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Picture courtesy of www.maineiac.com
The whole thing about writing vows is, there is practically nothing you can say that won’t sound a little bit cheesy or like you ripped off a Beatles song. However, working on our wedding ceremony, we wanted to make sure that through the haze of love, we said the things we really wanted to say to each other.
After we met with the officiant, she sent us the texts for the two parts of the wedding ceremony we had discussed - your typical traditional part as a nod to our more conservative relatives and a handfasting as a nod to Mr. Hummingbird’s Pagan past.
But even though we’d been enthusiastic enough about them in our meeting, when we headed to our local Starbucks for a late night coffee and to go over our vows, the more we looked over the words on the page, the less the felt like us.
So we edited and I rewrote the specific vow part so that we were both comfortable with the words we had to say.
Anyway, since I know how hard it can be to write this stuff and since I share everything with the hive, I’m posting our full ceremony below so you planning gals can take a look. Hope you like it!
Wedding Ceremony For
Miss Hummingbird & Mr. Hummingbird
28 June 2008
Word of Welcome:
On behalf of Miss Hummingbird & Mr. Hummingbird, welcome, and thank you for being here. They are delighted that you are here today to share in their joy during this wonderful moment in their lives. By your presence, you celebrate with them the love they have discovered in each other and you support their decision to commit themselves to one another for the rest of their lives.Marriage is a bond to be entered into only after considerable thought and reflection. As with any aspect of life, it has its cycles, its ups & its downs, its trials & its triumphs.Today their relationship changes. All of us know it will grow, and become stronger and better. Indeed, this day is a day of hope.A day in which Miss Hummingbird & Mr. Hummingbird demonstrate their commitment, devotion, and mutual respect, as well as their faith & love in one another.
You who are gathered here as witnesses, are called to continue your support & encouragement as they unite in marriage.
With full understanding of this, Miss Hummingbird & Mr. Hummingbird have come here today to be joined as one in marriage.
The Exchange of Vows:
Miss Hummingbird & Mr. Hummingbird, we now come to your vows. May I remind you that saying your vows is one thing, but nothing is more challenging than living them, day by day. What you promise today must be renewed tomorrow & each day that stretches out before you. Will you now please turn & face each other and hold hands, looking at each other.
(We turn to face each other and I resist the temptation to nervously giggle/make weird faces at Mr. Hum)
Mr. Hummingbird, please repeat after me:
I, Mr. Hummingbird, choose you, Miss Hummingbird,
To be no other than yourself,
Loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know.
I will respect you as an individual, a partner, and an equal.
I promise to laugh with you when times are good, and endure with you when they are bad.
I will always adore, honour and encourage you.
You are my best friend, and I will love you always.
Miss Hummingbird, please repeat after me:
I, Miss Hummingbird, choose you, Mr. Hummingbird,
To be no other than yourself,
Loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know.
I will respect you as an individual, a partner, and an equal.
I promise to laugh with you when times are good, and endure with you when they are bad.
I will always adore, honour and encourage you.
You are my best friend, and I will love you always.
The Giving & Receiving of Rings:
May I have the rings, please?
(BIL Hummingbird hands over the bling)
Mr. Hummingbird, please repeat after me:
Miss Hummingbird, I give you this ring, that you may wear it as a symbol of the vows we have made this day. I pledge you my love & respect, my laughter & my tears. With all that I am, I honour you.
Miss Hummingbird, please repeat after me:
Mr. Hummingbird, I give you this ring that you may wear it as a symbol of the vows we have made this day. I pledge you my love & respect, my laughter & my tears. With all that I am, I honour you.
Now may those who wear these rings live in love all their days.
Affirmation of the Marriage:
Now may the love which has brought you together continue to grow and enrich your lives. May you meet with courage the problems which arise to challenge you and may your relationship always be one of love and trust. May the happiness you share today be with you always and may every word you have pledged here be a living truth in your lives.
Declaration of Marriage:
Miss Hummingbird & Mr. Hummingbird, we have heard your promise to share your lives in marriage. We recognize and respect the covenant of marriage you have made here this day before each one of us as witnesses.
Therefore, in the honesty and sincerity of what you have said and done here today, and by the power vested in me by the Marriage Act of Ontario, it is my honour and delight to declare you henceforth to be husband and wife. You may seal your vows with a kiss.
(The Hummingbirds mack it up for the peanut gallery)
Introduction of the Couple:
It is my personal privilege and a great joy to be the first one to introduce Mrs. Hummingbird & Mr. Hummingbird as husband & wife. Please greet them warmly.
Have you written your vows yet? Share them with the hive!
Thank you so much for posting this! I’m getting married the day after you and we are still finalizing our vows. These are a great mixture of traditional and personalized.
Thanks for posting this!
LOVING this line: Loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know.
My goodness….I always cry at weddings but just reading this is making me weep at my computer. Thank you for sharing!
Ummm… yeah, how do you feel about me totally using your vows? is that wrong? BUT THEY ARE SO PERFECT!!!
Thank you for posting!!!!
@Autumn: Weddingbee is all about sharing so seriously, if you want to, go right ahead. 
ahahahah i had seen that cartoon a while back and mr. cc and i decided that our i-do’s would be as such:
Officiant: Do you, Ms. CC, promise to love, honor, clean up after, surrender your share of the blanket to and live with the flatulence of Mr. CC for as long as you both shall live?
Ms. CC: I do
Officiant: Would you now place Mr. CC’s wedding band on his finger?
[Ring on finger, hands resume position]
Officiant: Do you, Mr. CC, promise to love, honor, cook for, massage, and take care of Ms. CC for as long as you both shall live? etc.
i’m sure his grandma will be gasping, but i can’t help but mention farting or poop jokes at least ONCE in the ceremony. it just wouldn’t be “us” if we didn’t!
your vows are super fantabulous and made me all flutterybugged hehe.
Awesome Miss Hummingbird just in the middle of getting this done. So this could not have come at a better time. Thanks for sharing with us. Curious on the words you will be using during the handfasting. Would you mind sharing that as well?
Oh my this is just perfect ! ! thank you so much for sharing…!
I’m with meli…brought happy tears to my eyes just reading it! I love it!
@Luxe: We ended up cutting the handfasting part out of our ceremony just because we felt we were kind of ending up with two sets of vows and because we were on a bit of a time constraint, but I will write a post detailing the text we were going to use this week so you can see.
[...] my vow post, I mentioned that we originally were interested in the idea of including a handfasting in our [...]
I truly admire people who have the nerve to write their own vows and do a good job of it. I don’t have a way with words, so I stuck to boilerplate classic vows to make sure I didn’t embarrass myself.
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Mrs. Hummingbird, Toronto Age and Occupation: 25, Publishing Coordinator Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Videogame Designer/Cartoonist Engagement Date: May 4, 2007 Wedding Date: June 28, 2008 Blogging Since: September 18, 2007 Venue: A garden wedding followed by a tented reception on Mr. Hummingbird's father's property. About Me: I’m a pop culture loving, vintage obsessed foodie living in Canada’s biggest city with my fantastic fiancé and our lovable fluffy cat Bettie. I’m stoked to marry my best friend and to throw what I hope will be the most fun and colourful party of our lives.
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