Weddings in the U.S.V.I. by Fantasia

Let us take a moment to mediate on the sacrament of marriage, open our hearts to our Creator to enter this ceremony, and give thanks for the beauty that surrounds us.

(Names) we are about to experience a miracle. This miracle is the joining of two lives in peace which becomes this inspiration that forms a family.

All of your moments together have led up to this exchange of vows and have prepared you as you promise to be each other's lifetime partner. This is a most special gift which you are about to share, which has been carefully nurtured and polished to give to one another. This gift cannot be bought in a store or found under a tree. This is the gift of love that can only be shared in marriage. May its radiance never diminish, even as the sea around us.

We are joyfully gathered today to witness and to celebrate the joining of two lives in marriage, Let us rejoice with each other in the making of this important covenant. The essence of this covenant is the taking of each other in entirety, as an everlasting lover, friend and companion. It is, therefore, a decision which has not been entered into lightly but rather undertaken with great consideration and respect for one another.

We have come together in the hope that the love which has brought you both to this union may go out beyond itself into the lives of others. Thus, we ask that your promises and hopes be realized. We ask that you both be granted the patience to listen, the capacity to understand, the compassion to give comfort and the joy to laugh and just to be together.. Most importantly, let your marriage make a home where neither person is a stranger, and, remember, it is just as important to be the right partner as it is to choose the right partner.

Let your marriage offer illumination and growth. Bask in the joy of shared discoveries. Let your union be strong enough to endure the darkness of all things. May silence and despair never separate you; may you always return to each other.

I, (name), will share my life openly with you, (name).
I will walk hand in hand with you.
I will grow with you, not away from you, in each of our discoveries.
I will support your strengths with love and honesty and protect you,
as we go forth together into this world as two yet one.

Let these rings which you are about to exchange, serve to remind us that a circle is a symbol of the sun, the earth and the universe, of wholeness, peace and unity. Your rings are circles which have no beginning and no ending. They are tokens of this growing relationship you have come here today to celebrate and confirm, emblems of eternity which can never be tarnished, and which are without end, to show how imperishable is the faith that you have now mutually pledged before witness and to God.

As a symbol of your faithfulness, and then to the other, place the rings on each other's finger and repeat after me, "I accept you (name), as my partner, as my friend, and as my (husband/wife), through all of the experiences life holds for us, in abiding faith and love."

OUR WEDDING BLESSING

Be together in harmony and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Empower each other and allow your relationship to evolve to its highest purpose. Nourish each others possibilities and lift up each others spirits. Care for one another, share your love openly and let it be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Sing and dance together and be joyful. Share your lives with each other and unite your love with our Creator. May your union last through all of your moments together, so that in the triumphs and the trials that lie ahead, you will feel just as you do now - happy to be in love and married to one another. Go then, in peace, and live more and more in the present, which is beautiful and stretches away beyond the limits of the past and towards the horizons of the future.

Having witnessed the vows you have just made to each other, surrounded by your love, (and by the sand, the sun and the sea of the Virgin Islands), by the loving grace of our Highest Power and by the authority vested in me, upheld by the laws of the U.S. Virgin Islands, I now pronounce you husband and wife,

Optional Nautical Reading for marriages on sailboats, yachts and cruise ships.

May you be each other's navigator in the course of life's voyages, and each other's anchor in the rough seas that may lie ahead, so that through this journey your love may have the strength of the powerful sun which can break away any dark cloud that may come your way. And as each other's mate for life, may you be at the helm of your own and each other's destiny.

We ask our Creator now for your safety and to bless you as you complete your voyage on the seas and in the course of your marriage.