The Story: Your Personal Journey

The Bride and Groom, Shamila and Marcel - they have their story

Your Personal Story in the Wedding Ceremony

What you should know 

From time immemorial myths and stories have been a basic component of almost every good ceremony, Only the top quality professional celebrants are trained to co-write personal stories.
It is similar to on-site rehearsals. If a celebrant tries to dissuade you from having a personal story or an on-site rehearsal move on to the next celebrant on your list. 

The Personal Journey - and see examples below!

Nothing personalises a wedding ceremony more than an introduction that tells the story of the couple meeting, developing their relationship, and deciding to get married. This introduction can state to everyone present why the bride and groom love each other, tell their family and friends what they mean to them, and state the couple's vision for their future together.

Writing this introduction is a creative, demanding, and sometimes time-consuming task. The couple may do it themselves, but often a quality celebrant writes it or co-writes it. Graduates of the College of Celebrancy are trained to do this as a matter of course.

Here are some examples. There is a plan on page 9 of Ceremonies and Celebrations and examples are found throughout the text. (To buy a hard copy call ‭0411 128 285‬ ) 

(Louis and Debra -
an example of personal story -
names and identifiers changed !)

Louis and Debra met at the Yale University Computer School in their first year. It was not love at first sight - quite the opposite. Debra, who was interviewing for a position with the Yale Student Union, dismissed Louis, judging him to be strong-willed, independent, arrogant and difficult to work with.

A year passed and fate threw them together in a team working for the same cause. They were, and still are, visionaries, idealists and enthusiastic workers for a good purpose. Inevitably they worked late together. Louis particularly remembers that late one night he offered to walk Debra back to her dorm, which was some distance away.

So they began to date.

Debra recalls that it was March 2017, in the autumn of their first year in graduate school, when she decided that Louis was the lucky man with whom she was going to spend the rest of her life. He knew nothing about this, of course. One day Debra told him she loved him. This sent him into a state of shock and he was speechless for some time. Time passed, the relationship strengthened and in September 2001 they formally decided to be together.

On a day away, underneath a tree in the back courtyard of a small church, Louis presented Debra with the precious stone, as the new setting wasn't ready, and then asked her to marry him. She said yes.

Two weeks later Louis read, and I quote Debra, "an incredibly sweet, heartfelt poem" at their engagement party and, with 60 of their closest friends as witnesses, got down on one knee, and put the finished ring, setting and all, on his beloved's finger.

Debra feels she can trust Louis with her innermost secrets. She loves his kindness. Even to complete strangers. She admires his patience, his generosity and playfulness. He has a sense of fun, strength of will and a willingness to try new things. He has an interest in life, travel and exploring new cultures. She likes it that he can stand his ground and face a difficult conversation.

She likes the look of him -- his smile, his bright eyes and his impish grin. He is a great hugger, a good dancer, and a man who can cook -- but only on the grill!

Louis loves Debra for her infectious laugh, and her ability to enjoy herself and have fun. He admires her kindness and the way she gives of herself to what she believes in. He feels privileged to be marrying an idealist and a visionary -- a person with a sense of the spiritual values, which are important in both of their lives.

Louis and Debra believe that marriage is a commitment and that it requires work. It means mutual, creating trust and safety, sharing joy and sorrow, and making space for both individual growth and growth together.

They are both very family-minded. Each of them want to acknowledge today the huge debt they owe to their parents and other family members. They want to acknowledge you, their friends. Each and every one of you is very special to Debra and Louis.

They want you to share their joy today, and they call on you to recognise their commitment to each another. They ask you to support them in their marriage.

What are their hopes for the future? They want to love and support each other. They want to love and support you, their families and friends. They want to have a personal and positive impact on their community and the world. They look forward to growing their own family and bringing up children.

Louis and Debra see their marriage today as recognising social tradition and taking part in a rite of passage. To them, this rite of passage has no weight without it being observed and remembered by you, the people they love.

Michael and Lisa -
older couple

If you love someone
You set her free
She will return
If it's meant to be

If you love someone
You set him free
He will return
If it's meant to be

The higher power that gives life and meaning to the Universe brought Michael and Lisa together today. That is how they feel about the way their lives have weaved and twisted, gone down to the depths of the nether world, and back to the sunlight of freedom, inner strength and happiness.

Their individual paths have not been easy. As most of you know, they have both have had their struggles with life and it has been a long, tough journey. But they rejoice in their mutually strengthening relationship, which they are celebrating today in this ceremony.

Let me tell you about them. They were friends at school, where Michael carried Lisa's books, captivated and infatuated by her winning smile and feminine ways. She sat behind him in Row U; he was in front of her in Row T -- the chemistry, the electricity was there then.

They went their different ways. Michael became a flower child of the 60s; Lisa became a nurse. Addiction crept into their lives and began to harm them as people. After years, they both found their way into the 12 Step Recovery Program and eventually reconnected deeply in September 2021.

Lisa reveres Michael for his ability to seize the moment and live in it. She admires his belief that a divine power lives within him and she sees it reaching out from him to her, to family and friends like you, giving love and strength to you and it coming back to him. She admires his generosity, his respect for all people and creation, his open-mindedness, his sense of humour, his balance and, when the occasion calls for it, his sense of command, which reminds her of Yul Brynner in 'The King and I'.

John's Gospel (21.25) says about the deeds of Jesus that "if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written". Well, Michael feels that if he wrote all he loved about Lisa, the world could not contain all the paper -- but we have managed to fit a few things on a page!

He lists first her compassion, her respect for life, her humor, her generosity, her intellect and her wisdom.

He watches her in her selfless service to her fellow human beings and is enamoured of her.

How they feel about each other washes over into how they feel about you, their children, how they feel about you, their family, how they feel about you, their close friends. Each and every one of you here has been invited because you are a very special person to Lisa and Michael.

 

© Dally Messenger III and individual authors - 2001-2024