Commitment Ceremonies
There are various reasons why people can not or do not choose to get Married.
But this does not mean that your relationship shouldn't be recognised and celebranted.
At the core
of a Marriage Ceremony and a Commitment Ceremony are the vows. These are
the promises made to each other for life.
People make these vows, not for legal, cultural or religious reasons.
They make these vows because they love each other and want to recognise
and celebrate the special partnership they have.
Formalising your partnership can be as intermit as you choose or can include friends and family, the people that are special in your life.
Whether it is a Commitment Ceremony or a Marriage Ceremony, most would agree, that it is not the signing of a piece of paper that formalises the commitment. It is the courage and commitment that is taken to stand up in front of your partner and your friends or family and make a promise of love for the rest of your life.
I would be delighted to work with you to create a ceremony that truly reflects the love you share and celebrates it in your own special way.
Legal Implications and Registration
Although
Commitment Ceremonies have no legal implication you may wish to have your
Commitment Ceremony formally registered. In NSW there is a Relationship
Declaration Program.
Introduction
To begin, on behalf of
the Kenneth and Jacks Families, I would like to welcome you all here this
afternoon. My name is Michael Teulon, I am a civil celebrant and I'm here
to day to solemnise at this Commitment Ceremony.
Kenneth and Jack are delighted that so many of you are her today, many
having travelled great distances, to share this very important moment
with them.
Family and friends are important to Kenneth and Jack, which is why it
is so important for them to have you here today, as they make their vows
- promises of commitment, made in the hearts of two people in love, which
lasts a lifetime.
Today we celebrant Jack
and Ken's commitment to each other and also their commitment to life -
to the best that two people can find and bring out in each other and encourage
new experiences that that you may not dare try on your own.
In a few minutes, after Kenneth and Jack have made their Vows I will ask
them to formalise this ceremony by signing a Register and Certificates.
But, by the time I ask them to sign this pieces of paper in their hearts
and in ours they will have already made their commitment to each other.
Because it is not the signature, the scribe on a piece of paper that matters,
it is the courage and commitment it takes to stand up in front of people
they love and respect and make a promise that will last the rest of your
life. It's a pretty big call.
So, don't think you are here today as innocent bystanders, because you
have all been asked here, today, to participate. You are here to perform
a role far more important than any piece of paper can. You are here today
to witnesses Kenneth and Jack make a promise of love, a potential that
will take a life time to fulfil.
Reading by John Bell
Sonnet CXVI (William Shakespeare)
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken:
It is the star to every wandering bark:
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
William, Shakespear (1564-1616)
Asking
At this point, before you make your vows I remind you of the solemn nature of the commitment you are about to enter. With this in mind I now like to ask each of you
Will you Kenneth take Jack to be your life long partner, to share your life with him, and do you pledge that you will love, honour and care for him, with tenderness and affection, through all the varying experiences of your life?
Ken: I will.
Will you Jack take Kenneth to be your life long partner, to share your life with him, and do you pledge that you will love, honour and care for him, with tenderness and affection, through all the varying experiences of your life?
Jack: I will.
Vows
Kenneth please repeat after me.
I, Kenneth, take you, Jack to be my life partner, to have and to hold from this day forward through good times as well as bad and I promise to be true to you as long as we both shall live.
Jack please repeat after me.
I, Jack, take you, Kenneth to be my life partner, to have and to hold from this day forward through good times as well as bad and I promise to be true to you as long as we both shall live.
Ring Ceremony
Traditionally, a commitment
like this made here today is marked by the exchange of rings. These rings
are a symbol of the unbroken circle of love. Love freely given has no
beginning and no end. Love freely given has no giver and no receiver -
for each is the giver and each is the receiver of love. May these rings
remind you always of the vows you have taken here today and the .
Kenneth please take Jack's hand and repeat after me.
I place this ring on your finger, wear it as our symbol of our continuing and on going relationship.
Jack please take Ken's hand and repeat after me.
I place this ring on your finger, wear it as our symbol of our continuing and on going relationship.
Reading by Paullina
I carry your heart with me - by e.e Cummings
I carry your heart with
me
I carry it in my heart
I am never without it
anywhere you go, my dear;
and whatever is done by only me
is your doing, my darling.
I fear no fate
for you are my fate, my sweet
I want no world
for beautiful you are my world,
my true
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you.
Here is the deepest secret
nobody knows
here is the root of the root
and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky,
of a tree called life;
which grows higher than the soul can hope
or mind can hide
and this is the wonder
that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart, i carry it in my heart.
The Register
I would now like to ask Kenneth and Jack and their witness Stephen and Tammy to join me as we sign the register.
(Signing of the register and certificates)
Declaration
Kenneth and Jack, in front of theses witnesses here today, you have made your promises to share your lives together in accordance with your vows. So, it is with great pleasure, I now pronounce you Life Partners.