I had the chance to attend a lovely wedding ceremony and thought that I would share it with those who were unable to attend. The wedding of Doc X and Ailsa on Sunday, November 12th.

Bride: Ailsa  Groom: Doc X
Bridesmaids: Cider!, Caliçë, ~Ms Understood~
Best Man: Acolyte Galaxxi
Ceremony by: Acolyte Aphrael
Blootiful Decorating by Caliçë

Acolyte Aphrael: Dear friends, dear couple about to marry! I'm very happy and honored to be here and to perform the ceremony. Ailsa and Doc X will exchange the vows that will bind them again, as they are bound to each other in the waking world.  But isn't a marriage in a dream world worthless, nothing more then a dream however pleasant it might be?  All of you know the answer <grin><grin><grin>

 But let me amplify this with the words of Ailsa and Doc X:  The Dreamscape is our second home, we want to have a commitment to each other that all our friends can share.  You might be surprised to learn that Ailsa and Doc X aren't married in the waking world,  yet they are together for 11 years now and marriage has never been an option, but as Ailsa said:  A dreamworld has more meaning then the waking world?  Oh Yes!  Where else can a cat marry a dog and a human and people from all over the world can attend without leaving their homes. That's what the dream is about,  nationality is irrelevant only friendship counts.  Our Dreamworld makes all this possible.

 We share the dream with Ailsa and Doc X by being here and celebrating their love.  The german word for marriage - Trauung - has a twofold meaning:  "einander trauen" - to trust each other  and "sich trauen" - to dare.  Isn't that what love is about?  Daring to trust each other!  Daring to make the commitment to stick together.  This trust goes deeper than "I'll add you to the lease of my turf",
 it means more than "Hey let's have a drink at the Isle Caribe",  it wins over "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune".  Happiness and joy are the final and long lasting results of this trust.
 And in this special case, this dream marriage re-affirms the waking world love.  Ailsa and Doc X asked to give them room for little speech both of them want to make.

 Doc X: Come live with me and be my Love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
 That hills and valleys, dales and field,
Or woods or steepy mountain yields.
And we will sit upon the rocks
And see the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle.
A gown made of the finest wool,
Which from our pretty lambs we pull,
Fair linèd slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold.
A belt of straw and ivy buds
With coral clasps and amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me and be my Love.
Thy silver dishes for thy meat
As precious as the gods do eat,
Shall on an ivory table be
Prepared each day for thee and me.
The shepherd swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May-morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my Love.
Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)

Ailsa: If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd's tongue
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy Love.
But Time drives flocks from field to fold;
When rivers rage and rocks grow cold;
And Philomel becometh dumb
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade, and wanton fields
To wayward Winter reckoning yields:
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
In folly ripe, in season rotten.
Thy belt of straw and ivy-buds,
Thy coral clasps and amber studs,--
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy Love.
But could youth last, and love still breed,
Had joys no date, nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy Love.
Sir Walter Raleigh (1552?-1618)

Acolyte Aphrael: Now it's time to exchange the vows <grin>
Doc X: I do Promise
to be a true companion to Ailsa
for better, for worse
thru server and client crashes
and always stand by her.
Ailsa, my heart is your heart for now and forever.

Ailsa: I do promise
to be a true companion to Doc X
for better for worse
thru server and client crashes
and always stand by him
Doc X, my heart is your heart for now and forever

Acolyte Aphrael: You have chosen to exchange rings as a sign of your love for each other. Please exchange your rings now. I declare before Morpheus,  and before your friends who are assembled here,you are now Dream Husband and Dream Wife You may kiss the Bride.

Congratulations!