Officiant: Please find your seats, the movie is about to begin.

Thank you.

PROCESSIONAL

Joyce and Josh

Kay and Dan

Natalie and Austin

Tessa and Tyler

Music change

Jess and Mike

INTRODUCTION

Officiant: Welcome to one of the most important moments of your lives. Today, Dan’s incessant question of “will you marry me” becomes “do you take me to be your husband” and Jess’ “yes” becomes “I do”

As you sit here with us today, we invite you to leave behind the worries and concerns of everyday life and join us in the celebration of marriage.

This is an opportunity for us to share not only in the joy of Jess and Dan’s love but also to reaffirm and appreciate the love and friendship we experience in our own lives.

Speaking of the love in our own lives, parents of the bride and groom, I kindly ask that you please rise.

The relationship between children and their parents is one that’s often understated, yet is very deep. One of the rare occasions where we acknowledge the depth of this relationship is at a wedding ceremony.

Today, Jess’ parents proudly stand with their daughter. And Dan’s parents proudly stand with their son.

They are displaying, for all of us to see, their individual and combined love for the couple. Thank you Mike and Joyce, and Sean and Kay, you may be seated.

Siblings of the bride and groom, myself included, I won’t make the rest of you stand, but know that you are also demonstrating your pride in these two today.

LEGALESE

We have now reached the part of your wedding day where everything shifts. On the one hand, you will walk away from this ceremony and nothing will have changed – still the same love, commitment, and life you’ve been building together. And, on the other hand, something will be profoundly different – because you will be married.

There have been many moments that have led us to this one here today:

When you first met each other

When everything clicked

And, when you both decided to make it official

Now, in this moment, it is time to give your consent in marriage.

Dan, do you take Jess to be your wife, your best friend, and love for life?

Dan: I do.

Jess, do you take Dan to be your husband, your best friend, and love for life?

Jess: I do.

VOWS

You have now consented to the sacred bond of marriage, and it is time to share your vows - the promises that will guide you in the years to come.

Jess, please state your promises.

JESS:

Today we have spent four years together, according to my definition of an anniversary, since you let me be right on this one. Amongst many other things.

While I’ve seen what a healthy relationship looks like, I never knew what a healthy relationship felt like until we got together. Sometimes you’re so level headed that I want you to get mad or sad. But even though your spectrum of emotions is nowhere near the span of mine, the love that you have shown me has no limits. Sometimes you say I love you so many times in a dozen minutes that I have to tell you it’s too many. Because you make me feel like a parrot when I say I love you too. Squawk.

And you’ve asked me to marry you probably 300 times. Not quite every day for the past year, but pretty close. And here we are. As we look forward to many years together,

I promise:

To tell you I’m proud of you on a regular basis

And to expect an “I’m proud of you” whenever I beat you to a joke you wish you would’ve thought of first

To give you the space to be unequivocally you

To point out every bunny that I see in the wild, that is, if you don’t spot them first

To be your advocate in this world

To let you be my passenger princess

To care for you in any case of sickness or injury, self-inflicted or otherwise. Just please don’t put an axe in any more of your body parts but yes, I would still love you if you were missing a leg.

To start believing you when you say we’ll figure it out together

And to stand with, encourage, and support you in your quest to grow as a person. If we go down, we go down together.

I wasn’t expecting to find you, but I’m so glad I did.

Dan, please state your promises.

DAN:

Hi!

Jess:

Our relationship isn’t what any sane person would call “normal”, mostly because we’ve never let it be. Whether looking at the fact that we have exactly one anniversary, we met at sunrise on a beach, my car got stolen the second time we met, or the growing Army of Duckies we’re assembling, we’re not exactly “normal”. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I can’t wait to have the opportunity to share the rest of my life with you: the highs and the lows, the worst and the best, the dogs and the cats, the bunnies and the bees. As we prepare to make this whole shindig official and I can finally get a definitive answer to my question of “will you marry me”, I’m excited to make you these guarantees throughout our lives.

I promise:

To always love you, through the good times and especially the bad times.

To always ask you how your day was, and retain at least 50 percent of your response.

To never let you take yourself or life too seriously.

To always be a grammar critic with you.

To always treat every injury as if your body was permanently damaged, because you certainly will be.

To never stop pushing you to be your best, even when you want to give up on yourself.

To always make sure you've been fed and watered, my little orchid.

To always be your rock and your sounding board.

To never stop saying I love you a minimum of 20 times per day. I expect a response every time.

To always be by your side when you need me and when you don't.

To always be your babeh.

I wasn’t expecting to find you, but I’m so glad I did.

RINGS

Though we have heard the vows, words, once spoken, are gone with the wind.

However, the wedding ring is a visible symbol of the promises that have been made here today.

Each of their rings holds a special meaning. Dan’s wedding ring is made of shipwreck silver which was carried across the seas on a once-sturdy sailing ship. May the ship of your love carry you for the remainder of your lives, and not wreck. Jess’ wedding ring was made by a Michigan based jeweler that she met at Madison’s Art Fair on the Square. She has gone to the same fair for several years with her grandma, mom, and most recently her dad. Love, like their wedding rings, can often be found in the most unexpected of places.

May we please have the rings?

May these rings be a constant reminder of the promises you have made today.

Please place each other’s rings.

PRONOUNCEMENT

May the two of you be blessed with a lifetime of health, wealth, love, success and happiness. May you continue to support one another in the wonderful way that you already do, may your love and connection grow exponentially over the years, and may your life together flourish as you walk the journey of it - hand in hand.

By the power vested in me by the State of Wisconsin, and by the power of your own commitment and choice within, I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride!

PRESENTATION OF COUPLE

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is now my pleasure to present for the first time as a married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel and Jessica Reppen.

Recessional

Thank you all so much for joining us for the ceremony. Please proceed up the stairs this way or up the sidewalk.