Chris and Danelle Irons

Processional

We are here today as family and friends, in the presence of God, to celebrate Chris Irons and Danelle (Danielle) Lyman on their wedding day.

Marriage is a beautiful union of two souls in love, who are bound together by their covenant to love one another for the rest of their lives.

Welcome/Prayer

Please join me as we begin with prayer.

Father God, we are so grateful that you, the creator of heaven and earth, love us, care about us, and listen to our prayers. Lord, we ask that you would bless Chris and Dan(ielle) today and every day in their marriage. Help them to start today and take steps to establish you as the foundation of their marriage, and to love one another in good times and bad. We ask all this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Welc

Giving Away of Bride

Who gives this woman to this man? JOE

Father of the Bride: Her mother and I.

You may be seated.

Declaration of Intent

Chris and Dan(ielle), it is time for you both to declare your intentions in coming here today.

Dan(ielle), do you take Chris to be your husband? And do you promise to love him, honor him, and be faithful to him as long as you both live? If so, please say, “I do.”

Dan(ielle): I do.

Chris, do you take Dan(ielle) to be your wife? And do you promise to love her, honor her, and be faithful to her as long as you both live? If so, please say, “I do.”

Chris: I do.

Love Message

As a pastor, I have the joy of being a part of many wedding ceremonies.

I get to sit down with couples and hear all about how they met, fell in love, and how their lives have been changed through their love for one another.

But what is love?

But what is love?

Love is a very common word. We use it in many different ways. We say, "I love you," to the person we care about most in the world, but we also say, "I love chocolate."

Certainly, we don't love our significant other the same way that we love chocolate. Yet, we have no better words to express ourselves.

So what is love, really?

As we heard in , love is patient, kind, and forgiving among many other things.

Notice we don’t see the Bible declaring, “Love is a feeling.”

Most people, when thinking about love, think about the emotion - the romance of falling in love and the desire to share every moment, and learn everything about this other person. We think of the kind of love we see in movies that usually end with a wedding like this.

But love is far more than an emotion. Emotions are fleeting. They are here one moment and gone the next.

Anyone who has been married longer than a day knows that the feeling of love comes and goes. Marriage is not easy because true love is more than a feeling; it's a choice.

If you want your marriage to be strong and to last, you must choose every day to love the other.

If you choose to do this, your marriage will be one of the most fulfilling, rewarding, and fruitful parts of your entire life.

The perfect example of love is found in Jesus, who sacrificed everything and humbled himself by taking on the form of a man, coming down from heaven to earth to die for us.

He chose to give up his life so that all who believe in him could have life.

Jesus' sacrifice was out of his great love for us. There is no greater love than to lay down your life for another.

In the same way, my hope is that you, Dustin and Kate, would lay down your lives for one another—giving of yourself to the other in the same way that Jesus gave his life for you.

Dustin, each day choose to love Kate by putting her desires ahead of your own.

Kate, each day choose to love Dustin by putting his desires ahead of your own.

This feeling of your wedding day will fade in time, and in those moments, you both must choose to love.

Prayer for Love

Personal Remarks

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 NLT

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians

Notice we don’t see the Bible declaring, “Love is a feeling.”

Notice we don’t see the Bible declaring, “Love is a feeling.”

Most people, when thinking about love, think about the emotion - the romance of falling in love and the desire to share every moment, and learn everything about this other person. We think of the kind of love we see in movies that usually end with a wedding like this.

But love is far more than an emotion. Emotions are fleeting. They are here one moment and gone the next.

Anyone who has been married longer than a day knows that the feeling of love comes and goes. Marriage is not easy because true love is more than a feeling; it's a choice.

If you want your marriage to be strong and to last, you must choose every day to love the other.

If you choose to do this, your marriage will be one of the most fulfilling, rewarding, and fruitful parts of your entire life.

The perfect example of love is found in Jesus, who sacrificed everything and humbled himself by taking on the form of a man, coming down from heaven to earth to die for us.

He chose to give up his life so that all who believe in him could have life.

Jesus' sacrifice was out of his great love for us. There is no greater love than to lay down your life for another.

In the same way, my hope is that you, Chris and Dan(ielle), would lay down your lives for one another—giving of yourself to the other in the same way that Jesus gave his life for you.

Chris, each day choose to love Dan(ielle) by putting her desires ahead of your own.

Dan(ielle), each day choose to love Chris by putting his desires ahead of your own.

This feeling of your wedding day will fade in time, and in those moments, you both must choose to love.

Prayer for Love

Personal Remarks

Personal Remarks

Vows

Please face each other and join hands.

Dan(ielle). Repeat after me.

We will start with you Dustin. Repeat after me.

Dustin: I Dustin – take you Kate – to be my wife – To have and to hold – From this day forward – For better, or worse – For richer, or poorer – In sickness, and in health – To love and to cherish – All the days of my life

Kate please repeat after me.

Kate: I Kate – take you Dustin– to be my husband – To have and to hold – From this day forward – For better, or worse – For richer, or poorer – In sickness, and in health – To love and to cherish – All the days of my life

I, Dan(ielle), take you, Chris. to be my husband. I promise before God and these witnesses to cherish you, and to be your loving and faithful wife, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live. This is my solemn vow.

Chris, repeat after me.

I, Chris, take you, Dan(ielle), to be my wife. I promise before God and these witnesses to cherish you, and to be your loving and faithful husband, in plenty and in want, in joy and sorrow, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live. This is my solemn vow.

Rings

Chris and Dan(ielle) will now exchange rings as a symbol of their commitment to each other.

May I have the rings, please.

These rings are to be a reminder of the promise you have made today. Notice the circle of the ring has no beginning and no end. It is an eternal circle meant to represent your life-long vow to love each other.

The ring is also made from purified precious metals, symbolic of the purity of your promise to remain faithful to each other.

Dan(ielle), please put this ring on Chris’ finger and repeat after me:

With this ring - I marry you - and bind my life to yours - with all of my heart - and all of my soul.

Chris, please put this ring on Dan(ielle’s) finger and repeat after me:

With this ring - I marry you - and bind my life to yours - with all of my heart - and all of my soul.

Doves

 White doves are the symbol of Love, Peace and Hope.

 They pair for life, and at the end of each day they return to the same home for the night.

They return to the same home for the night.

As Chris and Dan(ielle) release these doves, we get to witness this symbolic gesture of the beginning of their new life together.

Chris and Dan(ielle), we wish you love, that, like the doves, continues to soar. We wish you peace as you work together to build a home and life together. And we join in your hope for a long and happy, love-filled marriage.

That, like the doves, continues to soar. We wish you peace as you work together To develop a home And we join in your hope for a long and happy marriage.

Release the doves

Kiss

You have come before us and before God and have expressed your desire to be husband and wife.

You have shown your love and affection by joining hands, have made promises of faith and devotion to each other, and have sealed these promises by the giving and receiving of rings.

You have symbolized your union together by releasing doves.

Chris and Dan(ielle) have consented together to marriage, and have made their vows before God and these witnesses, and have symbolized their vows by exchanging rings and releasing doves.

I now by my authority as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, pronounce you as husband and wife.

May those whom God has joined together let no one separate.

You may kiss the bride.

Pronouncement

It is my privilege to present to you for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Chris Irons!