Ceremony wording

Scott goes up to altar area

Adam walks down aisle with parents: Stand to Right of Altar

Music= Pachelbel’s Canon or whatever keyboardist has chosen!

Ring bearer and Flower Girl walk down Aisle.

Sign is held saying “Ahhh” as they walk down aisle

Kids reach front and sit down with nicole in front row.

Sign is held “Quiet Please”

Keyboardist starts bridal processional, Scott indicates that attendees rise

Meredith walks down aisle with parents: Music = here comes the bride

Scott stands facing the audience, Meredith and Adam face each other in front of him, parents standing to sides of each

Marriage. Marriage is what brings us together today.

Marriage, that blessed arrangement, that dream within a dream. Please be seated.

Parents, bride and groom stay standing!

Welcome to all, to this beautiful spot, with this magnificent grove surrounding us. Adam and Meredith have invited you here today to witness and celebrate this public declaration of the private commitment they have already made to one another.

We’ll start today by recognizing the role that Adam and Meredith’s parents have played in making them the people they are today. Both sets of parents have been married for more than 35 years, providing a living demonstration of commitment and love that Adam and Meredith would be wise to learn from. It is with this in mind that Adam and Meredith both wished to be walked along the aisle by both of their parents. And now we ask both parents to recognize and bless the decision that Adam and Meredith have made to spend their lives together.

Who today brings this bride to this groom?
Meredith’s Parents: We do

And who today brings this groom to this bride?
Adam’s Parents: We do

Parents sit down

Adam and Meredith would like thank you all for making the journey here today to be part of their very special day. Your presence is not only welcome but needed. Each of you has played an important role in their lives to this point and Adam and Meredith will depend upon your love and friendship, not only today but also in their lives together from this day forward.

[To all of the guests, and family] Do all of you, who have supported these two in friendship and love, who have been an integral part of the life that Adam and Meredith have come to cherish, now commit your ongoing support of their union and their married life together? Sign is held “We Do”
RESPONSE: "We do."

Please rise and join us in singing “All You Need is Love” you should have received lyrics with your programs.

Keyboardist plays first verse and chorus of “all you need is love”
Everyone sings All You Need is Love

Marriage is the promise of hope between two people who love each other sincerely, who honor each other as individuals, and who wish to unite their lives and share the future together. In this ceremony, Meredith and Adam dedicate themselves to the happiness and well-being of each other, in a union of mutual caring and responsibility.

Each comes to marriage as a separate person, who, through love and affection, agree to unite their lives in common purpose. Marriage, as in life, challenges us to find the best in each other, in times of joy, and in times of sorrow, to learn from each other, and to deepen our love, our compassion and our understanding of each other.

Before we get to the vows, Meredith and Adam have asked a few of their friends to read some passages. These come from favorite books and stories and each has a special meaning to Adam and Meredith.


Reading 1: I like you by Sandol Stoddard, read by Sam Siebert

Reading 2: Excerpts from the Phantom Tollbooth, read by Greg Howard

Reading 3: Corinthians re-translated, read by Steven Hall


Meredith and Adam, I will now ask you to declare you intention to marry before all of us.

Adam, do you take Meredith to be your wedded wife? Do you promise to love her, honor her, share in her happiness and comfort her in her sorrow and to be loyal and true through all the days of your life together?
Adam: I do

Meredith, do you take Adam to be your wedded husband? Do you promise to love him, honor him, obey him, share in his happiness and comfort him in his sorrow and to be loyal and true through all the days of your life together?
Meredith: I do

Adam and Meredith, even after knowing each other for 6 years, there will be more to learn. Will you always be open and honest, trust one another, and be worthy of that trust?
Adam and Meredith together: We will.

Marriage is an ongoing dialogue, a series of discussions that will help you find your way together. Will you communicate with each other fully, and fearlessly?
Adam and Meredith together: We will.

Every marriage requires a leap of faith. Will you work, even when the work is hard, to honor your vows?
Adam and Meredith together: We will.

When we exchange vows, we do more than simply repeat some words—we agree to something from the very deepest part of ourselves. We put the most essential part of our beings on the line and pledge ourselves to one another for life.

My wish for you today, Adam and Meredith, is that you will be able to put aside all the preparations, all the jitters and try your best to relax, and be present in this moment with me. Clear your heads and try to remember every word and cherish that memory. For most people, this is the most memorable few minutes of their life. So my wish for you today is that you enter into your vows with conviction, with your hearts open, and with presence of mind.

