Please see the script below, with the words in italics that the couple will repeat after the registrar:
Good morning/afternoon everyone. On behalf of my colleague (Registrar 2’s name), and myself (Registrar 1’s name), I would like to welcome you to (ceremony venue) to celebrate the love between (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name).
I would like to welcome you here, on this, their special day. It means a great deal to (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name) that you can be with them to witness their vows and share in their happiness.
Committed relationships are a desire by two people to share themselves and their experiences with each other and a willingness to accept each other for who they are.
It means making a commitment to developing co-operation, friendship, and mutual respect. It calls for honesty, patience, and of course humour! Each partner cares for the other and supports them in all that they do.
It demands courage, the courage to be open, the courage to grow and change, and the courage to sort out together, the tasks of everyday living.
Relationships require closeness and distance, closeness for a couple growing together and enough distance to allow each partner to be individual. A good partner will be loving, caring, and above all a best friend.
It is in this spirit that (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name) are now before us. In each other’s company they have found happiness, fulfilment and love. They now wish to reaffirm their relationship with this commitment ceremony.
[1st READING (OPTIONAL)]
(Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name), you have gathered about you those whom you love, to celebrate with you at this special time.
Do you, (Partner 1’s name), promise to spend your life with (Partner 2’s name), meeting each new joy and sorrow together, continuing to deepen your understanding of them, treating them with kindness and compassion, and welcoming each new chapter of life together with a spirit of curiosity and patience?
I do.
Do you, (Partner 2’s name), promise to spend your life with (Partner 1’s name), meeting each new joy and sorrow together, continuing to deepen your understanding of them, treating them with kindness and compassion, and welcoming each new chapter of life together with a spirit of curiosity and patience?
I do.
(Partner 1’s name), please repeat after me:
I (Partner 1’s name), make my vow to you, (Partner 2’s name), in the presence of this company: I promise to be a true and faithful partner, and support you in all life’s circumstances, as we face them together. I choose to spend today, and all of my tomorrows, with you.
(Partner 2’s name), please repeat after me:
I (Partner 2’s name), make my vow to you, (Partner 1’s name), in the presence of this company: I promise to be a true and faithful partner, and support you in all life’s circumstances, as we face them together. I choose to spend today, and all of my tomorrows, with you.
[PERSONAL VOWS (OPTIONAL)]
[2nd READING (OPTIONAL)]
A ring is an unbroken circle, it has no beginning and no end. It symbolises un-ending and everlasting love and is an outward sign of the lifelong promise you have just made to each other.
(Partner 1’s name), please repeat after me:
This ring is a symbol of our commitment to each other. Let it be a symbol of our union, in which our lives are joined, in one unbroken circle.
(Partner 2’s name), please repeat after me:
This ring is a symbol of our commitment to each other. Let it be a symbol of our union, in which our lives are joined, in one unbroken circle.
[GUESTS’ VOWS (OPTIONAL)
Although the decision to make a commitment to one another is a very personal one, a huge amount of value is gained by making a commitment in front of your families and close friends.
Will the guests please stand.
I am now going to ask all of you, assembled here today, to lend your verbal support to this couple, and I am expecting the response: ‘We will’.
As friends and family of (Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name), who have witnessed the joy and happiness during their time as a couple, will you support them on their journey together, and help them honour the promises they have made to each other?
We will.
[3rd READING (OPTIONAL)]
(Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name), the vows you have made constitute a public pledge of your love for each other.
(Partner 1’s name) and (Partner 2’s name), this day is the start of a new life for you together. We hope that the feelings of love that you have for each other will deepen and grow even stronger throughout the years to come.
You have both now made solemn promises to one another in the presence of your family and friends gathered here today. You have also chosen to exchange rings as a symbol of your love and commitment to each other.
It is my pleasure to declare that you are now joined in love! You may now kiss each other!
[SIGNING OF THE COMMEMORATIVE CERTIFICATE]