The Wedding Service
of
Susan Rachel Weissman
and
Sylvain Marc Lauzac
Saturday, July 20, 1996
six o’clock in the evening
Flaugherty House
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Wedding Party
Bride’s Parents…….…………..……Jerry and Hazel Samilowitz Weissman
Groom’s Mother…………..…….…….…………….…..Marguerite Marchal
Officiant………………….….…….………..………Mayor Orlando Falcione
Maid of Honor…………………….…………………….Elizabeth Weissman
Bridesmaids…………………………….……..………….Victoria Weissman
Sacha Uljon
Best Man……….………………………………………………Walter Appel
Groomsmen…………………..……………………..……Christophe Mignot
Olivier Dréan
Our Ceremony
Processional
Greeting
The Address
Expression of Intentions
Exchange of Vows
Pledge of Support
Sharing of the Cup of Wine
The Blessing
The Pronouncement of Marriage
The Breaking of the Glass
Closing Words
Recessional
Processional
The Peace……………………………………………………….….Handel
Trumpet Voluntary…………………………………………….……Purcell
Greeting
Officiant: Please be seated.
Friends, Susan and Sylvain have invited us here today in the celebration of
their wedding. We come together not to mark the start of a relationship, but
to recognize a bond that already exists. This is a special time of celebration
that Susan and Sylvain will long remember, and because of this, they are
thankful you are here to share their joy.
The Address
Marriage is a supreme sharing of experience and an adventure in the most
intimate of human relationships. We enter it joyfully and in the knowledge
that love is both our highest achievement and life’s most precious gift.
We mean something very distinct, when we bind ourselves in love. It can
mean freedom and fulfillment. When we love we see things other people do
not see. We see beneath the surface and observe qualities which make this
person different from and dearer than all others. To see with loving eyes is
to know beauty. To be loved is to be seen and known as we are known to
no other.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote of this experience in “The Little Prince”:
Walter reads the passage in French and Victoria reads in English.
-Viens jouer avec moi, lui proposa le petit prince. Je suis tellement
triste…
“Come and play with me,” proposed the little prince. “I am so
unhappy.”
- Je ne puis pas jouer avec toi, dit le renard. Je ne suis pas
apprivoisé…
“I cannot play with you,” the fox said. “I am not tamed”…
-Qu’est-ce que signifie “apprivoiser”?
“What does that mean, tame?”
C’est une chose trop oubliée, dit le renard. Ça signifie “créer des
liens...” Tu n’es encore pour moi qu’un petit garçon tout semblable à
cent mille petits garçons. Et je n’ai pas besoin de toi. Et tu n’as pas
besoin de moi non plus. Je ne suis pour toi qu’un renard semblable à
cent mille renards. Mais, si tu m’apprivoises, nous aurons besoin l’un
de l’autre. Tu seras pour moi unique au monde. Je serai pour toi
unique au monde. Si tu veux un ami, apprivoise moi!
“It is an act too often neglected,” said the fox. “It means to establish
ties…To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just
like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you.
And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing
more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame
me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all
the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world…If you want a
friend, tame me …”
- Que faut-il faire? dit le petit prince.
“What must I do to tame you?” asked the little prince.
- Il faut être très patient, répondit le renard. Il faut des rites.
“You must be patient,” replied the fox. “One must observe the proper
rites.”
- Qu’est-ce qu’un rite? dit le petit prince.
“What is a rite?” asked the prince.
- C’est ce qui fait qu’un jour est différent des autres jours, une heure,
des autres heures.
Ainsi le petit prince apprivoisa le renard.
“It is what makes one day different from other days, one hour from
other hours…”
So the prince tamed the fox…
[Le petit prince voit un jardin de roses.]
[Then the little prince saw a garden of roses.]
Vous n’êtes pas du tout semblables à ma rose, vous n’êtes rien
encore, leur dit-il. Vous êtes comme était mon renard. Mais j’en ai fait
mon ami, et il est maintenant unique au monde.
“You are not at all like my rose”, he said. “As yet you are
nothing…You are like my fox when I first knew him…But I have made
him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world…
Vous êtes belles, mais vous êtes bien vides, leur dit-il encore. Bien
sûr, ma rose à moi, un passant ordinaire croirait qu’elle vous
ressemble. Mais à elle seule elle est plus importante que vous
toutes, puisque c’est elle que j’ai arrosée. Puisque c’est elle que j’ai
mise sous globe. Puisque c’est elle que j’ai écoutée…Puisque c’est
ma rose.
“You are beautiful, but you are empty,” he went on….an ordinary
passerby would think that my rose looked just like you. But in herself
alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses:
because it is she that I have watered. Because it is she that I have
sheltered. Because it is she that I have listened to…Because she is
my rose.”
Et il revient vers le renard:
And he went back to meet the fox.
- Adieu, dit le renard. Voici mon secret. Il est très simple : c’est le
temps que tu as perdu pour ta rose qui fait ta rose si importante. Tu
deviens responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as apprivoisé.
“Goodbye!” said the fox. “…here is my secret, a very simple
secret…It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your
rose so important…You become responsible, forever, for what you
have tamed.”
Officiant:
You must “be of love a little more careful than of anything”, for the giving
of yourself in love is difficult. You must learn to give of your love without
total submission of yourself. Therefore, in your giving, give your joy, your
sadness, your interests, your understanding, your knowledge- all
expressions that make up life. But in this giving, remember to preserve
yourself, both your integrity and your individuality. This is the challenge of
love within marriage.
