The Wedding of Kari and
Raymond
Good afternoon and welcome
to all of you! We are here today because of love, the love between Kari
Margrete Tømte and Raymond Joseph Larkin and to share
in their celebration of love and commitment as they are joined together in holy matrimony.
To their families and
friends, Kari and Raymond thank all of you for being here to celebrate this
most important day. We want to acknowledge Kari’s daughter and son in law who
are in
To everyone who went to
great lengths to be here, Kari and Raymond send their utmost gratitude.
Each of you have been
invited here because you have touched the lives of Kari and Raymond in a very
significant way. Without you, this celebration would not be complete.
And they especially want to
thank their Best Man, Raymond’s nephew, Michael Santacroce and their Maid of
Honor, Raymond’s daughter, Anuska Larkin. They are thrilled you are here.
Kari and Raymond feel very
connected to the beauty of nature, which is why they have chosen this beautiful
location for their wedding today. I offer the following reading in honor of
youKari andRaymond. It is called the Cherokee Prayer:
God in heaven above,
Please protect the ones we love.
We honor all you created as Kari and Raymond
pledge their hearts and lives together.
We honor mother-earth
And ask for their marriage to be abundant
And grow stronger through the seasons.
We honor fire
And ask that their union be warm
And glowing with love in their hearts;
We honor wind
And ask as they sail though life
That they are safe and calm
as in their father's arms;
We honor water
To clean and soothe their relationship - that
they may never thirst for love;
With all the forces of the
universe you created,
We pray for harmony and true happiness for
Kari and Raymond as they forever grow young together. Amen.
At this
time we want to remember Raymond’s Father, Raymond and his Mother, Helen who,
in the last 2 years have passed away. We know in spirit, there are no
separation.
Kari and
Raymond, you are sweethearts and best friends.
You know
that marriage means many things. Of course it represents eternal love,
friendship, and knowing that your partner is there for you with an open heart
and open mind; trusting that your partner is safe place, your haven from the
world.
Marrige is
not expecting perfection in each other, or taking the other for granted. It is
to be slow to anger and quick to forgive. It is making the most of each day and
the least of life’s problems. It is to remember that love and loyalty, and open
and honest communication are the foundations of a happy and enduring home.
Don’t see
marrige as producing obligations, but rather as providing opportunities.These
are opportunities for growth, for full Self-expression, for lifting your lives to
their highest potential, a journey through life with the one you love as your
partner.
Kari and
Raymond, know that everything you need in life, all the love, all the wisdom,
all the understanding, and all the strength, resides already within you. You
are not marrying each other in hopes of getting these things, but in hopes of
giving these gifts, that the other might
have them in even greater abundance.
To have a
successful marrige, make your partner’s happiness more important than your own.
Remember to always encourage each other and offer gentleness to each other, to
support the dreams and aspirations of one another. Every day whisper words of
love and appreciation to each other.
Although
there may be times you disagree, remember to respect each other’s feelings,
needs and wants. And above all, never never lose your sense of humor.
In getting
to know Kari and Raymond, I asked them to tell me more about themselves and
their relationship. A mutual friend from
Raymond
felt Kari was very cheerful and open and later discovered she was also very
thruthful even though they were complete strangers.
After
spending 3 weeks together, Raymond knew he was in love. When he had to leave
Kari to return to his home in Spain, he realized how much he missed her company
and couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.
Kari loves
that Raymond is romantic, curious, calm and balanced. She says that they
fulfill each other in daily life, and that he will be the one to share her
dreams and sorrows with. Kari said,
“Raymond is the only man I want to share my life with”
Raymond
said it was hard to pick one thing that he loves the most about Kari because he
loves everything about her. “Maybe I love her stubbornness, especially when we
disagree, becaue it shows me that she is truthful with me and not always
agreeing with me just to make me feelgood.I love the trust she has in me. And
Kari has made me take better care of myself.”
Raymond, I
heard about the first snow that came to Halden this year. How you went out
early in the morning and made a snow-angel for Kari in front of her window –
and the other 100 neighbors.
And Kari, I
also heard that Raymond practiced his wedding proposal to you in Norwegian for
more that 2 months, with many different people including the flight attendant
on his way to
Raymond
said, “Kari unknowingly fouled up all my plans! I wanted to propose on my knee
inside the Oslo airport terminal in front of as many witnesses as possible, but
every time I stopped to get ready to do it she wanted me to hurry up and get
out of the terminal. Kari thought I probably needed to get outside and smoke a
cigarette and couldn’t understand why I kept stopping! At the end I just
quickly went down on my knee and did it, completely surprising my daughter who
was supposed to get a signal from me to start taking a movie of it. To put a
happy ending to this, my Norwegian was almost perfect, my daughter got most of
the episode filmed, and KARI SAID YES!” And here we are!
If Kari
could only use one word to describe Raymond the word would be, “Balanced.” And
if Raymond could only use one word to describe Kari, that word would be “Honest.”
