Yes, we really took a selfie during the ceremony…
Yesterday, I had the extreme honor of marrying two of my great friends, Robert and Jacki Best. I really appreciated all the compliments on the ceremony. Many people asked about the script so I decided to post it. What follows is simply the script I wrote. It is not meant to be grammatically correct, rather structured how I wanted it to sound:
Who gives this woman to be wedded to this man?
Please be seated.
Welcome everyone. Thank you so much for coming to this celebration. Today we join together two families, two hearts, and two beautiful people as they enter the next chapter of their lives together. Soon, you’ll all be able to drink, laugh, and… Looking around the room today, I’ve decided to amend my previous statement… Soon you’ll all be able to CONTINUE to drink, laugh, and wish Robert and Jacki all the happiness in the world. But first, I’d like to talk to you a little bit about faith.
Faith is an intriguing concept. What is faith? How does one acquire faith? How do we know what to have faith in? How does Faith Hill continue to look so young? These are questions that have boggled mankind for millennia. Some people are lucky. Some people are just born with it. They have this unflappable confidence in who they are and where they are going in life. Nothing can affect their happiness and positive outlook on the world. To those of you who have this faith, from those of us who were not born quite so lucky, I’d like to extend you all a big, old, hearty… good for you.
Another group of us finds faith through the words of others. Voltaire once wrote: “Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.” Another quote, this time from Mahatma Gandhi, “Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.” Or, “The Ultimate Answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything is… 42.” From Douglas Adams.
We can all lose our faith. It is one of the great ironies of life that all of us feel doubt and fear, and yet even though we all experience these feelings, they make us feel alone. We live in a world full of joy, but also of fear, and doubt. There’s a great, old, tale about a father and son walking through the forest together. The son was questioning how he wanted his life to play out. Should he travel early or settle down right away? What type of work should he go into? And on and on and on… The father quietly picks up a stick and hands it to his son. “If you throw this stick,” he says. “Where will it go?” “Whichever way I want it to,” replied the confused son. “No, I want you to tell me exactly what will happen to the stick when you throw it. What trees will you hit? How will it bounce? Where will it land?” The son, still slightly confused, predicts he will hit one tree, bounce into another, and land softly in a pile of leaves nearby. “Ok,” the father says. “Throw the stick.” The son throws it, misses both trees and it lands on the ground, tumbling end over end before coming to rest next to a third tree. The son slumps his shoulders and looks down before looking up at his father. The father says simply, “The important thing, is to throw the stick.”
We search for meaning and strength through all the chaos and seeming disorder around us. That search inevitably leads us to one thing. Love. Love is the eternal force of life. Love is the force that allows us to face that fear and doubt and throw the stick with courage and strength, knowing that no matter the result, joy awaits in the outcome. There is no right or wrong thing to have faith in. The important thing is that we desperately hang on to those around us who inspire us to have faith. There are no two more generous souls on the planet than Robert and Jacki. And no one more deserving of the love and faith they have found in and with each other.
Jacki. Robert. I’m going to ask you to please take each other’s hands.
Feel the warmth and love running through those hands and have faith that no matter what may come, that love you feel, will be in those hands for you. The hands that when they touched you for the first time, sparked the feelings flowing through you now. The hands that will hold you close during times of fear and doubt, wiping away your tears and bringing you the comfort of knowing that everything will be ok. These are the hands that will eventually be joined by much tinier hands when you start your new family together in the future. And perhaps most importantly, these are the hands of your best friend, and even when both of your hands are wrinkled and aged, they will still be reaching for yours, providing you that same unspoken love and strength with just a simple touch.
May we please have the bride’s ring?
Robert, please place the ring on Jacki’s finger.
Jacki, please repeat after me.
I, Jacki.
Am proud to take you Robert.
To be my husband.
I promise to nurture your goals and ambitions
To support you through your misfortunes
And celebrate your triumphs
I promise to show you every day
That I know
Exactly how lucky I am
To have you in my life
Because we are a team
For now, and always.
May we please have the groom’s ring?
Jacki, please place the ring on Robert’s finger.
Robert, please repeat after me.
I, Robert.
Am proud to take you Jacki.
To be my wife.
I promise to nurture your goals and ambitions
To support you through your misfortunes
And celebrate your triumphs
I promise to show you every day
That I know
Exactly how lucky I am
To have you in my life
Because we are a team
For now, and always.
I now pronounce you husband and wife.
Robert, you may kiss the bride.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am about to introduce you to the happy new couple… but first… lemme take a selfie!
Ladies and Gentlemen… Mr. and Mrs. Robert Best!!
A Wandering Commentary 