| Wedding Ceremonies - Hand-fasting
Ceremony 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.
Please note that Celebrant legal authorization
and mention of husband and wife in the vows must be included
to legally marry a couple. Without the authorization and mention
of husband and wife, this ceremony may be used as a good commitment
ceremony.
Wedding
Ceremonies
Traditional
| Handfasting
| Pagan
| Medieval
| Gothic
| Personalised
or Themed | Commitment
| Naming
| Renewal
Cherish Ceremonies
Phone: 07 3807 3025
www.cherishceremonies.com
This article has been reproduced on Wedding
Central Australia with permission. © Cherish Ceremonies
2004. All Rights Reserved. |
