January 23, 2010
4:00 PM
Sainte Claire Hotel
San Jose, California
The Wedding Ceremony
Prelude
Seating of the Grandfather of the Bride Chu Leung Woo Seating of the Bride’s Mother (Left side facing the front)
Mei-Ling Woo
Seating of the Groom’s Parents (Right side facing front)
Jung-Chung and Shou-Huei Lin
Mothers Lighting the Single Candles on Altar
Shou-Huei Lin and Mei-Ling Woo
Entrance of the Groom’s men and Groom
Pastor Don Ng, Groom Richard Lin, Best Man James Chen, Groomsmen Roberto Bernardo and Simon Golob
Processional
Bridesmaids Ji Young Choy
Janet Ma
Matron of Honor Alesa Quock
Ring Bearers Shay Quock and Ryder Quock
(Everyone stands.)
Bride Wendy Woo and Father of the Bride Yiu Yuen Woo
Welcome & Opening Prayer
Friends, I welcome you to this beautiful place and holy moment in the lives of Richard Lin and Wendy Woo. Please be seated. For the sacredness of this moment, let me remind you to silent your cell phones at this time.
We are here to celebrate with Richard and Wendy the beginning of their journey as husband and wife. In truth, this is not a new journey, but the continuation of a journey begun many months ago—a journey that commenced at a Bible study in Virginia that led to a cell phone call from Pakistan, a first date; and grew from there into a long friendship, a deep caring and love and a desire to share life together. This deep love was officially recognized in a Washington, D.C. courthouse before Richard was sent to Beirut.
Richard and Wendy stand before you to declare that even though they know and love each other profoundly, two additional elements are needed if the commitments made here today are to last for a lifetime. Those two elements are the blessing of God and the support of family and friends.
By holding this Christian service of commitment today, Richard and Wendy acknowledge their dependence upon God and their conscious and deliberate invitation for God to be an integral part of their marriage. They humbly ask God to bestow his blessing upon this service, upon their vows and upon their journey as a couple.
Richard and Wendy also ask you, their family and friends, to pray for them often. Each of you has contributed to this relationship through your encouragement, advice, love and friendship. Even though Richard and Wendy will relate to you differently than before, they want you to know that your love, support and encouragement are still needed.
Now, let us pray. Always faithful God, you made a covenant with us that was for all times and all seasons. Be here with us in this season of a California winter to witness the covenant between Richard and Wendy that it, too, may be for all the seasons of their lives. Be powerfully present in their love, so that what happens here today marks the start of years of faithfulness, both to you and to each other. Amen.
Presentation of the Bride and the Groom
Richard and Wendy deeply appreciate the rich and warm heritage of their families and especially the love and nurture that they have received from their parents. Acknowledging that God has brought them together, who has the honor of presenting them to be married today?
(Parents stand up)
Parents: “We do.”
(Wendy’s father takes his seat.)
Honoring Parents
Declaration of Intent
Richard and Wendy, here in the presence of God and your family and friends, I ask you to declare your intention to enter into covenant with each other through the grace of Jesus Christ.
Richard, will you have Wendy to be your wife, to live together in holy marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?
Richard: “I will.”
Wendy, will you have Richard to be your husband, to live together in holy marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?
Wendy: “I will.”
Scripture Reading Colossians 3:12-17
Alexandria and Melissa Grantier
Words to the Couple
Richard and Wendy, as a community of your extended family and friends, we have gathered today to share your joy. Because we all know and love you, appreciate and respect you as individuals, we all hold great hope for your marriage today.
You are both high-achievers. You both have completed graduate degrees. As an employee in the state department, Richard, you speak multiple languages, trained and skilled in tactical procedures that most of us have only seen in the movies and get up so early in the morning that most of us are still deep in slumber. Wendy, you are finishing up your training in the medical field that requires rigorous study and a tolerance of no mistakes since other people’s lives are depended on your expertise. You are both discipline and have the courage to succeed. All of us admire and respect you for these personal qualities that you have. If I was in a dangerous situation, I want to know that you are around.
In Ephesians 2:4-7, Paul writes, “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” This means that God is rich in mercy and has great love for us.
Mercy is a piece of love that often is neglected. Mercy is the quality of forgiving a wrongdoing and moving on without bearing resentment. As a couple with significant accomplishments and successes, be mindful that the best plans sometimes need changing. Mistakes happen that would require giving each other mercy and the ability to let things go. Planning your wedding, relocating to your new home, keeping up with your jobs, no doubt, have all been stressful. In your daily living, having the rich mercy that Paul spoke about, the ability to let go when it’s appropriate; is pretty significant.
Richard and Wendy, you shared with me how God is very present in your lives. God is the voice that nudged Richard to make that phone call to Wendy because he “just knew” that your relationship is a blessing by God. Things fell into place for you to be reassigned to LA to be close to Wendy, to have your wedding today. It seems that God is planning every step of your lives. Did you know that coincidences stop happening when you don’t believe in God? God in Christ has made us alive again and you are witnessing the immeasurable riches of God’s grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
You have become best friends. Richard has become a changed person in a good way. He is more patient with Wendy and with those he work. Wendy feels love and support when Richard wakes up early in the morning just to prepare coffee and lunch so that she can get a few more minutes of needed sleep. Only best friends do such loving things for each other. And when you lose your patience or that Richard forgets to get your morning coffee ready, that’s when mercy comes into play. You both have the other’s best interest at heart.
