A very special love has brought David and Cathy to this joyous occasion into which they have chosen to enter called marriage. Marriage is the beginning of the song of life; it is the bond that unites the strangeness of the past with the brightness of the future--the link between the silence of feelings and their song. In marriage, love begins to render the prose of life into canticles of praise with music that is set by night to be sung in the day. Marriage creates a happiness and sense of peace that nothing can surpass, save that of a soul embracing the Divine. It is the union of two souls who share a deep devotion to each other, abolishing the desolation of separateness, though marriage vows alone do not insure that "two become one": oneness is achieved only when life is shared together--with deep commitment, patience, and a sincere, complete love. Marriage is a relationship in which a husband and wife grow in the knowledge and understanding of each other so they may share their lives completely in a common identification and support each other in a mutual commitment of love, trust, and fidelity. Marriage challenges the independent ways of each partner and the very existence of self-devotion; it is the golden ring in a chain whose beginning is a glimpse and whose ending is eternity. It is with this understanding and to such a commitment that David and Cathy come willingly today to bind themselves together in marriage.

David and Cathy, you are about to launch into a new life that will be filled with joy, excitement, sometimes pain, and always responsibility and commitment. It will have its moments of decision, risk, and even danger. From this moment on, you will live within these vows and promises that you now make to each other.

Join hands, face each other, and together repeat after me...

I promise to trust, cherish, respect, and forever love you. I will love you in sickness and health, in good times and bad, always. Neither time nor distance may separate us, and I promise to allow nothing to come between us. I promise to share my dreams, thoughts, goals, and desires with you. Together, we will work to meet our common goals, and I will support you in your endeavors to meet your own goals. I promise to comfort you should you be troubled, and smile with you when you are happy. I will share your sadness when you are sad, yet I will cheer you. I promise that, from this moment on, no weight will be too great for you for I am here to share your burdens. Should you need to be carried, I promise to gently lift you up and carry you in my arms. I pledge myself to you now, to be eternally faithful to you in heart, mind, body, and spirit. Please accept this ring and always wear it as a symbol of my pledge to you and my love for you.

Cathy (placing ring on David's finger): I love you, David....with my entire being.

I charge you both as you seek happiness and oneness in your married life to be true to these vows and uphold the promises you have made to each other. With your marriage today, you begin a new life with greater responsibilities. To you both I say, let not your voices lose the tenderness and affection of sweethearts deeply in love. As you grow old and look back at your life together, may each of you be able to say, "It was wonderful."

Now, by the power vested in me by the State of South Carolina, I pronounce you husband and wife.

David, you may kiss your bride.

...and so our journey together as husband and wife has begun!!!!