Wedding Ceremony

Entrance

Barry plays CD music for a few minutes.

John enters from path closest to hill.

Barry stops first song.

Barry starts new song. (Love Serenade)

Sarah (Flower Girl) and Heather (Girl of Honor) start bridal procession.

Dawn and Ken join.

Wedding party assembled near birch trees.

Welcome

Welcome and thank you all for joining Dawn and John here today for this most sacred of ceremonies.

It is a great honor for me to be here to facilitate the union of these two spirits.

It was nearing a year ago that I first met John at another sacred ceremony at the Rowe Conference Center in Mass.

Our friendship has matured, reached out, and since encompassed Dawn and has now brought me here, as it has you.

We are here to celebrate this special connection of two people,

two spirits,

to that of all things of this world.

This ceremony reflects the personal spirituality of both Dawn and John, their relationship to one another and to the Creator.

We have all consented by our presence here to join with them Mind, Body, and Spirit as a diverse loving community of family and friends sharing our love for them and their love for each other.

Our circle extends beyond those present here today to include those of the ancestors who have passed before us.

We acknowledge how each has had such an important part in creating our lives.

We acknowledge their spirits and are honored that they are here with us today.

John would like to now share a few words of welcome.

Welcome From Couple (John)

Dawn and I are honored and blessed to have so many special people in our lives to share in this sacred ceremony. We feel extremely fortunate to have the gift of loving families in our presence today. We would like to give a special welcome to three of the most special ladies in our lives: Grandma Bennett, Grandma Hamel, and Grandma Terni. We also welcome our parents, John and Esther Heffernan, and Ken and Nancy Hamel. They have provided us with loving support through both our most difficult and joyous times. We are thankful for their assistance and love all of these years. We also honor our brothers and sisters: Tim Heffernan, Colleen Robinson, Troy Hamel, and Noel Hamel. We welcome our nieces and nephews: Gain and Sarah Robinson and Heather Hamel. Thanks you everyone, friends and family, for being here to witness this ceremony. We welcome you into this sacred circle.

Dawn and John would like to share a few poems with you all-

Hug of War, Shel Silverstein (Sarah)

I will not play at tug o' war.

I'd rather play at hug o' war,

Where everyone hugs

Instead of tugs,

Where everyone giggles

And rolls on the rug,

Where everyone kisses,

And everyone grins,

And everyone cuddles,

And everyone wins.

My Rules, Shel Silverstein (Heather)

If you want to marry me, here's what you have to do:

You must learn how to make a perfect chicken-dumpling stew.

And you must sew my holey socks,

And soothe my trouble mind,

And develop the knack for scratching my back,

And keep my shoes spotlessly shined.

And while I rest you must rake up the leaves,

And when it is hailing and snowing

You must shovel the walk … and be still when I talk,

And -hey- where are you going?

How Many, How Much, Shel Silverstein (Heather and Sarah)

How many slams in the old screen door?

Depends how loud you shut it.

How many slices in a bread?

Depends how thin you cut it.

How much good inside a day?

Depends how good you live 'em.

How much love inside a friend?

Depends how much you give 'em.

Short Sermon

The Native community uses the symbolism of the circle in many ways.

It is said when we are born we enter into the Earth Circle and when we die exit into the Spirit Circle.

All times between we walk this circle of life in cycles

of new beginnings and endings.

Today I will ask this couple to begin a new walk on the circle not as just individuals but as two spirits joined.

Joined each will become the essence of so much more than one could ever become alone.

I ask them to use and honor the four directions of the circle to help them along their new walk together.

When in the East look to each other to share your visions of life's physical, emotional, and spiritual adventures. Shared they will strengthen you both for all the new beginnings you will encounter.

While in the South trust the Emotions of your hearts to direct you both to the truer path. This path is one filled with love and compassion for each other and for sharing with the world.

While in the West remember to stop and listen to the silence within yourselves,

that Wisdom which you have each gained on your personal walk and now share with each other.

While in the North I would ask that you acknowledge and celebrate the Abundance you have created through each other by the unique contributions each has brought to your relationship.

Your walk will never be just the sum of you both, nor spirits alone.

By your union here today you have committed to the great mystery

A combined, third spirit of your togetherness.

May the Creator ever guide your footsteps.

We will now have a reading of - 1 Corinthians 13:1-2, 4-7 (Donna)

If I speak with the eloquence of men and angels, but have no love, I become no more than the blaring brass or crashing cymbal.

If I have the gift of foretelling the future and hold in my mind all human knowledge and if I also have that absolute faith which can move mountains, but have no love, I amount to nothing.

This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience - it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impose nor does it cherish inflated ideas of it’s own importance. It is glad when truth prevails. Love knows no limits to its endurance, no end to its trust, no dashing of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that stills stands when all else has fallen.

Wedding Vows - I will now ask you both to now face one each other and join hands for the sharing of the wedding vows

John…….

I, John Heffernan take you, Dawn Hamel, to be my wife,

Secure in the knowledge that you will be my constant friend,

My faithful partner in life, and my one true love.

On this special and holy day,

I affirm to you in the presence of Creator and friends and family,

My sacred promise to stay by your side as your wife in sickness and health,

In joy and sorrow, as well as through good times and bad.

I promise to love you without reservation, comfort you in times of distress,

Laugh and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit,

Always be open and honest with you,

And cherish you for as long as we both shall live.

Dawn…..

I, Dawn Hamel, take you, John Heffernan, to be my husband,

Secure in the knowledge that you will be my constant friend,

My faithful partner in life, and my one true love.

On this special and holy day,

I affirm to you in the presence of Creator and friends and family,

My sacred promise to stay by your side as your wife in sickness and health,

In joy and sorrow, as well as through good times and bad.

I promise to love you without reservation, comfort you in times of distress,

Laugh and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit,

Always be open and honest with you,

And cherish you for as long as we both shall live.

Exchange of Rings

From the earliest of times, the circle has also been a symbol of committed love and life itself.

The rings you give and receive this day are the symbols of endless love into which you enter as husband and wife.

Such a love has no beginning and no ending, no giver and no receiver.

You are each beginning and ending, each the giver and the receiver.

As often as either of you looks at these symbols, may you be reminded of the commitment of love made here today.

Heather has rings; Sarah will give rings out. Heather and Sarah may we have the rings

John if you take the ring and Dawn's left hand

Dawn, you are my love, my teacher, my best friend. Wear this ring as a symbol of our journey together.

Dawn if you will take the ring and John's left hand

John, you are my love, my teacher, my best friend. Wear this ring as a symbol of our journey together.

In the presence of the Creator and by the power vested to me by the State of NewHampshire, I, Barry Higgins, I do hereby pronounce you husband and wife.

You may kiss.

I now present to you John and Dawn Heffernan

Apache Wedding Blessing (Barry)

Now you will feel no rain,

For each of you will be shelter to each other.

Now you will feel no cold,

For each of you will be warmth to each other.

Now there is no loneliness,

For you will be companion to the other.

Now you are two persons, but there are three lives

His life

Her life

And your life together.

Go now to your dwelling place,

To enter into the days

Of your life together.

May beauty surround you both

In the journey ahead

And through the years.

May happiness be your companion

To the place where the river meets the sun.

And may your days be good and long

Upon the earth.

Exit (Barry)

Announcement about receiving line.

Thank you all for sharing this day and may the blessings of the Creator be upon us all.

John and Dawn exit together to as Barry plays CD song.