Meredith’s vows

Top five things I love about Adam. In no particular order

#1. I love you because wherever you go, fun seems to follow. I never laugh with anyone the way I laugh with you. I vow to keep laughing through the years, and to keep you laughing too.

2. I love you, because you are sort of like a blank scrabble tile. You fit in everywhere. You’re equally comfortable at the ballet as at a monster truck rally. Me, I’m more like a Q in a scrabble game without U’s. But, somehow, you make me feel like I fit so perfectly.

#3. I love you because you are the most caring person I know, forever taking care of those around. You always seem happiest when you are helping out a friend. I vow to take care of you too, as much and as often as you let me.

#4. I love you because you challenge me to the be best person I can be. Thank you for believing in me. You see me better than I am. I promise to try and live up to that.

#5. I love you because you are always up for the next crazy adventure. I promise to be right there with you, ready to jump in with both feet.

We’re up here in front of all of our friends and family, promising forever, and to be honest, it’s a bit scary. Half the time I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, let alone in ten years, or when we’re 80. But what I do know is, whatever the future may hold, I want to find out with you.

This is our biggest adventure yet. And I’m here, with my heart wide open, ready to take your hand, and jump in with both feet. I love you.


Adam’s vows

Meredith, I take you to be my wife.
I promise to be your partner, your companion, your advocate and your best friend through fun times and hard times.
I promise to support and encourage your interests, desires and aspirations and to accept your support and encouragement of my own.
I promise to celebrate your successes and mourn your losses as if they were my own.
I promise to always be ready for adventure and to hold tight to the spontaneity of our relationship even if that annoys your mother.
I promise to keep myself open to you, to live in truth with you and to communicate fully and fearlessly – even when I’m 5 minutes into going to sleep and you ask me to tell you something, I’ll always have something to say.
I promise to always be ready to put on a costume when the situation calls for it, and sometimes when it doesn’t
I promise to grow with you and to continue loving as we grow, to face changes and challenges with you, to overcome obstacles with you and to enjoy happiness and contentment with you.
I promise that if there’s something in my teeth, I’ll let you get it out for me, because that is teamwork.
Most of all I promise to love you.
In summary, and in the words of a wise woman, I think you’re cool and I thank you for marrying me.




As a tangible symbol of their commitment to one another, Meredith and Adam will be exchanging rings.

Can we have the rings please?

(Aaron will bring the rings up to Adam. Adam high fives Aaron. Adam gives rings to Scott).

Wedding rings are powerful symbols--both of intimate, never-ending love, and the circular ripples your union sends out to your family, your friends and, indeed, into the world. A ring is a circle, and the circle is sacred and absolute. It is the circle of the planets and their paths, of the sun and the moon, of time and timelessness. Of race tracks and bicycle wheels. Complete and never-ending, the circle, and these rings, symbolize the unity in which your lives are now joined and to which, wherever you go, you shall always return.

Also, the couple would like to add that the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle is Pi - an irrational number with no end - draw your own conclusions!Sign is held “big Belly Laugh”


Whenever you look at this ring, may it forever remind you of the promises you have made to each other this day. As you exchange rings, declare your commitment to each other.

Adam, repeat after me

(Adam puts ring on Meredith’s finger)

To Adam:
I give you this ring
As a token of my love and devotion
My faith in our strength together
And my promise to learn and grow with you

And now Meredith

(Meredith puts ring on Adam’s finger)

To Meredith:
I give you this ring
As a token of my love and devotion
My faith in our strength together
And my promise to learn and grow with you


Now, while you get to be entertained by a song from Katherine, I’d like to invite the witnesses to join us so we can make this thing legal.

(Scott, Adam, Meredith and witnesses (Yvonne and Elizabeth) go to side table to sign marriage license. Upon conclusion, all sit down until end of Katherine’s song.)

(After song, Scott, Adam and Meredith come forward again)
Adam and Meredith, we can see that you are each other’s best friend--may you continue to enjoy that good fortune. May you continue to nourish each other’s ideas and aspirations. You have already lived together, traveled together, and begun to build a life together. May that life, which you will now lead as husband and wife, be endlessly full of fine things to share.

But most importantly, my friends, you love each other, and you are in love. May this rare and powerful love of yours, the love we all celebrate with you today, give you strength and joy for the rest of your lives. And now it is both my duty and my very great pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife.

You may now kiss the bride.

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the newly wedded Adam Smith and Meredith Kremer.

Sign is held “Wild Applause””


(Post-kiss recessional starts: Too Fat Polka)