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Jesse Ferrell and Kristi Myers Self-Uniting Wedding Ceremony August 11, 2012 Brougher Chapel, York College, York, PA
[Photographer Carl Schaad]
[Bob and Ann OConnell - Bride's Parents]
[Photographer Bryanna Lynne]
[Master of Ceremonies, Rachael Paules]
[Entrance Music by Nick Harper]
[Kelly Steckler, Maid of Honor]
[Genevieve Myers, Bridesmaid and Daughter of the Bride]
[The Bride and Groom]
Hi. [Laughter] I'd like to welcome you guys to this celebration today. My name is Rachael and Kristi and Jesse asked me to speak at this ceremony.
Today we are doing a self-uniting ceremony, which is one in which the couple is married without the presence of a third-party officiant.
Pennsylvania is one of only three states that has recognized such marriages for centuries.
Due to its Quaker origins, and history of religious tolerance, because of Jesse's Quaker faith...
and because Jesse and Kristi felt the bond would be strongest if they united themselves, we are performing a self-uniting ceremony.
Now, in the spirit of the Quaker Meeting, Jesse and Kristi would like to invite anybody who feels called to step forward and share their hopes and blessings for this marriage.
(Genevieve) Hi. [Laughter] I'm very happy to be in this wedding and I'm glad to be the bridesmaid, and I think that Mommy
and Jesse will have a very strong bond and we will be together forever, and we will make very beautiful lives together.
If anybody else would like to stand forward and say a word or two about this marriage?
(Kristi) Seriously, someone? [Laughter]
(Jesse) We have something to say about it too, but we're going to hold off...
(Mimi) Hi. [Laughter] For those of you who don't know me, I'm Mimi. And most of the time our relationship with this family is on Skype...
And I've got to say, all the times that I'm talking to Genevieve, in the background you can hear Jesse and Kristi laughing and talking
and she has a problem on the computer Jesse comes over and helps her and...
they are just really sweet family unit, I am so looking forward to getting to know Jesse better... and they're going to be a dear family.
and welcome to the family, Jesse.
(Mel) I just want to say that I love you guys, and I know you're going to be great together, and just wanted to congratulate you.
(Rachael) Does anybody else want to share a word?
[Laughter] (Kristi) Uh-oh. [Laughter]
(Justin) I'm Justin, Jesse's friend from AccuWeather. I just wanted to comment that, over the past year or so
that Jesse and Kristi have been together, there's been such a marked change in Jesse, he's been so happy...
and so I'm happy for the both of you. A great deal of [sic] happiness to be with them.
I also have to compliment you on the multiconnectedness of this wedding.
You've got three multi, you've got three social media channels pumping this content out, which is just good marketing too... so [Laughter] Congratulations!
You're the only group I've seen so far I've seen doing computer [sic]. [Laughter]
(Henry) I'm Henry Margusity from AccuWeather, Jesse's good friend for, how many years now? Twenty years? (Jesse) Fifteen.
and I just want to say one thing Jesse: Congratulations, plus, you missed a big tornado yesterday in State College.
(Jesse) Ahh. [Laughter] There was a rainbow too I saw, over the - (Henry) Many, many rainbows yesterday. (Jesse) Yeah.
(Henry) And I was thinking to me yesterday as I saw the rainbow over your house, that's a good omen for the wedding. (Jesse) There you go.
(Greg) I probably don't even need this. Everybody can hear me right?
Kristi: You and I go back a lot more years than either one of us would probably be willing to admit to. But I just want to tell you, on this very special day: Congratulations.
Here's to many many years of joy, and Jesse: I just got a chance to meet you today but I've heard a lot about you from Kristi, I don't believe a word of it...
[Laughter] It's great to get to meet you, and hopefully I'll get to know you a lot better over the years.
Congratulations to the both of you.
(Rachael) Is there anyone else who would like to share or...
Hello, hi. OK, my name is Grant, also known as "Pop." I don't know Jesse very well, we've met once...
We met once, I've lived in Thailand for the past few years; I come back to visit from time to time...
I've met Jesse once I believe, up here in Pennsylvania. But, being so far away, it's nice to know that, when Kristi and Jesse had met
that Genevieve has this loving family to take care of her, and although I don't know Jesse very well, he seems to be a very nice guy...
he seems to make Genevieve very happy, because I see her posting things about weather and talking about Jesse online [Laughter]
and what they've done and gone out and experienced, so it makes me very happy and content to know that she is being made so happy by Jesse
and Kristi's being made so happy by Jesse and I wish you guys all the best of luck. (Jesse) Thanks.
(Oliver) Hello, my name's Oliver... and I've one of Genevieve's friends... And all I want to say is that I hope Kristi and Jesse have a happy wedding. [Aaaaws] (Jesse) Thank you.
(Rachael) Is that everybody who would like to speak today?
(Carl) My name's Carl, I'm a friend of Jesse, of way back, not exactly of AccuWeather anymore... one of the things I noted when Jesse was dating Kristi was...
that there's a change that came over him, that only comes over a person when they meet somebody, that they realize...
...they're supposed to be with, and that that is forever, then the magic really takes over... and that's what I think of when I think about...
this day, and this wedding, just two people who found each other. It's pretty remarkable that that ever happens, but it does, and I just wish you guys the best.
