections, and to share my ceremony with you…

Greeting

Officiant: Welcome and thank you for joining us today as we celebrate the marriage of Jake and Sheila.

As writer Marcel Proust said “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy, for they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

You are the people who make Jake and Sheila's souls blossom. They are so happy to have you here to be a part of this enchanted evening.”

Song

Sung by a friend: First Day of My Life, by Bright Eyes

Reading: Desiderata, by Max Ehrmann

Officiant: “Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Related Post Sweet, serious, and non-gaggy: a few of y'all's very favorite wedding readings about love

When we're doing our wedding profiles, we noticed some trends in nontraditional readings… readings that clearly Offbeat Brides tend to adore.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be critical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.”

Reading: inspired by Carl Sagan

Mother of the bride: “The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home. And yet our species is young and curious and brave and shows much promise. In the last few millennia we have made the most astonishing and unexpected discoveries. They remind us that humans have evolved to wonder, that understanding is a joy, that knowledge is prerequisite to survival. Our little planet floats like a mote of dust in the morning sky. All that you see, all that we can see, exploded out of a star billions of years ago, and the particles slowly arranged themselves into living things, including all of us. We are made of star stuff. We are the mechanism by which the universe can comprehend itself. The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth. We should remain grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides. The sum of all our evolution, our thinking and our accomplishments is love. A marriage makes two fractional lives a whole. It gives to two questioning natures a renewed reason for living. It brings a new gladness to the sunshine, a new fragrance to the flowers, a new beauty to the earth, and a new mystery to life.”

Ceremony continues

Officiant: As Neil deGrasse Tyson said “Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body, the atoms that construct the molecules, are traceable to the crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that exploded their chemically rich guts into the galaxy, enriching pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life. So that we are all connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically and to the rest of the universe atomically. That makes me smile and I actually feel quite large at the end of that. It's not that we are better than the universe, we are part of the universe. We are in the universe and the universe is in us.”

Vows

Ring ceremony

Officiant: Wedding rings have long been a symbol of love — the gold of the ring symbolizes the permanence of the unending circle. Jake and Sheila, these rings are a symbol of your love for each other. Your rings say that even in your uniqueness you have chosen to be bound together.

Let these rings also be a sign that love has substance as well as soul, a present as well as a past, and that, despite its occasional sorrows, love is a circle of happiness, wonder, and delight. May your lives and your family always be encircled by love.

Ring Exchange

Bride: Jake, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. As it encircles your finger, may it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love.

Groom: Sheila, I give you this ring as a symbol of my love. As it encircles your finger, may it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love.

Officiant: Jake and Sheila, you have just sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving of rings and you have committed to share the rest of your lives with each other. Today this relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these two individual containers of salt into a third that you may use to imbue love into your meals throughout your lives together.

The two elements that compose salt are sodium and chlorine. Apart, these elements are potentially hazardous but together they create a mineral essential for life. Salt has been used as currency in ancient times and has been used to preserve food for long journeys. It is what amplifies food flavors. It is found in our blood, sweat, and tears.

Just as these grains of salt can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage be. And when this salt mixture runs low, as you never let it empty, you can refill the vessel with new salt but know that you will always have some of the mixture you made today as a symbol of your ever lasting love.

And now by the power vested in me by the laws of the beautiful state of Iowa, I pronounce you Husband and Wife!
You May Kiss!

Irish blessing

May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day;
May song birds serenade you every step along the way.
May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue,
And may happiness fill your heart each day, your whole life through.

Recessional

Everyone walks out to It's Only A Paper Moon, by Ella Fitzgerald

Do you want to share YOUR ceremony script? Paste it in the comments!

Guest Post By: Sheila

http://www.pinterest.com/JakeandSheila

Stay at home mom to the funniest toddler on earth, happy herbivore, homebody, milk maker, animal lover, health food enthusiast, peace activist, introvert, and compulsive late night/very early morning wedding planner.