Michelle & Jocelyn’s Wedding Photos

Ceremony

Before dinner

Toasts

Dinner & dance

Chocolate fountain

Before the wedding

The Ceremony

Here is the music we played for the procession.

“Hello, and welcome!

We are gathered here today in the presence of friends and family to celebrate the love which Michelle and Jocelyn have for each other, to give social recognition to their decision to commit their lives and accept each other completely, to learn how to help and understand each other, to build a family, and together, to travel through life. I am here to formally join the lives they’ve shared together for the past eight years.

They want to hear from you that you will always be their friends and family, will always support and encourage them as they strengthen and continue their commitment and dedication to each other. And that is why you are here today.”

“Jocelyn and Michelle met each other in college. Michelle is a graduate student at UNC Chapel Hill, pursuing her Ph.D. in demography, while Jocelyn just graduated from medical school. Jocelyn will be moving to Rochester, New York, for residency, and Michelle will be living part-time in Rochester and part-time in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

We will now have a reading that the couple have chosen for this ceremony. They have asked their friend, Meredith Malburne, to perform this reading.”

“I’d like to read to you ‘The Art of a Good Marriage,’ by Wilferd Arlan Peterson:

The little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day.

It is never taking the other for granted;
the courtship should not end with the honeymoon,
it should continue through all the years.

It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude or duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.

It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude

in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting one another to wear a halo

or have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.

It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding,

and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an environment in which each can grow.

It is finding room for the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual, and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.”

“Jocelyn and Michelle will now recite the vows they have written for each other.”

“Dear Michelle,

The moment I first saw you, I could see this vibrant spark that set you apart. But when we met eight years ago, I wasn't expecting to ever find someone. Somehow, I took a chance and reached out to you anyway, and as I learned more about you I fell deeper under your spell. And finally, I fell in love with you, even when I didn't believe that I could.

I fell in love with you because of the way you completely changed my world. You highlighted things I would never have noticed and you made familiar things new and interesting. You shared a fascination with the world, constantly seeking to experience and to understand. We started what is still an incredible courtship.

Today I am as much in love with you as I was in those early days, but in an even better way. At first, I was intoxicated with the infatuation and glow of new love and couldn't imagine how it could be better. But along the way, you've shown me how love is not an object that's obtained, but is a living, growing, thing. In the years we've had together, I've come to know you and better understand your complexities. We've shared wonderful times together which made our love even richer. We've also faced challenges and times of doubt which were difficult and sometimes even painful, but in the end left us even stronger.

So today, I love you even better. I am still struck, every day, by how lovely and extremely talented you are. I admire your intelligence and the way you think and speak. I'm drawn to your smile, the sound of your laughter, and the playfulness I coax out of you. I draw strength from your strength. Your deep compassion for both those you love dearly and people you've just met reminds me, every day, to strive to be a better person. And finally, loving you grounds me and reminds me what my values and priorities are, of what in this world is truly important and really matters to me.

Michelle, I promise to listen to you, to never take you for granted, to remember everything you do for me, to say "I love you" through my words or actions and to make you smile every day. I promise to take care of you. And I look forward to talking to you every day, to sharing meals together, to experiencing the world together. Sharing a life with you is simply everything I could possibly want. I love you completely, more than I ever thought I could, and I always will.”

“Jocelyn,

From the beginning, I have trusted and admired you, been very proud of you, and that trust, admiration, and pride has only grown each day. You bring so much laughter and joy in my life, and I strive to continue to amuse you and make you happy.

From you, I have learned to be playful, to savor the fine details of food, to relish long lazy weekends, and to delight in spontaneous beauty. I love when it’s just you and me, everything else drops away, and time stands still.

You are magnetic and captivating, and I am always drawn to you. I am so in love with you ¾ as in love with you today as I was during our first nervous and exciting days together, eight years ago. I never thought it was possible to love anyone with all of me, so unquestioningly and so lastingly. I love my Jocelyn more than I could love anybody.

You have comforted me, challenged me, and always played with me. Throughout the years, we have grown and changed a lot together, and our relationship has evolved and constantly reshaped itself to grow with us. I am in awe of your endless patience and depth of understanding. I appreciate how you are so capable, and how you are always looking out for the best for me. I am so grateful to have you.

Jocelyn, I promise to take the time to be conscious of connecting with you, to never take you for granted, to take care of you, and to strive to be the best partner that I can be for you. I am looking forward to having a home together, having a family together, and growing old together. Sometimes I cannot believe that you are truly in my life, that you have touched me so deeply, so profoundly, and so completely. Jocelyn, I love you from the deepest part of my soul, with everything I have inside of me, and I always will.”

“Jocelyn, Michelle, now join your hands, and with your hands, your hearts.

Jocelyn, do you take Michelle to be your wedded spouse, standing with her in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease, to cherish and to love, so long as you both shall live?

I do.

Michelle, do you take Jocelyn to be your wedded spouse, standing with her in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in hardship and in ease, to cherish and to love, so long as you both shall live?

I do.

Very well, it is then time to say your vows:

(Officiant takes out the rings)

Jocelyn, as you place this ring on Michelle’s hand, please repeat after me.

I take you, Michelle, to be my wedded spouse, my best friend, my greatest love, my partner, and my other half from this day forward. I promise to love you now, but even more in your growing and becoming. I will trust and respect you, laugh and cry with you, care for and protect you, comfort and encourage you. I will love you when we are together and when we are apart, through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I will honor goals and dreams, and help you to realize them. I will join with you in seeking the fulfillment of our lives. I give you my hand, my heart, and all of my love, for the rest of my life.

Michelle, as you place this ring on Jocelyn’s hand, please repeat after me.

“You may now both kiss.”

“Congratulations!”

(Click here for the recessional music.)

Wedding setting, portraits of Jocelyn & Michelle

Family portraits

Before the ceremony