Vow to Be Different

Officiants recall the most romantic I Do’s they’ve had the honor to preside over.

Violet Gaynor & David Nugent with Michael Davidson    (Photo: Charlotte Jenks Lewis)

Couple No. 1:
The Up-Close and Personal
“Violet and David are deeply interested in the lives of the people around them,” says Michael Davidson, who officiated the wedding of his step-daughter Violet Gaynor to David Nugent. “We have to be continually reminded that coincidences are rarely random.” Both Violet and David referenced each other’s favorite fruits and The Smiths.

Violet to David:
You are the man of my dreams.
Standing here with you now is exactly where I was always meant to end up.
Nothing has ever felt so right. The words I engraved inside your wedding band are the same ones I vow to you today: “Let’s go where we’re happy.”
No matter where that may be, or how we get there, I promise to always be by your side.
I also promise to peel your clementines and play with your hair at night to help you fall asleep.
David, you have an amazing heart.
And I’m constantly blown away by the love you share with me, your family, and anyone who is lucky enough to be close to you. I am so honored to share my life with you.

David to Violet:
I vow to take care of you, to provide, support, and protect you in all the ways that you need and deserve.
I vow to continue, as a non-mango eater, to try to find the sweetest, ripest, and best mangoes out there for you to eat each night when you get home.
I vow to be by your side, to be your partner, but to let you continue to grow into the person that you want to be.
I vow to be a warm and nurturing father to the children I so look forward to raising with you.
I was so happy when I picked up my ring at the jewelers and found that you’d had it inscribed with a line from our favorite Smiths’s song: “Let’s go where we’re happy.” I’d like to end by adding another line from a song by The Smiths: “There is a light and it never goes out.” That light is in your heart, Violet, in your kindness, your love for life, and for others. And it never will go out. It’s a light that brightens any room into which you glide, and every night that you walk out into. I count myself so lucky that it will shine upon me every day for the rest of our lives.