Tess Harper Craig

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together in the sight of God, and in the face of the company, to join together this man and this women in Holy Matrimony, which is an honorable estate instituted of God, and therefore not to be entered into by any inadvisably or lightly but reverently, discreetly, soberly, and in the fear of God. You are performing an act of utter faith, believing in one another to the end. As the bride gives herself to the bridegroom let him be to her father and mother, sister and brother, and most sacred husband. As he gives himself to her let the bride inspire and sustain him. Let her unite with him in all the experiences of life to which their paths shall lead them, great moments and the small. Let the joys of each shall be the joys of both, and the sorrows of each, the sorrows of both. If you wish your new estate to be touched with lasting beauty, cherish those gracious visions of your first love. Let them not be blurred by the common events of life. Be not moved in your devotion. Believe in the ideal you saw at once. It still exits. It is the final truth.”

from Woman of the Year, a lovely Katherine Hepburn movie