(Rachael) OK, Kristi and Jesse have selected a Scripture that they would like me to read here today...
Let me try my best to... hold the microphone and do this at the same time. (Kelly) Do you want me to? (Rachael) Sure.
It's first Corinthians, 13. "I may speak in the languages of humans and of angels. But if I don't have love, I am a loud gong or a clashing symbol."
"I may have the gift to speak what God has revealed, and I may understand all mysteries and have all knowledge. I may even have enough faith to move mountains."
"But if I don't have love, I am nothing. I may even give away all that I have. But if I don't have love, none of these things will help me."
"Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn't jealous. It doesn't sing its own praises. It isn't arrogant. It isn't rude. It doesn't think about itself. It isn't irritable."
"It doesn't keep track of wrongs. Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up. So these three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."
And now, Kristi and Jesse would like to recite their vows to one another.
(Kristi) [Sigh] I don't even know what to say now. [Laughter] I really thought there was no such thing as the person who makes you happy in every way and likes to do all the things that you like.
I just didn't think that was possible for a long time. And then one day I met you and I fell in love with you so fast, and I realized that now I'd found this person [sic] that I had never found before.
[sic] I finally have a person with whom we can finish each others' sentences and laugh at each other's stupid jokes.
and always feel we're connected in a special way, and always be the greatest thing that ever happened to me (except for maybe Genevieve... and Kelly). [Laughter]
I'm just so grateful that we met and that we get this chance at happiness that I missed for so long, and I love you so much. [Crying]
(Jesse): I had to make notes; I didn't memorize mine. [Laughter] Kristi's right in that... a lot of people told me it was going to be better the second time around, but I didn't believe them.
Turns out, it was right. They say opposites attract but now I know that doesn't really last and... I didn't know before Kristi how important it could be to be as a couple, kindred spirits and best friends.
Now, many of you may know that Kristi and I met online... but what you may NOT know, is that she was actually on the dating site for a lark. I was a little more committed, but...
both of us had spent a couple months online and had been paired, through the automatic computer algorithms, with a lot of horrible people that were nothing like us. [Laughter]
And it wasn't until I expanded my search area to 75 miles [Laughter] on the advice of Justin back there, that Kristi popped up on my screen.
As soon as I saw her pop up, I knew that she was going to be special. And I'll never forget my first email to her on the dating site.
where I said "You make me wish York wasn't so far away." And her reply to that email, which was much more lengthy but [Laughter] but she said "Well, you have my attention, and that is something." [Laughter]
One of my favorite bands has a lyric that goes: "I broke out in laughter when you told me that / Being with me is like being alone / But I knew you meant it as a compliment / This is what it means to be home."
That lyric really hit home with me, because what he meant by that, and what I mean here, is that Kristi and I enjoy so many of the same things and being with her feels like home.
And the list of things that we enjoy together is endless. And, as she mentioned, we're now... finishing each other's sentences, apparently existing in the same brain. [Laughter]
So today I commit the rest of my life, through thick and thin, to be with Kristi, and I promise to continue to be completely honest, to never take her for granted...
and to help take care of Genevieve (who I did have to ask for permission to marry Kristi, by the way). [Laughter]
But food awaits us, so there's nothing else say, except "I love you."
(Kristi) We're married now. [Laughter, Applause]
Are we going to... do the ceremonial Facebook (Jesse) Yes. (Racahel) status change now? [Laughter]
(Rachael) Everyone get your phones out. [Laughter] And take pictures.
[Laughter]
(Jesse): Let's see... "It's Complicated?" No that's not it. [Laughter] Marriage... there it is.
[Laughter] (Jesse) "Married..." "OK..." "Save..." Alright, I think it's official! [Laughter] (Rachael) It's "Facebook Official" everybody.
[Applause]
(Rachael) And now, I am happy to introduce to you, the new, happily married couple, Kristi and Jesse. [Applause]
(Kristi) If I can say something without crying... I just want to thank all of you for coming and being here with us today and for supporting me over what was a really
difficult couple of years recently, I feel like: I thought my life was over, and now I feel like my life is starting all over again, and I'm not 40 but actually 20...
And if ANYBODY quotes me on that [Laughter] (Rod) I thought you were 27. (Kristi) 29. (Jesse) We'll... we'll bleep that out on the video.
(Kristi) But it means so much that all of you are here, and that our friends Carl and Heidi and Bry are coming and taking photos as a favor to us
And that so many people have stepped up, Kelly and Rachael, to help us make it a beautiful day. And it's the coolest thing in the world that my little girl is standing up here with me today...
So I just wanted to thank you for coming, and tell you that your presence just means everything, and you're making it a beautiful day for us.
Thank you. Now, we go eat! [Laughter] [Applause]
(Ann) Should we all wave to Jesse's Mom? Hi Sally! (Jesse) Wave to my mom. (All) Hi Sally! (Jesse) Streaming live from North Carolina. [Laughter]
(Kristi) And she'll be at the reception too. [Laughter]
(Kristi) Jesse, we have to actually walk out now. (Jesse) Oh. (Kristi) It's like a thing.
[Music Begins]