Bah! I forgot another totally sweet wedding blog link here.

After the fantastic reading of I Like You by the wedding party, Davey & I each agreed to the following pledge as posed to us by Josh:

Ash/Davey, will you take (the other one) in a growing marriage relationship? Will you be partners in life so that together you will meet every situation of life – the peaceful and the chaotic, the routine and the exciting, the sorrowful and the joyful, the threatening and the inviting? Will you love (him/her), affirm (him/her), and commit yourself to (him/her) in marriage from this day forward, forever and always?

Obviously, we each agreed to this. Then we made a short statement to each other, and despite every thought I had about what I was going to say at that moment, it all just blew away and I ended up saying something about he was the only person I ever considered marrying as he's the only person I have loved so profoundly. And he said something about me being awesome or something. I admit, that part of the ceremony was a little bit of a blur. I guess I was just too excited to fully concentrate.

Then we gave our vows. We decided to keep them on note cards instead of memorizing them. This was a good choice for us. I honestly don't know when we would have memorized them, and we weren't into the whole repeating-after-Josh idea. If you know the reference in the first line you get extra friendship points! And if you don't, that's ok. We only heard about 4 people laugh at it.

I am prideful and honorable to take you to be my wife/husband. I promise to share with you all of myself. I promise to be your advocate; your constant friend; and your faithful companion.

I promise to respect you truly: as an individual, as my partner, and as my equal. I promise to support and encourage your interests, desires and aspirations, and to accept your support and encouragement of my own.

I promise to cultivate our friendship while preserving time and space for our friendships with others.

I promise to celebrate your successes and mourn your losses as if they were my own.

I promise to delight in the laughter, take serious the important, and imagine the profound.

I promise to live in truth with you, to communicate fully and fearlessly. I promise to live consciously, deliberately, and as a better person than the day before so that our life together will be rich and that we might make even a small difference in this world.

I promise to grow with you and continue loving as we grow, to face changes and challenges with you, to overcome obstacles with you, to enjoy contentment with you.

I promise to love and support you when it's easy and when it's not; in good times and bad, completely and forever. I promise you my unconditional love forever and ever.

We got a LOT of compliments on our vows. But they are not completely original, so we can't take the credit. I found lots of different vow examples on the interweb, and one day we took them all to Old Monk and sat outside with beers and fit together all the parts we liked best. Since we took them from communal spaces, I want to put our version out there and add back to the communal property. So for those who are getting married and these speak to you, help yourself to any or all of them. I like the idea that some of these words are connecting people all over the place in their pledges to their loved ones.

In the end, I didn't cry during the vows. I think I was just too excited about them. I was giddy. I did get teary during the reading by the bridal party, and a little bit during our final statement/reading by Josh:

Ashlee and David every day bear witness that healthy and strong relationships do not necessarily need to be defined by the institution of marriage. That being said, Ashlee and David wish to publicly take this opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate their love for each other through marriage. They are keenly aware that not all of their loved ones are granted this seemingly basic right. With this in mind, Ashlee and David asked me to read the following written by Margaret Marshall from the 2003 Massachusetts supreme court decision on same-sex marriage.:

"Marriage is a vital social institution. The exclusive commitment of two individuals to each other nurtures love and mutual support. Marriage is at once a deeply personal commitment to another human being and a highly public celebration of the ideals of mutuality, companionship, intimacy, fidelity, and family. Because it fulfills yearnings for security, safe haven, and connection that express our common humanity, the decision whether and whom to marry is among life's momentous acts of self-definition. It is undoubtedly for these reasons, as well as for its intimately personal significance, that civil marriage has long been termed a 'civil right'. Without the right to marry, one is excluded from the full range of human experience."

And then that was that! We kissed and started to party.