A couple who practices earth-based spirituality chose the Autumn Equinox to tie the knot in a ceremony dedicated to balance and harmony in their relationship. The venue’s wall of windows made the woods beyond the backdrop for the ceremony, which included a unity candle ritual. It was a small gathering of less than fifty guests. The three handfasting cords were designed and created by Rev. Debbie Philp.
Ceremony Script
Processional
Guests enter and seat themselves. Groom and Best Man take places at front, center right.
Welcome! Friends and family, it’s wonderful to be here with you. I’m Reverend Debbie Philp and I’m happy to be officiating today. Please put your cellphones and other technology away so you can be fully present and allow the photographer to capture all of the magical moments.
Parents and siblings walk down the aisle, escorting the ring bearers and flower girls, and take seats in the front row near center. Flower girls scatter petals.
Maid of Honor walks down the aisle and stands to the left.
Please stand if you are able.
Bride walks down the aisle, stands center left.
Create Sacred Space
Settle and center now as Bride invites spirit into this sacred space. Please stay where you are standing but turn towards the directions as Bride does. You are welcome to join Bride by reading from the printed copy that was on your chair.
Call Directions
Bride recites her personal prayer to the directions, turning to face the directions as she does.
Bride and Groom face each other.
Bride and Groom, you stand at the center of the universe. God and all powers invoked are listening to you at this moment, in this sacred space, witnessing this rite.
Welcome
Please be seated.
On behalf of Bride and Groom, again, welcome, and thank you for being here to witness and support them as they unite in marriage. Groom and Bride wish you a warm welcome, too. They’re glad you’re here for this special moment when they declare their commitment to each other.
Reading
Let’s begin with the words of the French theologian and priest, Pierre Tielhart de Chardin.
“Love is an adventure and a conquest. It survives and develops like the universe itself only by perpetual discovery. The only right love is that between couples whose passion leads them both, one through the other, to a higher possession of their being. Put your faith in the spirit which dwells between the two of you. You have each offered yourself to the other as a boundless field of understanding, of enrichment, of mutually increased sensibility. You will meet above all by entering into and constantly sharing one another’s thoughts, affections, and dreams. There alone, as you know, in spirit, which is arrived through flesh, you will find no disappointments, no limits. There alone the skies are ever open for your love; there alone lies the great road ahead.”
Wedding Address
You will meet above all by entering into and constantly sharing one another’s thoughts, affections, and dreams. Bride and Groom, when we spoke it was clear you both desire to share this adventure of love and marriage, to grow together in life, to find harmony and balance in your beautiful partnership. Here, today, on the cusp of the fall equinox, you are the perfect embodiment of that balance, two individuals, yet so supportive of each other those of us witnessing this ceremony can only believe that one cannot stand as tall without the other, like twin trees growing side by side.
And your love is an adventure! From breaking trail through knee-deep snow to exploring the woods looking for a moose, and through many other shared hikes, you have laughed together through your escapades. I have no doubt you will continue your adventures when you find a piece of land on which to settle and fulfill your dream of a long, happy life together.
Today is not just a public declaration of your marriage commitment but a declaration to God and all the powers invoked into this sacred space of your intention to live your shared dream, to love and honor the Earth, to love and honor each other, and to live together in harmony. Groom and Bride, may your love grow into the ever open skies.
Declaration of Intent
And so, Bride and Groom, if it is your intent to be joined together in marriage, take each other’s hands.
Bride hands bouquet to Maid of Honor. Couple faces each other and joins right hands together and left hands together, forming an infinity sign.
Do you, Groom, take Bride as your wife, offering respect, trust, friendship, and love, in good times and in difficult times, as you create your future together?
[Groom] I do.Do you, Bride, take Groom as your husband, offering respect, trust, friendship, and love, in good times and in difficult times, as you create your future together?
[Bride] I do.Bride and Groom continue to hold hands for the handfasting.
Handfasting
In a wedding, symbols are important and helpful, because they serve as a powerful reminder of this time and place, the feelings shared, and the promises made, when the memories of those start to fade over time. Handfasting is a symbol like this. It is one of the world’s oldest wedding traditions. In fastening their hands together, Bride and Groom symbolize their commitment to journey through life hand-in-hand.
Bride and Groom, these are the hands that will unconditionally love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness.
Lay first cord over hands.
These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times and comfort you like no other.
Lay second cord over hands.
These are the hands that will give you support and encourage you to chase your dreams. Together, everything you wish for can be realized.
Lay third cord over hands.
Bride and Groom, as I fasten your hands together and tie the knot, I invite you to reflect on the joys and responsibilities that await you. From today, you are bound together as lifelong partners in love.
I tie the cords so they will tighten into an infinity knot when hands released.
Bride and Groom will now make their vows to each other.
Groom recites personal vows.
Bride recites personal vows.
I hold the ends of the cords and tighten the knot as they remove their hands.
May you keep these knotted cords as a visible reminder of your promises to one another.
I turn and place the cords on the table with the unity candles.
Exchange of Rings
May we have the rings, please.
Groom hands me rings.
Another wedding symbol is the ring, representing commitment and love that, like a circle, has no beginning and no end. Bride and Groom, let these rings that you exchange be an outward sign of your love and remind you always of what you have promised today.
Groom, please place this ring on Bride’s finger and repeat after me: “Bride, I give this ring to you as a sign of my devotion and love.”
Groom repeats
Bride, please place this ring on Groom’s finger and repeat after me: “Groom, I give this ring to you as a sign of my devotion and love.”
Bride repeats.
Unity Candle Ritual
I move behind table with unity candle. Bride and Groom split and move to stand to either side.
Groom and Bride, the two candles burning here represent your lives at this moment. Each light is distinct, each able to go its separate way. Groom and Bride are two persons: unique, complex, individual human beings.
At this time, I ask each one of you to lift a candle and in unison together ignite the larger candle to flame.
Your two individual candles continue burning. In the same way, Bride and Groom, you will continue to be two unique individuals in the midst of your marriage, but the light of your love is ever stronger, ever brighter, as is the spirit that dwells between you.
Bride and Groom move closer together in front of the table.
Pronouncement and Kiss
Bride and Groom, you have publicly committed yourselves to each other in marriage. And so, by the power vested in me by the state, it is my joy and privilege to pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.
Recessional
Bride and Groom go down the aisle, followed by Maid of Honor and Best Man. Parents and family members follow.