Ring Ceremony

(Bride's Name) this ring I give you, my personal gift and my personal promise, of love and trust, and pride that you are my wife. 

(Groom's Name) this ring I give you, my personal gift and my personal promise, of love and trust, and pride that you are my husband.

Universal Life Church 

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.

Rose Ceremony

Rose Ceremony:  

______ and _______, you will remember this day for the rest of your lives. Those of us who are already married know that marriage, like life, brings with it many joys and also many challenges. We also know that love, while beautiful, does not always show its prettiest face. 

There are days when we may find it hard to express the depth of our love for one another. It is my hope and prayer that the two of you will set aside a special place in your home for roses, ancient symbols of love. 

When words fail you, or when the challenges of life or marriage begin to weigh on you, go out and get a rose, and put it in that special place in your home, so that the other will be reminded of this moment, and of the love you feel for one another. As a token of that love, I would like to ask you to make these roses your first gifts to one another as a married couple.

Universal Life Church 
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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.

Pagan Wedding Ceremony

PAGAN MARRIAGE CEREMONY

The following wedding ceremony was written to provide for Pagans who must of necessity be wed in the presence of those who are not pagan and are perhaps unaware that the bride and groom are pagan.

[PRIEST] We have come together here in celebration of the joining together of ____bride______ and ____groom______. There are many things to say about marriage. Much wisdom concerning the joining  together of two souls, has come our way through all paths of  belief, and from many cultures. With each union, more knowledge is gained and more wisdom gathered. Though we are unable to give all this knowledge to these two, who stand before us, we can hope to leave with them the knowledge of love and its strengths and the anticipation of the wisdom that comes with time. The law of life is love unto all beings. Without love, life is nothing, without love, death has no redemption. Love is anterior to Life, posterior to Death, initial of Creation and the exponent of Earth. If we learn no more in life, let it be this.

Marriage is a bond to be entered into only after considerable thought and reflection. As with any aspect of life, it has its cycles, its ups and its downs, its trials and its triumphs. With full understanding of this, Groom and Bride have come here today to be joined as one in marriage. Others would ask, at this time, who gives the bride in marriage, but, as a woman is not property to be bought and sold, given and taken, I ask simply if she comes of her own will and if she has her family's blessing.
 

Bride, is it true that you come of your own free will and accord?
 

[BRIDE] Yes, it is true.

[PRIEST] With whom do you come and whose blessings accompany you.

[FATHER] She comes with me, her father, and is accompanied by all of her family's blessings.

[PRIEST] Please join hands with your betrothed and listen to that which I am about to say. Above you are the stars, below you are the stones, as time doth pass, remember...

Like a stone should your love be firm like a star should your love be constant. Let the powers of the mind and of the intellect guide you in your marriage, let the strength of your wills bind you together, let the power of love and desire make you happy, and the strength of your dedication make you inseparable. Be close, but not too close. Possess one another, yet be understanding. Have patience with one another, for storms will come, but they will pass quickly.

 

Be free in giving affection and warmth. Have no fear and let not the ways of the unenlightened give you unease, for God is with you always.

 

Groom, I have not the right to bind thee to Bride, only you have this right. If it be your wish, say so at this time and place your ring in her hand.

[GROOM] It is my wish.

 

[PRIEST] Bride, if it be your wish for Groom to be bound to you, place the ring on his finger. (places ring on Groom's left ring finger) Bride I have not the right to bind thee to Groom only you have this right. If it be your wish, say so at this time and place your ring in his hand.

 

[BRIDE] It is my wish.

[PRIEST] Groom, if it be your wish for Bride to be bound to you, place the ring on her finger.(places ring on Bride's left ring finger) (to Groom) Repeat after me:

I, (grooms full name), in the name of the spirit of God that   resides within us all, by the life that courses within my blood and the love that resides within my heart, take thee (bride's full name) to my hand, my heart, and my spirit, to be my chosen one. To desire thee and be desired by thee, to possess thee, and be possessed by thee, without sin or shame, for naught can exist in the purity of my love for thee. I promise to love thee wholly and completely without restraint, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in poverty, in life and beyond, where we shall meet, remember, and love again. I shall not seek to change thee in any way. I shall respect thee, thy beliefs, thy people, and thy ways as I respect myself.

