This Declaration of Support is a great way to encourage wedding guest participation

Nerdy vows & stunning views at this intimate — Photo by Megan Jones from Joseph and Temprest's Savannah nature preserve wedding

It can be such a treat to find meaningful ways for your wedding guests to participate in your ceremony. You want your guests laughing? YES. You want your guests crying? YES. Finding ways to encourage wedding guest participation is something we've written about before, but here's one more way to get your guests involved: a declaration of support! Here's the wording that Offbeat Bride readers Emily & Joel used in their wedding ceremony:

Get your guests participating with this Declaration of Support

Partner and Partner have chosen each and every one of you
To be here with them
To witness their wedding vows
Because each of you has given something of yourself to their lives.

You are the ones
Who have taught Partner and Partner how to love.
Having planted this seed of love in them,
You have shown them the blessings
That come from loving one another.

As we rejoice in Partner and Partner's marriage today,
Let us each consecrate the relationships in our own lives
And rededicate ourselves to these unions we share.

Let us each choose the path
Of loving and caring for one another
And of making these commitments
A priority in our lives.

Each of us knows that a marriage is not created
By a law or a ceremony;
Rather it occurs in the hearts of two human beings.

So, in witnessing this ceremony today,
We are observing only an outward sign of an inward union
That already exists between Partner and Partner.

Today, they have come before us
To publicly affirm their love;
To promise to nurture themselves,
Each other, and this union;

And to acknowledge its centrality in their lives.

We are here to see them off on this journey.

Let us also be there to see them through.
As family and friends,

You form the community of support
That surrounds Partner and Partner
Each of you, by your presence here today,
Is being called upon
To uphold them in honoring and loving each other.

Always stand beside them, never between them.
Offer them your love and support,
Not your judgment.
Encourage them with your kindness and loving hearts,
And honor this marriage
Into which they have come to be joined today.

Please affirm your support for this marriage
By responding, “So say we all” to the following question:

As part of the community
That surrounds Partner and Partner
Do you offer your love and support
To strengthen their marriage
And bless this family created by their union?

Guests: So say we all!