Our Wedding Ceremony

***Now that we are home and finally settled back in to our normal lives I figured it would probably be a good time to start sharing more about our recent wedding and honeymoon. Our wedding ceremony occurred on a boat as it cruised around the Casco Bay (Portland, Maine). Marc's cousin Jess did an amazing job officiating our ceremony and since a few people have asked to read the words that were spoken during our wedding ceremony I figured this would be the best way to start . . . enjoy! ***

Welcome family and friends as we gather here today on this ferry in the middle of beautiful Portland Harbor to celebrate the love shared between Christina and Marc.

This marriage ceremony fulfills many purposes. First, we are here to celebrate the loving relationship that Christina and Marc have created together already. Second, we are here to witness the commitments and aspirations they will exchange in today’s ceremony. To that, the bride and groom would like to acknowledge that parts of their ceremony mirror the weddings of friends and family that they have witnessed and loved. Finally, we are here to offer our love, support and encouragement to them as they embark on this joyful and courageous adventure of marriage.

Christina and Marc’s paths have brought them together and they are happy today, not only because of their unity and the unity of their path, but because they can share the joy and meaning of that unity with we who are lucky enough to be in their lives.

It is very important to Marc and Christina that they share this day with those they love. Many people have traveled from not only all over the country, but across the world, to be here. So welcome to one and all who have traveled from near and far. Christina and Marc thank you for your presence here today, and now ask for your blessing, encouragement and lifelong support, as they begin their married life together.

One of the reasons I was asked to officiate this marriage ceremony is because I was lucky enough to be there at the beginning of Christina and Marc’s relationship as they were getting to know each other while we all lived in Washington, D.C. And then I was lucky enough to see their relationship grow into so much more. It struck me early on just how much these two were comfortable with the other, and simply liked being around and bringing out the best in each other. And to this day that hasn’t changed.

I know this because – in their own words – Marc’s green “Pirates Arrrr Great!” t-shirt, which he was wearing the first time Christina laid eyes on him, still makes her laugh every time. When she gets excited, Christina is a bouncing off the walls, thrilled-with-life, can’t wait excited, which Marc finds infectious. Christina likes that Marc’s hug-o-meter and belly need to be kept full; he is a romantic at heart; he supports and provides for those people dearest and most important to him, but will also go out of his way to help a stranger; and he is a doer – he simply likes to do stuff – rather than being content to sit and watch the world go by.

Marc likes that Christina has the most beautiful, genuine, eyes-light-up-happy smile that he’s ever seen; she’s an independent, organized and strong-willed woman, but every once in awhile she knows it’s okay to lean on him for help; she cares deeply for her friends and family; and she is more thoughtful and patient than he thought possible. Plus, she makes him bagels. They like that in each other they have found someone who shares a motivation and determination to go after what they want – as individuals, together, and as equals.

In the book Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, author Louis de Berniéres writes:

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 root was 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 promises 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 blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.

When I originally read this passage, it struck me as sad. I mean come on – can you honestly tell me that there isn’t some part in all of us that wants the temporary madness, the breathlessness, the burning passion? But I changed my mind the more I thought about it. And that is because in this day and age, it is easy to fall in love – or at least easy to believe you have fallen in love; but if you are very lucky, you find a love that lasts and grows roots that may bend, but will not break. And what Marc and Christina have found in each other is not only a real love that will last forever, but a real like for each other that will last for always.

It is said that a circle has no beginning and no end. But we all know that these rings do have a beginning. Rock is dug up from the earth. Metal is melted in a furnace, poured into molds, cooled and painstakingly polished. Something beautiful is made from raw elements. Marriage is like that. It’s hot, dirty work. It comes from humble beginnings, made by imperfect beings. It’s the process of making something beautiful where there was once nothing at all.

We end the ceremony and begin the celebration with the words of an old English toast:

Here is a toast to lying, cheating, stealing, and drinking:
If you lie, lie in each other’s arms;
If you cheat, cheat death;
If you steal, steal each other’s kisses;
And if you drink, drink deeply of the joy of your new life together.

Christina and Marc, now that you have exchanged vows and celebrated your union by giving each other these beautiful rings before all those here present, it is with great joy and happiness that I now pronounce you husband and wife.

You may kiss each other!