My brother was getting married and he asked me to marry them. In Colorado, you don’t have to be an officially licensed or accredited minister; the couple marries themselves and anyone can do the ceremony. So this past Saturday, I did my first wedding!  Tammy gave me great suggestions, Sean edited, and the final product is below.
-g
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Hello, and welcome to the wedding of Troy and Amy. I am honored to be here and I am happy for both Amy and Troy. I’d also like to point out that this is the first time I’m doing a wedding, so I apologize for any and all of my rookie mistakes.

Before I continue, Amy’s good friend Teresa Myers would like to say a few words about our bride and groom.

[I’d like to get a copy of Teresa’s “Fine” speech and the Apache wedding blessing.]

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Amy is perfect for Troy. She has just the right combination of gentleness and firmness that he needs.

There is a song by the singer Lauv called “I like me better” and the chorus is “I like me better when I’m with you.” I’m not sure if Troy likes the song but it describes his relationship with Amy. And I have to say that I like Troy better when he is with Amy. He is more gentle and I can see that she is a positive influence on him. One quick example:

This past Christmas, Amy sent a text message out with picture of platter a cookies. And not just any cookies, this platter held some of our mom’s famous candy cane cookies. Every Christmas, my mom bakes these special cookies, carefully layers them in a cookie tin, packages them up with bubble wrap, and immediately mails one to Troy and one to me. So seeing those cookies out of the tin, on a platter for other people to share, was shocking. Troy and I treasure those cookies and we guard them like a dragon guards his gold. So I texted back, “Whoa! Troy is sharing!”

Now, it turns out that Troy was not happy to be sharing his cookies. Here’s what happened: Amy knew that Troy loved those cookies -but she was helping him to be a better man. Troy didn’t like that very much. To be fair, my wife also helps me to be a better man and I usually don’t like it very much, at least not at first. But that little interaction between Troy and Amy helped me to see that Amy is great influence on Troy and like all men, he needs all the help he can get!
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Troy and Amy, I was thinking about your wedding and your marriage and I tried to come up with things to say. When I thought of my marriage, I see that Tammy and I are learning to deeply love each other. This verse helps me to know what love is supposed to be.

1Corinthians 13:

[4]Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. [5]Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. [6]Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth. [7]Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always endures.
One couple that has lived out this verse is our parents. They will be celebrating their 50 year anniversary in September and they are great examples of love.

They bike and ski and vacation together. Dad does a lot of stuff with mom, even stuff he doesn’t love to do, so that they can be together. He plays Scrabble with us even though he doesn’t really like to play. He is slowing down and I’m pretty sure he would rather gamble than ski, but he sacrifices what he wants for what mom wants so they can be together. Dad demonstrates patience and kindness.

Dad doesn’t just think about himself, he thinks about mom. He knows a ton of stuff about mom. He knows that she doesn’t like butter on her toast and when they go together to restaurants, he will mention to the waitress, “please hold the butter on her toast.” He knows that mom likes Lays potato chips, especially if they are folded over in half because they are more crunchy. He picks the special ones out of the bag to give to her. Dad demonstrates what it looks like to be unselfish. I need to imitate our dad and so do you.

Our Mom does a ton of stuff for dad, too. She sacrificed her career and her friendships and her family and chose to follow dad around the world so they could be together. She loves to spend time with us and visit us so that we can be together. She is another great example of love.

Troy, you always hope. As a fishermen, you always hope to catch fish. As a brother, you always hope for the best for me. When I got married, my friends threw a little party for me and they said good things about me. Troy spoke, and he cried. Tears. He said that he always worried about me being far away from our family and that he always hoped that I was ok. He was grateful to know that I was surrounded by people that loved and cared about me. Troy, I know you have that in you. You need to share that kind of stuff with Amy. Girls love that stuff. And so do little brothers.

Troy and Amy, I hope you remember these qualities and live them out.

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At this time, Nathan & Marisa, do you have the rings?

Please take out the rings.

Troy and Amy, you are about to make promises of love and devotion to each other. These rings are symbols of those vows you are about to make.

As you wear them, they will speak to the community you live in, the people you work with, and the strangers you run across. They whisper, “I’m married.”
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Troy, as you place the ring on Amy’s finger, please repeat after me:

“I, Troy,

take you, Amy,

to be my wife.

I promise,

before God and these witnesses,

to be your loving and faithful husband.

To have and to hold

from this day forward,

for better, for worse,

for richer, for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish,

until we are parted by death.

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Amy, as you place the ring on Troy’s finger, please repeat after me:

“I, Amy,

take you, Troy,

to be my husband.

I promise,

before God and these witnesses,

to be your loving and faithful wife.

To have and to hold

from this day forward,

for better, for worse,

for richer, for poorer,

in sickness and in health,

to love and to cherish,

until we are parted by death.

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By the power vested in me by God and man, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I be the first to congratulate and announce, Mr. and Mrs. Troy and Amy Nakatani!