Welcome

(Ring chimes.)

High Priest:

Dear friends - welcome! Out of affection for ______ and ______ we have gathered here together to witness and bless their vows which will unite them in marriage. To this moment they bring their loving hearts, the dreams which inspire their lives, and two unique personalities and spirits. We have been asked as a community of loving friends to share their joy with them, and to pledge ourselves to support and honor their love. No matter how strong their love for each other, they will need our support. I ask each of you present today to do all in your power to sustain and encourage _______ and _______ in their commitment to each other. We rejoice with them for this union of hearts, a union created by friendship, respect, and love.

High Priestess:

______ and ______ have chosen each other as partners and lovers, and the choice seems obvious and right to those who know them both. It is clear that they share so much: love and laughter, passion and curiousity, a sense of adventure and play, and their deep commitment to the same spiritual path. Their love, like any love between committed and responsable adults, is a reflection of that infinite, divine love which embraces us all. They have chosen to name their love and to honor it. Your support and sharing of their love, and their life together, will make the journey together fuller and richer. For this, they and we thank you.

Get Acquantainted

High Priest:

We are a community who share the bond of loving ______ and ______. But they have an advantage on us. They know all of us, but since we have been drawn from different parts of _______'s life and _______'s life, we don't all know one another. We want you to have a chance to get to know one another a bit better. So I will ask you to mingle for a couple of minutes, and introduce yourselves to someone you don't know, by saying how you know ________ or ________.

(Pause for a few minutes, then ring chimes.)

High Priest:

We hope that was a good start and that your conversations can continue at the reception.

Asperging

Casting the circle

Calling the quarters

Inviting the God

The High Priest invokes the god-aspect most special to the couple.

Inviting the Goddess

The High Priestess invokes the goddess-aspect most special to the couple.

Processional

(Continuous chimes) The couple are escorted by two chosen friends, from opposite directions. They meet before the altar.

Reading/Songs

Written or selected by the couple, to express their feelings about loving relationships and what they mean. Or they have a song dedicated to each other. The songs can be taped or sung live if you have talented voices.

Lighting of the Candles

During the songs, lighting of three candles: each lights their own candle, and from these they light a central candle representing their relationship.

Charge of the Goddess

(Chimes) The High Priest recites the Charge of the Goddess.

The Charge to the Witness

High Priest:

To all of you who are here to witness this ceremony: You have shown your love and support for ________ and for ________ as individuals. I charge you now to love them also as a couple, to honor and support their marriage, to rejoice with them in their successes and to help them through times of hardship. I know they will do the same for you, and together we create a loving community.

Charges to the Couple

These should be personalized statements of wisdom and counsel from both the High Priest and High Priestess.

The Vows

High Priest:

Trials will come, and tests, for there is much in this world that would long to pull you apart. Do you bring the strength and vision to your relationship, courage and understanding?

Couple: I do.

High Priestess:

Joys will come, graces and blessings will warm your souls and give you wonder. Do you bring thanksgiving and rejoicing to this relationship, laughter and abandon?

Couple: I do.

High Priestess:

Do you, (name of the groom), take (name of the bride) to be your beloved partner, to love, honor, and cherish?

Groom: I do.

High Priestess:

Do you, (name of the bride), take (name of the groom) to be your beloved partner, to love, honor, and cherish?

Bride: I do.

High Priest:

You may now speak your vows.

Each of the couple now speaks the vows they have written, together or individually.

Exchange of Rings

A child or friend brings forth the rings on a wand and gives them to the High Priest. He blesses the rings and gives them to the couple, who place them on each other's fingers. Then he turns to the groom and asks him to repeat:

(name of the bride): In the name of the Goddess; Maiden, Mother, and Crone; and in the name of the God, with this ring, I thee wed.

Then the bride does the same.

The Handfasting

A friend brings the ribbon and hands it to the High Priestess. The couple clasp hands. The High Priestess says:

With this ribbon I will join _______'s hand with _______'s, as a symbol of the joining of their lives. This is the actual act of handfasting.

The High Priestess entwines the ribbon around the couple's joined hands, then says:

By the powers of Earth and Air, Fire and Water, may your loves ever be joined together in love.

Jumping the Broom

A friend brings the broom and hands it to the High Priestess. The High Priestess says:

Jumping the broom is a very ancient custom. The broom symbolizes the creation of a hearth and home together.

The High Priestess places the broom on the earth and invites the couple to jump over it, then leads applause.

Pronouncement

(Chimes)

High Priestess: _______ and ______, in the presence of this company and of the Goddess and the God, you have spoken the vows and performed the rites which unite your lives. Therefore do we pronounce you joined together as partners in life, love, and the spirit. May your lives together be as sweet as this honey, gift of the Goddess

The High Priestess places a little honey on the couple's lips. They kiss, then offer each other the chalice.

Affirmation by the Community

High Priest: ______ and ______, you have proclaimed your commitment in this sacred circle before the community of family and friends. I now invite everyone to join me in the confirmation of this marriage.

High Priest (to the congregation): In the presence of this good company (pause)
By the power of your love (pause)
You have exchanged vows of commitment (pause)
And we recognized, honor, and celebrate your marriage. (pause)

Blessing

High Priest: To (God's name), we thank You for Your presence, and invite You to stay for the celebration. To ______ and ______, May your lives together be joyful and content,
And may your love be bright as the stars
Warm as the sun, accepting as the ocean,
And enduring as the mountains.

High Priestess: To (Goddess's name), we thank You for Your presence, and invite You to feast with us. We come now to the close of this event, and for ______ and ______, the beginning of a new life together. We offer to them and to each of you this blessing:
By the earth that is Her body,
By the air that is Her breath,
By the fire that is Her bright spirit,
By the living waters of Her womb,
The circle is open but not broken.
The peace of the Goddess and the God go in your hearts.
Merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again.
Blessed be!

Recessional

Rose petals are tossed on the couple as they leave the altar and music plays.

Web page design: Raven Dance
Part of this artwork was courtesy of: Unknown
Created: June, 1999