I long for beauty. For love and passion and stories wrapped up in neat little bows. One of the wonderful things about my job is that weddings contain all of these things! Lauren and Charlie’s wedding was no different. There was beauty and love and passion and a happy ending to the day. My favorite parts of their day were the relationships I got to witness. Not just the bride and groom, but the bride and maid, the father and his daughter, all the life-long friends. Ok, wait. I had a stand-out favorite part of this beautiful wedding. Lauren, a graduate of Vanderbilt’s Divinity School, wrote their vows. I’ve never heard any more appropriate for the joys and struggles in marriage:
“I, Charlie, take you, Lauren, to be my wife, partner, and friend.
I will love, cherish, and respect you.
I take you, with all your faults and all your strengths,
as I offer myself to you, with all my faults and all my strengths.
I promise to share my treasures and your debts.
I vow to have the patience and kindness that love demands,
to speak when words are needed,
and to share in the silence when they are not.
I promise to pay attention.
I promise to have fun with you and to laugh with and at you,
I promise to share your enthusiasms
And to eat your cooking and say that it was good.
I give myself to you,
and tomorrow I will I do it again.”
