Idiots and Lunatics

My favorite thing about our wedding is that we got married. It marked not only the beginning of our marriage, but also a continuation of the mutual love and respect we'd felt for each other for quite some time.

On a more tangible level, my other favorite things from our wedding were our ceremony and our photographs, which are simply beautiful. As Wes and I approach our second wedding anniversary, I 've decided to share both of these things on the blog. I think I like the ceremony so much because it's unique, it's good writing and compiling, and it was truly a joint effort to create. For those of you who were there, I hope you enjoy the recap. For those of you who were not, I hope you enjoy the reading.

The ceremony began with a reading by one of Wes's college roommates:

"'Marriage' as defined by Bouvier's Legal Dictionary in 1856:

A contract made in due form of law, by which a free man and a free woman reciprocally engage to live with each other during their joint lives, in the union which ought to exist between husband and wife. By the terms freeman and freewoman in this definition are meant, not only that they are free and not slaves, but also that they are clear of all bars to a lawful marriage.

To make a valid marriage, the parties must be willing to contract, able to contract, and have actually contracted.

They must be willing to contract. Those persons, therefore, who have no legal capacity in point of intellect, to make a contract, cannot legally marry, as idiots, lunatics, and infants; males under the age of fourteen and females under the age of twelve, and when minors over those ages marry, they must have the consent of their parents or guardians.

There is no will when the person is mistaken in the party whom he intended to marry; as, if Peter intending to marry Maria, through error or mistake of person, in fact marries Eliza; but an error in the fortune, as if a man marries a woman whom he believes to be rich, and he finds her to be poor; or in the quality, as if he marry a woman whom he took to be chaste, and whom he finds of an opposite character, this does not invalidate the marriage, because in these cases the error is only of some quality or accident, and not in the person.

When the marriage is obtained by force or fraud, it is clear that there is no consent; it is, therefore, void ab initio, and may be treated as null by every court in which its validity may incidentally be called in question."

This was followed by comments by my brother, who officiated the ceremony:

"We are here tonight to witness the marriage of these two people, Liz and Wes. Those of us here have been invited as the family and friends who are most influential in their lives and who have helped shape who they are today. It is their wish that we continue to love and support them, individually and in their marriage, and for that reason we are here tonight as they declare their intent for one another, being as they are neither idiots nor lunatics."