The Wedding of
Suzanne Louise Wright
and
Daniel Eugene Halloran
March 27, 1999

Please be seated.

Dear family and friends, we have gathered here in the presence of God to rejoice with Daniel and Suzanne as they pledge their vows of marriage. We celebrate with them the miraculous gift of love and we support their decision to commit themselves to one another for the rest of their lives.

Marriage is a holy partnership born in the love of God. It is a relationship entered into thoughtfully, reverently, with gratitude for the past and hope for the future. The union of husband and wife in heart, body and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy and for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity.

To help put aside the noise of the world and enter into the presence of God, let us listen to the music Daniel and Suzanne have chosen. Suzanne's friend, Emily Chase, will sing Ave Maria by Franz Schubert.

Emily: (Ave Maria)

Let us pray.

Eternal God, you give us the longing for love and the capability for loving. We give you thanks for Daniel and Suzanne, for their open hearts and their willing spirits.

For the dreams they have dreamed, and for their hopes for themselves and for each other we give thanks. We pray that the words and spirit of our gathering may be filled with meaning which will deepen with the passing years. Amen.

Everyone please stand.

As we celebrate this marriage in God's presence, our creator calls us to renew our efforts to work and play as people redeemed by his love, to live together in peace. Daniel and Suzanne now invite you to join them in greeting one another with a sign of peace.

Please be seated.

Now let us listen to the words of the Bible and reflect on God's written word. The reader will be Suzanne's father Rodney.

A reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind: love is not jealous or boastful. It is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love will never end.

Daniel and Suzanne, Rodney just read for us from the Bible, from the letter of Paul to the Corinthians. We can tell from these words that the apostle knows something about music. He says, "If I have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." We can also tell from these words that St. Paul knows nothing about teaching high school math. And it's clear that he has no idea what legal costs are incurred in a pre-trial deposition. If he did, he would say something like "a life without love is like a trigonometry textbook with no cosine tables." Or he might say that "a life without love is like a law office computer with no software for billing clients."

But we get the idea. Love is more important than anything else in your future life together. And it's a fragile gift from God. Love requires special protection from heaven.

Daniel and Suzanne, your guardian angels remember when you first met, the year you both turned 18. A young man from California, a young woman from Wisconsin, both first year students at the University of Chicago. And your angels know what happened in fiction nine years earlier, when Harry met Sally. Hollywood made a movie about it, starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. It begins with Harry Connick, Jr. singing "It Had to Be You." Then Louie Armstrong sings "My Love is Here to Stay." The opening scene is in the main quadrangle of the university where you studied together.

Probably no one will ever make a movie called "When Daniel Met Suzanne." But your airplane visits to each other have become legendary. Los Angeles to Seattle. Chicago to Los Angeles. New York to Los Angeles. Los Angeles to Chicago. During the nine years since your graduation from college, probably 75,000 air miles. That's three times around our planet. That's one third of the distance from here to the moon. The story of your love will be told in your families, on earth and in heaven, for many generations. For this love, sealed today in marriage, we're grateful to God and to you. We thank you now with our applause.

Daniel and Suzanne, I remind you, as you stand in the presence of God, that love and loyalty are the foundation of a happy and enduring home.

During the days of your engagement you have given careful thought to the meaning of your marriage. The future is unknown to any of us. Yet your love for one another and trust in the goodness of God's will make possible the act of faith you now make in our midst.

As you exchange your vows of faithfulness, we will be listening and supporting you with our love. As you make your promises to each other, we will be reminded of promises we have made and be moved to renew our own.

Daniel, do you here in the presence of God and these witnesses declare your commitment to Suzanne and choose her as the one with whom you wish to spend your life? Do you give yourself to her and accept the gift of self which she gives to you? Do you pledge to endure all of the difficulties which life may offer, even as you look forward to the joys to be experienced together? Do you take Suzanne to be your wife, to laugh with her in joy, to grieve with her in sorrow, to grow with her in love, to share all that is to come, now and always?

Daniel: I do.

Suzanne, do you here in the presence of God and these witnesses declare your commitment to Daniel and choose him as the one with whom you wish to spend your life? Do you give yourself to him and accept the gift of self which he gives to you? Do you pledge to endure all of the difficulties which life may offer, even as you look forward to the joys to be experienced together? Do you take Daniel to be your husband, to laugh with him in joy, to grieve with him in sorrow, to grow with him in love, to share all that is to come, now and always?

Suzanne: I do.

Will Rodney and Louise, Constance, Peter and Ariste, John and Melisa, Edith and Billee please stand?

The union of Daniel and Suzanne brings together two families in the hope that a new one may become strong and fruitful. Theirs is a decision for which they are primarily responsible. Yet their life will be enriched by the support of the families from which each comes.

Do you who are family of this couple affirm your continuing support and love to Daniel and Suzanne as they grow in their marriage?

All: We do.

Do you offer to Daniel and Suzanne the best of your care and counsel in their times of struggle, and your celebration with them in times of joy?

All: We do.

Do you wholeheartedly accept Daniel and Suzanne into your family, and promise to share with them the task of making the world a community of human care and support?

All: We do.

Please be seated.

May I now have the rings?

(Holding the rings) The circle has long been a symbol of God. Without beginning or end and with no point of weakness, the circle is a reminder of the eternal quality of God and of unending strength. Thus, these rings serve to remind us of the relationship which Daniel and Suzanne have with God as well as the relationship which they have with one another. The rings are symbols of covenant and should serve as reminders of our need to be faithful in all our relationships.

(While Daniel puts on Suzanne's ring) Daniel, you are giving this ring to Suzanne in token and pledge of your constant faith and abiding love.

(While Suzanne puts on Daniel's ring) Suzanne, you are giving this ring to Daniel in token and pledge of your constant faith and abiding love.

Daniel and Suzanne, go into the world and fulfill your lives. Hold fast to your ideals. Give to one another new experiences of joy. Challenge one another that you may grow.

May the love you hold for each other, now sealed in marriage, continue to mature, that your life together may be a source of strength and inspiration to the community of your family and friends.

For as much as Daniel and Suzanne have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and thereto have pledged their faith each to the other, and have declared the same by joining hands and by giving and receiving rings, I pronounce that they are husband and wife.

You may now kiss.

We now greet Mr. and Mrs. Daniel and Suzanne Halloran.