175 years ago today - Dec 23, 1845

Apostle Willard Richards and a new bride entered into a mutual covenant of marriage for time and eternity, without having Young or anyone else perform this as an ordinance. Richards (who was official Church Recorder of all temple ordinances) recorded the words of the ceremony, as the couple holds each other by the hand: "of our own free will and avow[, we] mutually acknowledge each other [as] husband & wife, in a covenant not to be broken in time or Eternity for time and for all Eternity, to all intents & purposes as though the seal of the covenant had been placed upon us. for time & all Eternity." He did not have this ceremony re-performed in the temple.

[Quinn, D. Michael, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Appendix 7: Selected Chronology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-47, http://amzn.to/origins-power]