WELCOME

It is often said that it is love that makes the world go round.
However, without doubt, it is friendship, which keeps our spinning existence on an even keel.
True friendship provides so many of the essentials for a happy life –
It is the foundation on which to build an enduring relationship –
It is the mortar, which bonds us together in harmony –
And – it is the calm warm protection we sometimes need when the world outside seems cold and chaotic.
True friendship holds a mirror to our foibles and failings, without destroying our sense of worthiness.
True friendship nurtures our hopes, supports us in our disappointments,
and encourages us to grow to our best potential.
Murray and Charlotte came together as friends. Today, they pledge to each other not only their love,
but also the strength, warmth and, most importantly, the fun of true friendship.

I welcome you here today to witness and celebrate the marriage of Murray Leslie and Betina Charlotte,
and to share with them in their happiness and hopes for the future.

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INTRODUCTION

A marriage is not established in a moment of time.

The commitment today is made knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses and loving each other for them both.

They accept that over time they will change, but not in the commitment they make today for a loving enduring relationship.

Love knows no limits to its endurance,
no end to its trust, no fading of its hope.
It can outlast anything.

It is in fact, the one thing that stands when all else has fallen.

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THE READINGS

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THE DECLARATION OF INTENTION / BLESSING

Celebrant:
Keep your passion alive –
It will warm you when the
World around you grows cold.
It will not allow comfortable
Familiarity to rob you of that
Special glow that comes with
Loving deeply. It can lift
You over stonewalls of anger
And carry you across vast
Desserts of alienation. But it’s
Greatest gift is that of touch –
For passion cannot dwell in
Solitude – it thrives best in
Loving embrace. So keep your
Passion alive – hold one
Another as a tree holds the
Earth and your love will
Bear the fruit of many,
Many seasons.

Celebrant:
Murray and Charlotte, do you promise to share a relationship of love, tenderness and laughter,
will you stand by each other through all your tomorrow's,
respecting each other as a person, your individuality, your needs, your changes,
and enjoying each other's love through all your life together?

Bride & Bridegroom:
'We will'.

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DECLARATIONS

Celebrant:
If anyone here present knows of any reason why Murray and Charlotte cannot be legally married,
they should speak now of forever hold their peace.

THE GIVING AWAY

Celebrant:
Who gives Betina Charlotte Høgsted Andersen to be married to Murray Leslie Keig?

Bride's Father:
'I Erik Høgsted do '.

Celebrant:
Betina Charlotte do you come here today to be married freely and without reservations?

Bride:
'I do'.

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THE VOWS

Bridegroom:
I Murray ask you Betina Charlotte to be my wife.
You are all that I could ever wish for in my life, my friend, my lover, my everything and I want to share with you the rest of my life.
I promise to honour, respect, cherish and truly love you from this day and forever.

Bride:
I Betina Charlotte ask you Murray to be my husband.
You are all that I could ever wish for in my life, my friend, my lover, my everything and I want to share with you the rest of my life.
I promise to honour, respect, cherish and truly love you from this day and forever.

RING CEREMONY

Celebrant:
The earliest examples of wedding rings are Roman and they were made of iron representing the durability of marriage.
It was the ancient Egyptian belief that the vena amoris, the vein of love, ran directly from the heart to the tip of the third finger.

Bridegroom:
The fitting of this ring with it’s unending circle, symbolises my everlasting love for you.
The placing of this ring on your finger is the fulfilment of my dreams, to have you as my friend, my lover, my husband/wife,
to live as one forever.

Bride:
The fitting of this ring with it’s unending circle, symbolises my everlasting love for you.
The placing of this ring on your finger is the fulfilment of my dreams, to have you as my friend, my lover, my husband/wife,
to live as one forever.

Celebrant:
These wedding rings are a symbol of the vows you have just made.
Wear them as one of the visible signs of the love, which is binding your lives together.
As a ring is without edge or seams, has no beginning and no end, so it symbolizes the perfection of a love that will endure.
May they be a source of strength and inspiration in your future together.

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THE DECLARATION OF MARRIAGE

Celebrant:
Murray and Betina Charlotte have declared before all of us that they will live together in marriage.
They have made special promises to each other.
They have symbolised it by joining hands, taking vows and by exchanging rings.
Therefore on your behalf, I now declare them to be husband and wife.

THE SIGNING OF THE MARRIAGE REGISTER

Murray & Betina Charlotte signed register in front of the their celebrant Tom Baker,
witnessed by their friends Craig Eldred and Victoria Malloney.