The Maid of Honor, Elizabeth, will read the following passage.
There is an art to marriage as there is to any creative activity we
human beings engage in. This art asks that we pay attention to the
little things as well as the big ones that are part of the closeness of
marriage. Never grow to old to hold hands. At least once each day,
remember to say, “I love you.” In so much as it is possible, develop
the capacity to forgive and forget and… do not take each other for
granted.
It is important to have a mutual sense of values and common
objectives so that you stand together as you work through the world
and do things for each other, not as a duty or sacrifice, but in the
spirit of joy. Do not expect perfection of each other; perfection is
only for the gods…
Find room for the things of the spirit and make your search for the
good and the beautiful a common search. Remember that standing
together never means dissolving your individual selves into each
other, but indeed means the strengthening of the individuality of
each. A good marriage evolves when two distinct souls face life’s joy
and its sorrow in harmony, not in unison.
[This] is only a small part of what is required of two people who would
truly accept that making a marriage over the years is an artistic
endeavor worthy of our best efforts. It is not just another relationship
in our lives; it is the one that gives us courage and the support to
reach out to other people in love and wholeness.
Written by Betty Pingel
Officiant:
We are here today to give social recognition to the decision Susan and
Sylvain have made to accept each other totally and permanently, and to
celebrate the love which they have for each other. This is a decision which
is not to be entered into lightly, but rather undertaken with great
consideration and respect for both the other person and oneself. Having
made this decision, and in making this declaration to their family and
friends, Susan and Sylvain express their eagerness to take up this lifelong
commitment in seriousness and in joy.
Expression of Intentions
Susan and Sylvain, do you freely choose to enter into matrimony, to live
together in love and partnership?
Do you promise to respect and care for each other through all your years and
in all that life may bring you?
Bride and Groom: Oui do.
Exchange of Vows
Officiant: Sylvain, will you look into Susan’s eyes, and into her heart, and
speak your vows?
Groom: Susan, I promise to be your lover, companion, and friend,
your partner in parenthood,
your ally in conflict,
your greatest admirer and your toughest challenger,
your consolation in disappointment,
your accomplice in mischief.
your strength in your need and
vulnerable to you in my own,
and most of all,
your associate in your search for fulfillment.
Officiant: Susan, will you look into Sylvain’s eyes, and into his heart, and
speak your vows?
Bride: Sylvain, I promise to be your lover, companion, and friend,
your partner in parenthood,
your ally in conflict,
your greatest admirer and your toughest challenger,
your consolation in disappointment,
your accomplice in mischief.
your strength in your need and
vulnerable to you in my own,
and most of all,
your associate in your search for fulfillment.
Pledge of Support
Officiant: Will the parents of Susan and Sylvain please rise in order to
affirm your blessings, loving support, and encouragement of this marriage.
Parents rise.
If so you pledge, would each of you respond by saying “I do”.
Parents: I do.
Officiant: I now ask everyone to rise.
Everyone rises.
Do all of you gathered here today, pledge your support and encouragement
for the commitment that Susan and Sylvain have made to one another? If so
you pledge, would each of you respond by saying “I do”.
Everyone: I do.
Officiant: Everyone, please be seated.
Sharing of the Cup of Wine
Throughout the ages, wine has been used for celebration.
Often and among many people, wine has signified a life of plenty.
Often and among many people, drinking wine from a common cup has been
the mark of deep sharing.
Let the cup of wine be a symbol of your lifelong communion of spirit, mind,
and being.
Together you may now drink.
The bride and groom pour out a small amount of wine and drink.
Air on a G String……….……………………..…………………..…….Bach
The Blessing
As you have shared the wine from a single cup, may you also share
contentment, peace, and fulfillment.
May you find life’s joys heightened, its bitterness sweetened, and each of its
moments hallowed by true companionship and love.
May your home be filled with laughter in the warm embrace of a summer
day.
May life bless you with happiness and plenty.
The Pronouncement of Marriage
The wedding is not over, it has just begun. Not once and forever, but again
and again shall the mystery of two people together and in love, move each
other and touch the world. For marriage is not something said and done, but
a promise, whose fulfillment is acted out in time.
Susan and Sylvain, from the very beginning of your relationship, mutual
respect and great delight for one another has been evident. Remain mindful
of the foundation you have built. Continue to nurture and cherish each
other throughout your lives. Be faithful and true to each other. Love one
another and live together in peace. This is now your legacy.
The Breaking of the Glass:
Walter wraps the glass in a handkerchief and places it on the floor.
The crushing of the glass from which the wine of celebration has been
shared is a tradition of uncertain origin that suggests many things. Some
say that it is a reminder of the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, which
must not be forgotten even in moments of joy. Some see the shattered glass
as a symbol of a break with the past, which makes possible new
relationships. The marriage bond, like this broken glass, is uniquely
irreplaceable and unsharable. Still another ancient blessing wishes that the
years of happiness for these two people shall be no less than the years it
would take to fit all the resulting fragments together again. So be it for
Susan and Sylvain.
Together the bride and groom crush the glass with their feet.
Closing Words
Your marriage has been witnessed and blessed by all who gather here. Your
vows of commitment and love have been heard and felt by us all. By the
power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from this day
forward you are husband and wife.
Recessional
Hornpipe from the Water
Music……….…………………………..….Handel