(to Bride)
I (bride's full name), in the name of the spirit of God that resides within us all, by the life that courses within my blood, and the love that resides within my heart, take thee, (Groom's full name) to my hand, my heart, and my spirit to be my chosen one. To desire and be desired by thee, to possess thee, and be possessed by thee, without sin or shame, for naught can exist in the purity of my love for thee. I promise to love thee wholly and completely without restraint, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in poverty, in life and beyond, where we shall meet, remember, and love again. I shall not seek to change thee in any way. I shall respect thee, thy beliefs, thy people, and thy ways as I respect myself.

[PRIEST]

(hands chalice to the groom, saying:) May you drink your fill from the cup of love.

(Groom holds chalice to bride while she sips then bride takes   chalice and holds it to groom while he sips. The chalice is then handed back to the Priest who sets it on the table. Next the Priest takes the plate of bread, giving it to the groom. Same procedure repeated with bread, groom feeding bride and bride feeding groom.)

 

By the power vested in me by God and the State, I now pronounce you husband and wife. May your love so endure that its flame remains a guiding light unto you.

Universal Life Church 

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.

 

Wedding Ceremonies - Rings

Universal Life Church - Ring Ceremony

(Said by the Bride as she accepts the ring.)

(Groom's Name) I thank you for this beautiful ring, I accept it as a symbol that we are one with each other. This ring will remind me of you, I will wear it with love, all of my life. 

(Said by the Groom as he accepts the ring.) 

(Bride's Name) I thank you for this beautiful ring, I accept it as a symbol that we are one with each other. This ring will remind me of you, I will wear it with love, all of my life. 

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.

Rose Ceremony

Universal Life Church

Rose Ceremony:

Marriage is a coming together of two lives, and a celebration of the love of two people. But it is more. The love that you feel for one another is the flowering of a seed your mothers planted in your hearts many years ago. When you were first born, you were a bundle of diapers and tears, and your mothers lost sleep caring for you. Their love for you has brought them great happiness and great challenges, and their love did not diminish as they met these challenges. That is the great lesson you can bring into your marriage. As you embrace one another in your love, so too do you embrace the families which have been brought together on this happy occasion. As a token of your gratitude for your families, I would like to ask you to offer these symbols of eternal love, these roses, to your mothers. (Both bride and groom can hand the roses to each mother together, offering the mothers kisses if they wish.) 

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.

Unity Candle Ceremony

Unity Candle Ceremony

If you decide to have a Unity Candle in your ceremony, you will need two standard tapers and one large candle in the middle. The two outer candles are lit just prior to the ceremony, either by the ushers, the mothers of the bride and groom, or other family members. If you are planning an outdoor ceremony, lighting a Unity Candle is not possible. However, it is possible to include the words below in the ceremony, with minor alterations, and then to light the candle indoors afterward.

The flame has traditionally been thought of as a symbol of the spirit. _______ and _______, you have learned much in your individual lives. [Optional, if the mothers have lit the candles just before the ceremony: Your mothers are both here to bless your marriage, and it is fitting that they have lit the two individual candles you see here. For it is they who brought you life, and taught you your first lessons about love.] Your [other] family members, and friends, many of whom are here with you today, have all been a part of your individual lives, and have shared with you your hopes, your dreams, your triumphs, your sufferings. But at some point the two of you met one another, and something started growing between you that was not just _______ and not just _________. 

There's a special way you are together that's just not like the way you've ever been with anyone else. You have a way of sharing with each other, of laughing and joking together, that's unlike with anybody else. That special love you felt for one another continued to grow, bringing you to this moment, when you are committing your love to one another, and building a life together. Just as the flame you are about to light is not created solely by either candle, so too is your love not the sole possession or creation of either of you. As a symbol of the spirit of love that has grown between you, I would like to ask you to light the Unity Candle at this time.

Universal Life Church 
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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.

