Traditional Wedding Program

WEDDING PROGRAM TEMPLATE

as officiated by Pastor Michael "Bong" Abagon
August 23, 2023

For Eric Sangel and Ria Cabanero

1. Welcome:  We want to welcome you to ______________  and _________________ Wedding Ceremony.   
2. March - In:   Entourage may consist of God Parents; Parents; Grooms Men and Bridal Party; Ring and Flower; Bride marched in by the Father or the Parents of the bride.  
3. Opening Prayer:  the congregation may be seated after.   
4. Addressing the Parents:  When God made both Adam and Eve, In Gene 2, God said, “24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”  Moms and Dad, you have to let _____________ and _______________ live their independent lives.   It’s like flying a kite.   The longer you release the string, the higher the kite.  (1) Show your love and express your faith.  (2) You want your children to soar, learn to let go. You are not losing a child, you are actually gaining another one.  Parents, Would you promise before God to love your children, show your faith, and learn to let go?  (Wait for a response, We do.)
5. Giving Away:   Who gives this woman to be married to this man?  The man takes the woman.    
6. The challenge to the bride and groom:   In Ephesians 5:21, the Bible says we need to submit to one another.  Yes!  (1) Discover together, discover yourselves, discover the future (2) Support each other, at times, life will not make sense  (3) Keep Jesus and His Church the center of your lives, if there’s one thing that never changes it is God and His word.  Would you today commit your life to Jesus and honor Him as your Savior and Lord?   
7. Veil and Cord:   The bride and groom kneel as the entourage places the veil and the cord.  The pastor explains the veil and cord.   The veil and the cord are part of our culture.  They veil symbolizes the purity of your relationship and the cord symbolizes the strength of the bond of your unity.   Purity and unity.   
8. Addressing the Entourage:  When the bride and groom asked who would be the most important people to place at the special seat of their celebration, ... they didn't look for other special people - they sought you.   As the entourage, your responsibility is not just to look pretty today, or to visit the couple once a year.  You are to be their best of friends who seek ways to help enrich trust, loyalty, and love.   The Bible in Proverbs 18:24 says, "One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Are you the friends who would be closer than a brother?  Do you promise to come alongside and help enrich trust, loyalty, and love?  Yes, we will.   The entourage removes the veil and the cord.   
9. Ring Ceremony (Groom).  "________________,  Do you take this woman, ____________to be your lawfully wedded wife? This Ring in time immemorial has been a symbol of a pack.   The Knights of the round table would exchange rings.   Warriors would pledge commitment until death. May your love and devotion promise love until death do you part. 
   Repeat after me....  "___________, I take you as my __________, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, excluding all others, as long as we both shall live.  With God as my witness, I give you this promise."  
10. Ring Ceremony (Bride) "_______________, you take this man, _____________,  to be your lawfully wedded husband..."  What token do you have to affirm your never-ending commitment to ___________?  A ring.   This Ring has no beginning and no end.  Let them be the symbol of your love to ____________.  A love that never ends.  
    Repeat after me....  "___________, I take you as my __________, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, excluding all others, as long as we both shall live.  With God as my witness, I give you this promise."   
11. Candle and Signature.   The couple walks up together to light the candle and stays up in the stage.   "As a symbol of your unity, I will ask you to light the Unity Candle.  When two flames are together, it is a symbol of love and a brighter future.   Jesus said, let your light so shine before men.  May your light each other and make you better.  And may others be better because of your light.  After which, you will affix your signature to a wedding certificate to legalize your unity before this state."   
12. Addressing the Crowd:   Weddings are great but marriages could be a drag.  More than 50% of marriages end in divorce.   There’s an adage that says, it takes a village to raise a child.  I propose today, that it takes a village to keep a marriage.  Congregation, we need your help.    (1) Be present (2) Listen (3)  Be faithful.   Do you take this solemn pledge?  Yes we do.  
13. Pronouncement.   Bride and groom face the minister.   "And now, by the power vested upon me as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ and in accordance with the laws of the state of Hawaii, I now pronounce you as husband and wife.   You may now kiss the bride." ....
14. Announcement and Postlude Dismissal (March-Out).  The entourage follows the bride and groom.