“Today is a celebration of love and of life! A celebration not to create a bond or a union, but rather to rejoice in all that Makaria and Thomas already share. The location of today’s ceremony is not only beautiful but also ripe with meaning.

The author David Mitchell once wrote: ‘After all, what is the ocean but a collection of drops?’

So I ask you now what is a good marriage but a collection of moments, both great and seemingly insignificant, that take a lifetime to collect. Moments that are created in love, celebrated, and shared in the privacy of two hearts, become something so vast and all encompassing that like molecules of water, they integrate with every aspect of life. They fill the body and soul with memories, bringing a richness and fullness to life. Every act of kindness, every loving glance, every touch every kiss holds in it a drop of life. When those drops are held in love and marriage the rewards are so far reaching that there is nothing beyond that grasp of a husband and wife joined by this all powerful force.

The fact that we are at a lighthouse is also symbolic in that the light of love and the strength of the promises made this day shall be as a beacon through the dark times when it is sometimes hard to find our way through the cold and night to the safety and shelter that is the harbor of a good marriage.

Addressing Bride and Groom

Today is the public affirmation and acknowledgment of all that you are to each other. Seemingly your relationship will be as it has always been, yet there is a power in the spoken word. May that power bring you all the warmth and closeness, security and comfort, joy and happiness that this world has to offer.”