Having mercy on each other when romantic love isn’t enough to smooth the waters is true love. Mercy is the toughness of love that becomes gentle when things are not quite right. Mistakes are met with kindness. Merciful love moves beyond the good feelings and into the awful feelings but cares nonetheless.
That’s what God does for us. This is why God is a gracious God. This is what God calls us to do for each other in friendships, in parenting, in marriage. God will give you the strength to love and to have mercy—but you must rely on God to do so instead of trying to do it all yourselves.
May God bless your marriage to each other. Know that we all support you and walk with you on this great adventure you are embarking on today.
Exchange of Vows
Richard and Wendy will share their love for each other by publicly reciting their vows.
Richard: Wendy, I take you to be my wedded 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,
So long as we both shall live.
With my whole heart
And with my complete devotion,
I pledge my love to you.
Wendy: Richard, I take you to be my wedded 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,
So long as we both shall live.
With my whole heart
And with my complete devotion,
I pledge my love to you.
Exchange of Rings
For many centuries, a wedding ring has been a symbol of a pledge that those who give a ring intend to live up to the vows and promises made at the time of marriage. A ring is a visible sign of an inward grace that signifies the givers and receivers becoming one in holy marriage through the church of Jesus Christ.
Let us pray. O Lord, enable Richard and Wendy to be aware of this sacred moment when they receive evidence of their pledge of love and loyalty to one another. May they know your peace and favor as they begin their new life together, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Richard: As a sign of my sincere love for you, Wendy,
I give you this ring.
Wear it in the knowledge
That I cherish you
With all of my heart and will.
With God’s help,
I will live up to my promises,
I make to you today.
Wendy: As a sign of my sincere love for you, Richard,
I give you this ring.
Wear it in the knowledge
That I cherish you
With all of my heart and will.
With God’s help,
I will live up to my promises,
I make to you today.
Lighting of the Unity Candle
Richard and Wendy’s mothers lit individual candles to symbolize the precious gift of life that they were given when their children were born. Spanning across the years, they along with their fathers supported Richard and Wendy to this day and will no doubt continue praying for them and guiding them in the future.
Now Richard and Wendy’s individual lives are joined in marriage symbolized by the Unity Candle. They declare that their life together will shine in the world with warmth and brightness for many. The Unity Candle, a keepsake for them to relight on their anniversaries now burns, signifying their new, shared married life.
Wedding Prayer
Most gracious God, you brought Richard and Wendy together by your providence; you opened their hearts to each other and led them to fall in love. You moved them to bear witness to your part in their love for each other by sealing their love within the holy bond of marriage.
They have made solemn promises to each other and to you. To keep these promises amid the trials of life, and against all the odds that beset the covenant of marriage today, they will need the strength and grace only you can supply. Grant them strength, grace and mercy, we pray, from our Savior’s limitless supply.
Bless the home Richard and Wendy are founding. Grant them the blessing of children when they will become wonderful and nurturing parents. And enlarge the boundaries of their caring so that they may pray and work for justice and peace for all your children. We pray in the name of our life-affirming, death-defying Lord, your Son Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
Announcements
You are invited to the reception on your right after exiting. Family and friends are requested to return for pictures.
Declaration of Marriage
Richard and Wendy, you both came to this ceremony today because of the love that you share. With sincerity you have made sacred promises to each other in the presence of your family, your friends and your God. Live all the days of your lives with the deep desire to be together—when you are both hard at work, when you may go on a medical mission trip together to serve God, when you find a home church and work with youth or adults, and even when you may be far away from each other but that bond of love still remains strong and true because as Richard said, “He “just knew” that Wendy is the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with.
Richard and Wendy, because you have publicly made your vows to each other today, have given and received rings as an outward sign of an inward love for each other, and have lit your Unity Candle to signify the oneness you have in Christ, I, as a Minister of the Christian Gospel now declare you to be husband and wife. Joined as one, Richard and Wendy, you will continue to be blessed by the love that you share, the love you have for God and the love that God has for each of you.
Benediction
May you experience loving companionship in your life together
So that when one falls, one may pick the other up
So that when one is tired and stressed out, one may provide rest and renewing nourishment
So that if one is laughing, one may share the laughter
So that if one is dreaming of one day having children and a place to call home, one may share the dream
So that when Richard is listening to a CD about business leadership that makes Wendy’s car get sick, and when Wendy is watching one of her food network shows that Richard has the hope that gourmet food may be coming
You came as very good friends; you leave as best friends
You came as two, you leave as one.
May God bless you and keep you; May God makes his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; May God lift up the heavens and give you peace and joy this day and forevermore. Amen.
Pronouncement
It is my joy and honor to introduce to you, “Richard and Wendy Woo Lin.”
(Permission to kiss)
Recessional (Everyone stands)
Postlude
Officiant: Rev. Donald Ng
Dinner Prayer
On this beautiful day and evening, Lord God, you have shown us what true love looks like. We give thanks for the way you brought Richard and Wendy together who in turn gathered all of us here tonight—to fellowship around these tables, to share in the bounty of your blessings, and to bear witness of your place in our lives. Bless the meal that we are about to share so that we may become loving and compassionate people in the world. In the holy name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.