If you are planning a non-religious wedding in New Orleans you can contact JK Schwehm, wedding officiant. He served as a Justice of the Peace and is a non-denominational minister registered in Orleans Parish. You need not go to the justice of the peace at the local courthouse and have a dull wedding ceremony. You can still have the wedding you always imagined, and be married by someone with a lot of experience. Interfaith marriages are on the rise as are non-religious wedding ceremonies. Non-denominational spiritual ceremonies are nice and cover several religious faiths. General Civil ceremonies cover a lot of situations when two parties are different faiths or just not church active. Below are some sample ceremonies found on Officiant JK Schwehm's web page here-
http://www.figstreet.com/guesthouse/simpleweddingceremony.html
for a non-religious wedding ceremony.
The ceremony and vows can be simple like the first example or more poetic like the second, or you can write your own.
Simple Basic Wedding Ceremony
The step which you are about to take is the most important into which human beings can come. It is a union of two people founded upon mutual respect and affection. Your lives will change, your responsibilities will increase, but your joy will be multiplied if you are sincere and earnest with your pledge to one another.__(Groom)___________, will you have this woman to be your wedded wife, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto her, for so long as you both shall live?
_ (Bride)____________, will you have this man to be your wedded husband, to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto him, so long as you both shall live?
Take hands and repeat after me: I, __(Groom)___________, take you, __(Bride)___________, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, to love and to cherish, from this day forward.
I, ___(Bride)________, take you, _(Groom)__________, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, to love and to cherish, from this day forward.
Do you have a ring for the bride? Please place the ring on the bride's finger and say: With this ring, I thee wed.
Is there a ring for the groom? Please place the ring on the groom's finger and say: With this ring I thee wed.
Let these rings be given and received as a token of your affection, sincerity and fidelity to one another.
In as much as _____________ and _____________ have consented together in wedlock and have witnessed the same before this company, and pledged their vows to each other, by the authority vested in me by the State of Louisiana, I now pronounce you husband and wife. (You may now kiss .)
( This can be used as a base to work from by adding in other parts from the above parts list.)
Sample New Civil Ceremony
We are here today in the presence of family and friends to share with Bride and Groom the most important moment in their lives. We do this as the legal requirement to be married in Louisiana but this ceremony does not alter the love required to be husband and wife. Without the love between these two people we would not be here today.What is marriage? It has been said that marriage is that relationship between man and woman in which the independence is equal, the dependence mutual and the obligation reciprocal. --Bride-- and --Groom you are now to bring together the best parts of your individuality, uniting spirit, talent and experience to create something better than either of you alone can offer. You must, and I’m sure will, work hard to maintain this union.
By this ceremony you will become husband and wife, but the soul of your marriage depends on the constant renewal of the choices and promises out of love for one another you make today.
Life together will sometimes be playful and effortless, sometimes frustrating and difficult. Each day your relationship will strengthen if you choose to continue to love and honor one another.
Love is something beyond the excitement of romance and being in love. It is a committed, thoughtful decision. Love is nurturing. Love is listening. Love is caring about your partner. Love lightens burdens because you divide them. Love intensifies joys because you share them.
If you truly love you will always be loyal to one another. No matter what the cost always believe in one another, always expect the best of one another and above all else, always support one another in every day living.
(Reading Choice Here - Julie Bielicki) It is often said that it is love that makes the world go round. However, without doubt, it is friendship which keeps our spinning existence on an even keel. True friendship provides so many of the essentials for a happy life—it is the foundation on which to build an enduring relationship, it is the mortar which bonds us together in harmony, and it is the calm, warm protection we sometimes need when the world outside seems cold and chaotic. True friendship holds a mirror to our foibles and failings, without destroying our sense of worthiness. True friendship nurtures our hopes, supports us in our disappointments, and encourages us to grow to our best potential.
Bride and Groom came together as friends. Today, they pledge to each other not only their love, but also the strength, warmth and most importantly, the fun of true friendship.
The step which you are about to take is the most important into which human beings can come. It is a union of two people founded upon mutual respect and affection. Your lives will change, your responsibilities will increase, but your joy will be multiplied if you are sincere and earnest with your pledge to one another.
It is the wish of everyone here today that your marriage bring each of you much happiness. Happiness in marriage doesn’t just happen though. You must work on it. Remember to say “I love you”, hold hands whenever you get the chance, and at no time take the other for granted.
Family and friends, we are witnesses to the union of two individuals who choose to commit to a life together. Our responsibility as their friends and witnesses is to provide them as a couple with our love, support and approval.
For the beauty around us, the strength it offers and the peace it brings, we are grateful and honored to be a part of the life you have chosen to live as husband and wife from this day forward.( Recoznize loved ones present or departed optional here)
Will you Groom have this woman to be your wedded wife, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, and forsaking all others, for so long as you both shall live? (I Will)
Will you, Bride take Groom to be your wedded husband, to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, and forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live? (I Will)
Take hands and repeat after me: I, Groom , take you, Bride , to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, to love and to cherish, from this day forward.
I, Bride , take you, Groom to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer of for poorer, to love and to cherish, from this day forward.
Rings please… Place the ring on the bride’s finger and say: With this ring, I thee wed. Place the ring on the groom’s finger and say: With this ring, I thee wed.In as much as Bride and Groom have consented together in wedlock and have witnessed the same before this company, and pledged their vows to each other, by the authority vested in me by the State of Louisiana, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
(Kiss)