Raymond, Kari has something she wants you to know and
this is what she has written: “Raymond, I want you to know that you are my best
friend and that’s why I love you so much.”
And Kari, Raymond has something he wants you to know
and this is what he has written:” Kari, I want you to that you are very special
to me my darling, and I know that this ceremony is very special to you. Nobody
is perfect, but I hope that I can fulfill most, if not all of your expectations
of me and never make you regret the day you agreed to be my wife. I love you.”
And now as I read the following poem, written by Roy
Croft titled, “I love you” look into each other’s eyes and let these words flow
silently from your heart to one another:
I love you, not only for what you are,
But for what I am when I am with you.
I love you, not only for what you have made of
yourself,
but for what you are making of me.
I love you for the part of me that you bring out.
I love you for looking deeply into my heaped-up heart
and gently passing over all the foolish, and weak
things
that you can’t help dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out into the light
all the beautiful belongings
that no one else had looked quite far enough to find.
I love you because you are helping me
to make, of the lumber of my life, not a tavern, but a
temple;
Out of the works of my every day, not a reproach, but
a song.
I love you because you have done more
than any creed could have done to make me good,
and more than any fate could have done to make me
happy.
You have done it through your touch, through your
looks
through your words, and through your very being.
You have done it simply by being yourself.
Kari and Raymond, as you give your hand to each other,
are you both ready to give yourselves to each other as husband and wife? If so,
please say “yes.”
No other ties are more tender, and no other wows are
more important than thoe you are about to pledge. Now you will say your wedding
vows.
And now family an frinds,I ask
each of you to go into your hearts. Feel the love that you have for these two
amazing people, and as they say the most powerful words that they can say to
one another, their wedding vows, I ask that you now inwardly offer your love
and support to them.
Kari and Raymond, please focus your attention to these
words:
Raymond,
do you take Kari to be your beloved wife,
Your constant friend, your devoted partner in life?
Do you
promise to be a good and faithful husband to her?
Do you
promise to love her without reservation?
To
honor her and respect her, to protect her from harm,
To be
at her side in sorrow and in joy,
To
laugh with her and cry with her,
To
alway be open and honest with her,
And to
cherish her,
For as
long as you both shall live? (I do)
Kari,
do you take Raymond to be your beloved husband,
Your
constant friend, your devoted partner in life?
Do you
promise to be a good and faithful wife to him?
Do you
promise to love him without reservation?
To
honor him and respect him, to protect him from harm,
To be
at his side in sorrow and in joy,
To
laugh with him and cry with him,
And to
cherish him,
For as
long as you both shall live? (I do)
May we please have the rings.
Your rings are symbols to your inner spiritual bond.
They have no beginning and there is no end. We wish for you love never ending.
And may your life together be as strong and radiant as the precious metal from
which these rings are made.
Raymond, please place the ring on Kari’s finger and
repeat after me:
Kari,
I give you this ring as a symbol
Of my
love, of my devotion, and of my faithfulness.
With
this ring, I give you my heart.
Kari, please place the ring on Raymond’s finger and
repeat after me:
Raymond,
I give you this ring as a symbol
Of my love, of my devotion, and of my faithfulness.
With
this ring, I give you my heart.
May your rings serve as a symbol of the sacred
promises you make today, and remind you day after day of your love.
Now as I read the following words, feel as though they
are your words flowing from your heart:
I will be there for you.
I will sing your joys, cry your
sorrows, and stand by your side,
through whatever life may bring our
way.
From this day forward,
through good times and bad,
I will live with you, grow, and
change with you.
I will do all I can to keep our
marriage
strong and happy and alive with
possibilities.
From this day forward, I will
cherish you.
I will look with joy, down the
path of our tomorrows,
and find peace and happiness,
knowing we will walk it together,
side by side, hand in hand, and
heart to heart.
Kari and Raymond, you have exchanged sacred wows. And you
have just sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving of rings, and this covenant is a pledge between two people who
agree that they will commit themselves to one another throughout their lives.
You are two persons, whose lives and hearts now blend
into one, joined together in friendship, and now united in love.
Remind yourselves often of the love that brought you
both together today. When there are challenges in your life, may they be met with courage
and optimism.
May you nurture each other to fulness and wholeness,
renew yourselves in love and laughter, and save time for each other, to love
each other more deeply.
May God bless you, your family
and friends in a wide network of mutual support and enjoyment.
Now you will
feel no rain,
For each of you
will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you
will be warmth for the other.
Now there is no more loneliness.
Now you are two
persons, but there is only one life before you.
So together,
enter onto the path of your life forever.
May beauty and
peace always surround you, both in the journey ahead and through all the
years.
May your lives
be filled with love.
May happiness be
your companion.
And may all your
days be good and long upon the earth.
And now, by the
authority vested in me by the state of Florida, I am honored to pronounce you
husband and wife. You may seal your wows with a kiss! It is with great pleasure
that I present to you, Mr. And Mrs. Raymond and Kari Larkin
March 17, 2006
Boynton
Beach, Florida