Wedding Program for Mike Nishida and Melba Medley

 WEDDING PROGRAM
as officiated by Pastor Michael "Bong" Abagon
December 23, 2023

For Mike Nishida and Melba Medley


  1. Welcome:  We want to welcome you to Mike and Melba's Wedding Ceremony.   
  2. March - In:   (a) Groom; (b) Other Entourage - family members, etc... (c) Bride.    
  3. Opening Remarks.  Mike and Melba, God had ordained marriage from the past first with Adam and Eve.  God wants us to know that we need each other.  Marriage is the highest order where man and woman can have intimate connections.   This marriage should be a partnership of three not two.  God, Mike and Melba.  Like in a triangle illustration, the closer you get to God, the author of marriage, the closer you are to each other.   Mike and Melba, Keep God, His Son Jesus Christ at the center of your marriage.   
  4. Opening Prayer:  the congregation may be seated after.   
  5. The challenge to the bride and groom:   
    1. Communicate.  No one is perfect in communication.  However, you can get better everyday.  Learn to cultivate your "love language."  By communicating, you allow each other to speak without fear, and to express love without boundary.   (a) Communicate  your future.   (b) Communicate forgiveness.  (c) Communicate your faith.  
    2. Accommodate.  To accommodate means to learn to adapt.  It means that you have to stop living independently and start living together.  You maybe experienced, but you need to be humble enough to say, I'm here to learn -  so, learn each others ways.  Also, accomodate your children.   Your children still awaits for your wisdom and guidance, even though they are grown up. 
    3. Celebrate.  Acknowledge and celebrate achievements, both big and small.  Positive reinforcements fosters a supportive an encouraging atmosphere.  
  6. Addressing the Family: Children of Mike and Melba.   In Gene 2, God ordained marriage and he said, “24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”  The principle is simple, you have to let Mike and Melba grow in their love for each other.   Family, would you promise before God to love Mike and Melba, encourage them to love each other, and learn to let them go?  (Wait for a response, We do.)
  7. Ring Ceremony (Groom).  Face Each Other.   
    1. "Mike,  Do you take Melba, be your lawfully wedded wife? Wait for a response.   What token do you have to show your love to Melba?   Mike responds:   A ring.   
    2. 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. 
    3. Repeat after me....  "Melba, I take you as my wife, 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."  
  8. Ring Ceremony (Bride) 
    1. "Melba, you take this Mike to be your lawfully wedded husband?"  Wait for a response.   What token do you have to affirm your never-ending commitment to Mike?  Melba responds:  A ring.  
    2.  This Ring has no beginning and no end.  Let them be the symbol of your love to Mike.  A love that never ends.  
    3. Repeat after me....  "Mike, I take you as my husband, 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."   
  9. 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."   
  10. 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.  
  11. 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." ....
  12. Announcement and Postlude Dismissal (March-Out).  The entourage follows the bride and groom.  

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