Standard Wedding Vow

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Standard Wedding Vow Today, we are gathered in this place to witness the formal joining in the legal state of matrimony for this couple, according to the order and the custom prevailing and under the authority given and provided by the Province of British Columbia. The state of matrimony, as understood by us, is a state ennobled and enriched by a long and honourable tradition of devotion, set in the basis of the law of the land, assuring each participant an equality before the law, and supporting the common rights of each party to the marriage. There is assumed to be a desire for a life-long companionship, and a generous sharing of the help and comfort that a couple ought to have from each other, through whatever circumstances of sickness or health, joy or sorrow, prosperity or adversity, the lives of these parties may experience. Marriage is therefore not to be entered upon thoughtlessly or irresponsibly, but with a due and serious understanding and appreciation of the ends for which it is undertaken, and of the material, intellectual and emotional factors which will govern its fulfillment. It is by its nature a state of giving rather than taking, of offering rather than receiving, for marriage requires the giving of one’s self to support the marriage and the home in which it may flourish. It is into this high and serious state that these two persons desire to unite. Therefore, I charge and require of you both in the presence of these two witnesses and all the attending guests, that if either of you know of any legal impediment to this marriage, you do now reveal the same. Since there is no objection, may the couple join hand in hand and face each other. ___ please repeat after me: I solemnly declare that I do not know of any lawful impediment why I, ____, may not be joined in matrimony to ____. I call on those present to witness that I
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