Greatest Of Unions

Here are pictures from the lead up to our matrimonial celebration.

The photos start with Sean’s “bachelor party” with Sten, Dave, and Jonah (not pictured) outside the Acropolis in Portland, OR. Steak, sunny side up eggs & a stripper at 9:30AM on a Tuesday morning… a glorious and painfully awkward reminder of why we get married.

The photos continue as we hit Costco to stock up on food for the weekend, joust with Lewis & Clark, arrive in Yachats, greet our friends and family, play and decorate for the big day.

Here are pictures from Saturday as everyone gathers in preparation for the ceremony.

Musical Procession
Guillaume gathers people and practices with them the 2001 Space Odyssey theme song on small instruments. Sean and Erica enter as the music continues and with Guillaume lead the crowd in a musical procession to the ceremony location.

Marriage Introduction -- declare intention
Gui: Welcome to this ceremony bringing together the lives of Sean & Erica in a union of friendship and commitment.

Just as a wedding is not merely the joining of two people, but also the joining of families and a celebration for the couple’s community of friends and loved ones, so too is marriage not embodied by a single concept.

Over the years and in preparation for this celebration, Erica & Sean have thought about what aspects of their union are of the highest importance to them. And now each of them will say a few words to discuss these.

Sean discusses mutualism
Sean: As Erica and I discussed what this ceremony and this union means to us, one central idea that kept coming up is mutualism. Mutualism is a word that comes from the study of biology. Some of you may know it by other words, symbiosis, synergy, a statistical interaction effect or “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”… all of these terms capture a simple idea, that together we can be more than if we exist separately.

You might think that living in the tight quarters of a van now for 6 months would be a great way to find every problem with each other, but in fact we found just the opposite, it has really highlighted how well we work together to solve problems and help each other to become better people. Whether it’s splitting up talking and listening when meeting new people or the research and non-stop decision making of being on the road or just picking up the slack to help keep a positive attitude when one of us is struggling with a bad day, we somehow manage incredibly well to balance, support, challenge, and generally enhance each other and our experience together.

Despite many similarities and our sense of common purpose, Erica and I are very different people, and we chose our costumes today to celebrate one of our differences. Daring, on its own would be destined to a short, but colorful experience, while caution would live a long, but sheltered life. By daring to celebrate our differences and being cautious not to lose the strengths of our individuality, we can live both a long and colorful life together. After all our travels and meeting people from all walks of life, I’m quite convinced that our union will truly be a great one that will allow us to make the most of ourselves.

And now Erica’s sister, Abby, and my brother, Ian, will each give a short reading.

Abby’s Reading:
Abby: This reading is from “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.

Ian’s Reading
Ian: This reading is from “Gift From The Sea” by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity -- in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern.

Erica discusses choice
Erica: Ian’s reading could be interpreted in a variety of ways, but for me it highlights what is most important about my relationship with Sean…which is an understanding that our union is not made from a single choice on a day like today, it is not a static binding pact… because it cannot be, because with each breath we take, we transform, in ways big and small. This is the incredible thing about life, and especially about my life with Sean. It continuously changes… we make new dreams, we develop new fears… and with each of these changes we have the opportunity to choose. To choose to be happy. To choose respect, positivity, trust and forgiveness. Choosing to challenge and support one another. Choosing to make ourselves better. It is this commitment which we are making today, a commitment to live with the intention to make conscious daily choices that contribute to our growth, both as individuals and in our union. Choices that encourage positive change in our evolution. It is for all these reasons that we are entering this union and we believe that we will continue to choose each other. Today and every day.

Guillaume introduces vows
Gui: Erica & Sean have chosen their vows to each other and are here today with all of us to declare their intentions in this union.

Will you each choose to look for the brightness in life and the positive in each other?
- We will.
Will you each choose to trust one another and find forgiveness when that trust is broken?
- We will.
Will you each choose to share the burdens of each other so that your spirits may grow in this union?
- We will.
Will you each choose to challenge one another to bring strength and balance to your lives?
- We will.
Will you each choose to share each others dreams and dream together to create new realities and hopes?
- We will.
Will you each choose to develop yourselves as individuals so that you will have more to offer each other and to this union.
- We will.
And Will you the friends and families of Sean & Erica each choose to help them to improve themselves as individuals and grow in this union?

- We will.

Exchange rings
Gui: Having declared your intentions, what do you give as a symbol of your union and your intentions within it.

Erica: I give you this ring as a symbol of my belief that together in this union we can be more than separately as individuals.

Sean: I give you this ring as a symbol of my belief that together in this union we can be more than separately as individuals.

Declare marriage
Gui: Having spoken vows and exchanged rings before your assembled friends and family, by the power vested in me by the state of Oregon, I now pronounce you husband and wife.

Group Thanks
Gui: And now we would like everyone to join hands in a circle while Sean says a few words of thanks.

Sean: We would like to thank all of you for coming out to join us on this special day. We have much to be thankful for in our lives, but we’re very grateful for this day and the time to share it with our dearest of friends and family. We’re thankful that we all have each other and the possibility to help one another grow to become better and stronger people, and that each of us can choose to work toward making the world a better place for all of us.

WOW!

We have the Greatest of Friends and Family!

When we dreamed of how to celebrate our union, we set out ambitious goals to share our love with friends and family. But we could never have imagined what great gifts of love and goodwill everyone would bring to our celebration. We can’t begin to thank each of you here for the many, many acts of giving and community spirit that you bestowed on us, so it will have to suffice to say that you truly inspired us to continue to dream.

Many thanks to all of you!

And keep up with us as the honeymoon continues! – http://www.lastgreatroadtrip.net/