Handfasting Wedding

A handfasting wedding is usually done in traditions such as Wicca. I decided to include this into it since today is Valentines Day: A day of love, what better way to express love then through marriage.

Celebrant:

Greetings friends and family and welcome to this day of celebration. We are united to witness the marriage of <Name> and <Name>. We've been invited to share in the commitment they make to each other today. They ask your blessing on this joyful occasion.

If life has any meaning to us at all, it possesses it because of love. Love enriches our human experience. It is the reason for the peace in the family and the peace of the peoples of the Earth. A meeting between two beings who are made for each other is a beautiful miracle.

<Name> and <Name>'s understanding of the true meaning of marriage has resulted from many influences; their families, their friends, and each of their own personal beliefs. We are here not only strengthen the binds of <Name> and <Name>'s love for each other but also to bring family and friends together to celebrate these same said bonds that hold us all together.

What defines <Name> and <Name>'s love today will change and grow to new depth in the future. It takes three seconds to say I love you, but it can take a lifetime to show it. This ceremony is the celebration of a single stage in a much larger process that is the love between husband and wife. The promises made today and the ties that are bound here greatly strengthen your union. They will cross the years and lives of each soul's growth.

Do you seek to begin this ceremony?

Couple:

Yes we do.

Celebrant:

The human soul shares characteristics with all things divine. It is this belief which assigns virtues to the cardinal directions; North, South, East and West. Let us offer a traditional blessing in support of this hand-fasting ceremony.

Blessed be this union with the gifts of the East: communication of the heart, mind, and body, fresh beginnings with the rising of each sun, and the knowledge of growth found in the sharing of silence.

Blessed be this union with the gifts of the South: warmth of hearth and home, the heat of the heart's passion and the light created by both to lighten the darkest of times.

Blessed be this union with the gifts of the West: the deep commitments of the lake, the swift excitement of the river, the refreshing cleansing of the rain and the all encompassing passion of the sea.

Blessed be this union with the gifts of the North: firm foundation on which to build, fertility of the fields to enrich your lives, and a stable home to which you may always return.

Now I ask the couple to look into each others' eyes.

Celebrant to groom:

Will you cause her pain?

Groom:

I May

Celebrant to groom:

Is that your intention?

Groom:

No

Celebrant to bride:

Will you cause him pain?

Bride:

I may

Celebrant to bride:

Is that your intention?

Bride:

No

Celebrant to both:

Will you share each other's pain and seek to ease it?

Both:

Yes

Celebrant to both:

And so the binding is made. Join your hands.

The first cord is draped across the bride and grooms hands.

Celebrant to bride:

Will you share his laughter?

Bride:

Yes

Celebrant to groom:

Will you share her laughter?

Groom:

Yes

Celebrant to both:

Will both of you look for the brightness in life and the positive in each other?

Both:

Yes

Celebrant:

And so the binding is made.

The second chord is draped across the couple's hands.

Celebrant to bride:

Will you burden him?

Bride:

I may.

Celebrant to bride:

Is that your intention?

Bride:

No

Celebrant to groom:

Will you burden her?

Groom:

I may

Celebrant to groom:

Is that your intention?

Groom:

No.

Celebrant to both:

Will you share the burdens of each so that your spirits may grow in this union?

Both:

Yes

Celebrant:

And so the binding is made.

Drape third chord across the couple's hands.

Celebrant to bride:

Will you share his dreams?

Bride:

Yes

Celebrant to groom:

Will you share her dreams?

Groom:

Yes

Celebrant to both:

Will you dream together to create new shared realities?

Both:

Yes

Celebrant:

And so the binding is made.

Drape fourth chord across the couple's hands.

Celebrant to groom:

Will you cause her anger?

Groom:

I may

Celebrant to groom:

Is that your intention?

Groom:

No.

Celebrant to bride:

Will you cause him anger?

Bride:

I may.

Celebrant to bride:

Is that your intention?

Bride:

No.

Celebrant to both:

Will you take the heat of anger and use it to temper the strength of this union?

Both:

We will.

Celebrant:

And so the binding is made.

Drape fifth chord across the couple's hands.

Celebrant to bride:

Will you honour him?

Bride:

I will

Celebrant to groom:

Will you honour her?

Groom:

I will

Celebrant to both:

Will you seek to never give cause to break that honour?

Both:

We shall never do so.

Celebrant:

And so the binding is made.

Drape sixth chord across the couple's hands, and tie all chords together while saying.

Celebrant:

The knots of this binding are not formed by these chords but instead by your vows. Either of you may drop the chords, for always you will hold in your own hands the making or breaking of this union.

Once the chords are tied together they are removed.

Celebrant:

Spirit of Love, may <Name> and <Name> know great love together, and may they live in the desire to always support each other in positive and uplifting ways. May they strengthen one another in sorrow, share with one another in gladness, and be companions to each other in times of silence. May their home be a haven, and wherever they are plagued by changing fortune, may they be united not in word and outward form alone, but by the presence in the hearts of each, of the deepening love they share. You are husband and wife. Celebrate with a kiss