Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will
be shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
for each of you will
be warmth to the other.
 
Now there is no loneliness for you.
 
Now you are two bodies,
But there is only one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place,
and enter into your days together.
And may your days be good
and long upon the Earth.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance
between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between
the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink
not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread
but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous,
But let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though
they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow
not in each other's shadow.
--Khalil Gibran

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

from 100 Love Sonnets

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret,
between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that never blooms but
carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.
I love you without knowing how,
or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way than this:
Where "I" does not exist, nor "You",
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.
by Pablo Neruda (translated by Stephen Topscott)

... Our life reminds me
Of a forest in which there is a graceful clearing
And in that opening a house,
An orchard and garden,
Comfortable shades, and flowers ...
The forest is mostly dark, its ways
To be made anew day after day, the dark
Richer than the light and more blessed,
Provided we stay brave
Enough to keep going in ...
-- Wendell Berry

My marriage prayer for you is this:

That you will always remember the qualities that
attracted you to each other when you first met and how
you felt as your feelings of attraction turned into respect,
admiration and finally love.

That you will work hard to turn your feelings of love
into acts of love so that nothing and no one can divide you.

That you will always have kind and loving hearts that are
quick to ask for forgiveness when you are wrong as well as
to forgive when your partner is wrong.

That your love might grow to hear all things, believe all
things, and hope for all things, endure all things.

I pray you place your marriage in God's hands, and that
your love increases and overflows, beyond anything you
can yet imagine.

I, N., take you, N., to be my wife,
to have and to hold from this day forward.
For better, for worse; for richer, for poorer;
in sickness and in health; in joy and in sorrow;
to love and to cherish; and to be faithful to you alone,
as long as we both shall live.

-   OR   -

I, N., take you N., to be my wedded wife;
I will love, honor and cherish you,
In all that lies before us.
I pledge myself to you,
As long as we both shall live.

I, N., take you,
N., to be my wife.
All that I am I give to you,
And all that I have, I share with you.
I promise to live in truth with you.
Whatever the future holds,
I will love you and stand by you,
As long as we both shall live.
This is my solemn vow.

-   OR   -

I, N.,take you,
N., to be my wife.
I promise to live in truth with you,
and I give you my hand and my heart
as a sanctuary of warmth and peace,
pledging you my love and devotion
as I join my life to yours.
This is my solemn vow.

-   OR   -

In the presence of God
and before these witnesses
I, N., take you, N.,
to be my partner in life
I will cherish our friendship
and love you today, tomorrow,
and always
I will trust you and honor you
I will love you faithfully
through the joys and the challenges
Whatever may come I will always be there
As I have given you my hand to hold
so I give you my life to share
This is my solemn vow.

Bride:

From this day on I, N., choose you,
my beloved N.,
to be my husband.
To live with you and laugh with you.
To stand by your side and sleep in your arms.
To be joy to your heart and food to your soul.
To bring out the best in you always.
And, for you, to be the most that I can.

Groom:

I, N., choose you,
N., to be my wife, as my friend, my love,
and mother of our children.
On this day I affirm the
relationship we have enjoyed,
looking to the future
to deepen and strengthen it.
I will be yours in plenty and in want,
in sickness and in health,
in failure and in triumph.
I will cherish and respect you,
comfort and encourage you,
be open with you and stay with you
as long as we shall live
freed and bound by our love.

I promise to love you with all my heart
and mind and strength.
I vow to be your best friend
and do everything in my power to
make you as happy as I am today.
I will trust you with my dreams
and support you in fulfilling your dreams.
I don't know what challenges lie ahead
but I know that we will face them together.

-   OR   -

N., I promise to love you
with all my heart and mind and strength.
I vow to be your best friend and
do everything in my power to
make you as happy as I am today.
I will trust you with my dreams
and support you in fulfilling yours.
In sickness and in health,
in failure and in triumph,
I will cherish and respect you,
comfort and encourage you,
as long as we shall live.
Before us lies an open road, filled
with adventure and love
and I choose to spend today,
and all of my tomorrow's,
with you as my friend, my love
and the [father/mother] of our children.

-   OR   -

I, N., take you, N.,
from this day forward
and into the long forever
to be my beloved, my lover,
my friend, my husband.
I promise always to love you,
to honor you, to respect you,
to give thanks
for the gift of your presence.
You are the one I admire;
you are the one I adore.
You are the one I choose to
share my life with forever.

I, N., take you, N., to be my wife.
I choose you this day
To love and confide in,
To hold on to and reach out from.
I choose you this day
To believe in and to share with,
To learn from and grow with.
I choose you this day
To give you my heart.

I, N., in the presence of God
and before these witnesses,
I take you, N., to be my wife.
I give you my hand, I give you my love,
and I give you myself.
I pledge to stand by you
as long as we live.
Come, travel with me,
and share the road
both in our joys and in our challenges,
wherever it may lead.

N., do you promise to be faithful,
supportive and loyal and to give N.
your companionship and love throughout all
the changes of your life?

Do you vow to bring N. happiness and
treasure her as your companion?

Will you celebrate the joys of life with her?

Do you promise to support her dreams and
walk beside her offering courage and strength
through all endeavors?

From this day forward, will you be proud to be
N.'s husband and
her best friend?

(N. responds:) I do.

I, N., take you, N.,
to be my wife and companion of my days.
We shall bear together whatever of sorrow and adversity
life may place upon us and share together
whatever of joy and fulfillment
life may hold in store.
I commit my life to you;
a commitment made in love,
kept in faith, lived in hope
and eternally made anew.
I pledge to you a life of giving and of hoping,
of growing and of loving.
I shall be with you
in your laughter and in tears,
just as I shall bring to you
my own joys and my own sorrows.
You will be my partner,
from now on.

-   OR   -

I, N., take you, N.,
to be no other than yourself.
Loving what I know of you,
trusting what our future will bring to us.
What so ever life may bring to you,
I will be at your side,
for all the risings and settings of the sun,
for all the days of fullness and in challenging times.
In the foreknowledge of joy and pain,
strength and weariness,
I pledge myself to deepening in love
and understanding as the years go by.
I commit to do all I can
to make our shared life one of
friendship and love.