Ben and Taylors Wedding Transcript

Ben and Taylors Wedding

Officiated by John Johnston (Known as Ben's Dad)

Invocation

Dear friends and family, tonight we are to witness and celebrate the union of Benjamin and Taylor. In the years that they have been together, their love for each other has grown, turning them into the couple you see before you. 

Now, they are ready to spend the rest of their lives together as husband and wife. A true marriage begins well before the wedding day, and the efforts of marriage continue well beyond the ceremony. 

A brief moment in time and the stroke of the pen are all that is required to create the legal bond of marriage, but it takes a lifetime of love, commitment, and compromise to make marriage durable and everlasting. 

Today you declare your commitment to each other before family and friends.

Dad’s speech

I am greatly honored as Ben’s dad to be asked to do this. The name Johnston is supposed to mean John’s son. Well in our house we do it wrong. I am known as Ben’s dad. I’m not going to change my name to "Bensdad" but even now I get introduced as Ben’s dad. 

So Ben’s dad has something to say tonight. I promise I won’t go over forty five minutes tonight.

Allélón is the Greek word for “One-Another” and loving one another. And I’ve come to the conclusion that Allélón or loving one another is the most important thing. It’s the purpose of life and the meaning of life. And without one another I sincerely believe we can’t even live.

And there is the question of nature versus nurture. I believe we are created twice. Once at birth and then again by one another (family, friends, teachers, etc.) 

Grandparents are a very important part of who we are. And so we just want to  remember Ben and Taylor’s grandparents as they can’t physically be here. Especially we want to remember Taylor’s grandmother Frieda who recently passed away. Frieda loved Ben and Taylor. And Ben and Taylor loved her as well. 

Ben and Taylor: You have received a very rich heritage from your grandparents.

How rich you are.

When we were preparing for this, Ben asked me if I was  going to say something about marriage. And I thought, around 400 people were coming to the wedding and reception, and I think they already answered that question and have effectively said Ben and Taylor’s marriage  and friendship are so important that they would take time out of their busy schedules to participate. 

I asked myself why would 400 people do that? And I thought, oh it’s because of who Ben and Taylor are. I could ask anyone here and they would say Ben and Taylor truly practice and live Allélón (they deeply care for each other, their family and friends.)

My experience is when I talk to people who know Ben and Taylor, they don’t just say “Oh we know them”. They say they love them.They know Ben and Taylor would give them the shirt off their back if they needed it. 

I once asked Ben when he was younger if he could ever become homeless. After thinking about it he said… “no”. I asked why? He said “I have too many friends.” And I thought, that’s the right answer. I Doubt if there’s a person here that would not take Ben and Taylor in if they were in need but not only that they would be blessed by having them there.

Ben and Taylor: What an unsinkable insurance plan you have.

How rich you are.

      

A very important building block for Allélón is time and proximity, that is shared history.   

Today many have a sense of what’s been lost from the past and the influence of technology. Gone is the multigenerational home, childhood friends, adventures of new land, etc.

Both Ben and Taylor have a deep sense and interest in history. We have had lots of discussion on this. Ben and Taylor have a history that has blessed them in this area.

I was thinking as I looked around at this building, Mary and I had our wedding reception here 44 years ago. And just a mile down the road from here Ben was born. And that’s where he lives today. And if they have children they will be the 4th generation to live in that house. (Taylor remarks “no pressure”)

His adventure and education was exploring and finding new lands here in the woods just outside this window. I could probably take Ben out in the woods here and blindfold him and he could find his way.

Taylor has many friends from her years of living in Sheboygan. With the community over here at Majerles they already know more people in Black River than Mary and I do in the years we have been here.

Ben and Taylor: You are very rich in history and community.

Both Ben and Taylor are highly intelligent and well educated. Though their educational paths seem quite different they are both autodidactic (self learners) and off the beaten path learners.

Ben was homeschooled. After 4th grade he never had a single academic subject. The only curriculum that he had was he had to know how to run a business or organization. So he just started businesses. That was his education.

Oh! But I do need to mention that when he was twelve and as I was a professor in computing I would take him along with me and he would teach my class. And guess what. The people preferred him over me. So he did attend college or at least he taught college.

His education was his adventures and friends were his teachers. And you see that today in his friends. 

Taylor education is not any less traditional. Where Ben made friends his teachers, Taylor made teachers her friends. She is not just about getting a degree but to learn and interact. More than once she has taught me something she has learned at school. You know where she was this morning? She went to school. She was in class.That’s not an ordinary student.

Ben and Taylor: How rich you are in Knowledge

So Why did I tell you these things? Because around 400 people are telling Ben and Taylor with their presence how important they are to them. Also I want to remind Ben and Taylor how rich they are and to dream of taking this foundation to even greater heights. May Ben and Taylor with the help of their community have the ultimate one-another marriage

Ben and Taylor: How blessed you are because you have each other.

The blessing of the rings

There is a tradition called the blessing of the rings. In this pouch are Ben and Taylor’s wedding rings. Each person present holds the pouch and silently prays for the couple, infusing their lives with warmth and blessings. For times sake we will only pass them to the parents but we invite you to feel free to silently offer up prayers for this couple.

Declaration of intent

(To The Groom)

Do you Benjamin take Taylor  to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?

(To The Bride)

Do you Taylor , take Benjamin  to be your Husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?

The rings are given to them

(Repeat after me)

Taylor I give you this ring as a symbol of my love.

(place the ring on her finger)

Benjamin I give you this ring as a symbol of my love.

(place the ring on his finger)

By the power vested in me by the state of Wisconsin and our mailman who delivered my mail order license to marry, I now pronounce you husband and wife! Benjamin you may now kiss your bride

Family and Friends I present to you for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Johnston!

Music!

(Ben and Taylor danced down the aisle)

Refreshments are available, get to know one-another 

Introduce yourself others because if they are friends of Ben and Taylor’s they are high caliber people and you want to know them too.

This wedding is about one-another with the guests and the ultimate one-another marriage.