We are gathered together in the sight of God, our Creator , to witness and bless the joining together in the solemn bonds of matrimony.

Marriage is perhaps the greatest and most challenging adventure of human relationships. No ceremony can create your marriage; only you can do that – through love and patience; through dedication and perseverance; through talking and listening, helping and supporting and believing in each other; through tenderness and laughter; through learning to forgive, learning to appreciate your differences, and by learning to make the important things matter, and to let go of the rest.

What this ceremony can do is to witness and affirm the choice you make before God to stand together as lifemates and partners.

This is a very special ceremony, because 37 years ago today, at this time, the two of you stood together before God and pledged your love. Today, you stand together again to reaffirm the enduring bond you created all those years ago.

You have both had full and happy lives, and have miraculously come together in the autumn of your lives. As T. S. Eliot wrote:
…the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

I ask you now, in the presence of God to declare your intention to enter into union with one another through the grace of God.