Wedding Ceremony

Pronouncement and Benediction

______ and _______, you have consented together to marriage before this company, pledged your faith and declared your unity by each giving and receiving a ring, and, as you are now joined together in mutual esteem and devotion, it is my privilege as an ordained minister to pronounce that you are married, and to offer you this Benediction of the Apaches: ``Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter to the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Now there is no more loneliness for you, but there is only one life before you. Go now to your dwelling place, to enter into the days of your togetherness, and may your days be good, and long upon, the earth.''

Congratulations, you may now kiss the bride! 

Alternative: Congratulations, you may now kiss one another.

(Optional:) Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Mr. and Mrs. (or first names of bride and groom) _______.

Alternative Declarations of Marriage & Benedictions

Declaration: Because _________ and _______ have exchanged these vows of love in our presence, we now recognize them as husband and wife.

Benediction: Give to one another new experiences of joy. Challenge one another so that you may grow. May the love you hold for each other, now sealed in marriage, continue to mature with the passing years. May you never take each other for granted, but always experience the wonder of your union. Be slow to anger, quick to forgive, leaving no tracks of resentment behind each day. May your love consist not only in gazing into each other's eyes, but in looking outward in the same direction. May your life together be a source of strength and inspiration to yourselves, your families, your friends, and to all whose lives you touch. 

Declaration and Benediction From the Book of Common Worship:

For as much as _____ and _____ have consented together to holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and before this company, I pronounce that they are Husband and Wife, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen. What God has joined together, let not man put asunder. Let us pray. May God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, bless, preserve and keep you; the Lord mercifully with His favor look upon you, and fill you with all spiritual benediction and grace; that you may so live together in this life, that in the world to come you may have life everlasting. Amen.

Alternative Benediction:

May the Lord bless you and keep you. And may the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you. May God give you His peace in your going out and in your coming in, in your lying down and in your rising up, in your labor and in your leisure, in your laughter and in your tears, until that day when you come to stand before Jesus in that day in which there is no sunset and no dawning. Amen.

Universal Life Church 

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.

Wedding Ceremony

Universal Life Church

James: On behalf of Trystan and Thomas, I'd like to welcome you all and thank you for being here to share in this happy occasion.

A wedding ceremony is an outward form. To be true, it must be a symbol of something inner and real: a sacred personal union which nature might mirror, a church can solemnize, or a state may declare legal for some, but which only love can create and mutual loyalty fulfill.1

To last, a marriage should be a consecration of each person to the other, and of both to the wider community of which they are a part. Because Thomas and Trystan feel a great closeness and respect for all of you here, they chose each of you to witness their vows today. Marriage is an intensely personal act, but, in order for the couple's marriage to gain strength to last throughout the years, their union must be supported by their greater society of family and friends.

In this spirit, Trystan and Thomas ask all of you now: do you support their marriage and accept the new partner into your life as family and a friend of your own?

Guests: We do.

[Families need to start this, loudly and clearly.]

James: Thank you all.

Now, Thomas and Trystan, marriage is a serious and lifelong commitment. The vows you make today should not be made lightly or without forethought. Are you prepared to enter into this solemn covenant?

Trystan and Thomas: We are.

James: The German poet Rainer Maria Rilke2 wrote of marriage extensively in his letters. Trystan and Thomas feel that Rilke's words are an apt expression of their own views on marriage, and chose to include them now:

For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation.

Marriage naturally combines the strengths and wills of two people so that, together they seem to reach farther into the future than they did before. Above all, marriage is a new task and a new seriousness -- a new demand on the strength and generosity of each partner.

The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries. On the contrary, a good marriage is one in which each partner appoints the other to be the guardian of his or her solitude, and thus they show each other the greatest possible trust. A merging of two people is an impossibility, and where it seems to exist, it is a hemming-in, a mutual consent that robs one party or both parties of their fullest freedom and development. But once the realization is accepted that even between the closest people infinite distances exist, a marvelous living side-by-side can grow up for them, if they succeed in loving the expanse between them, which gives them the possibility of always seeing each other as a whole and before an immense sky.

Love is a high inducement for the individual to ripen, to become something in yourself, to become world, to become world in yourself for the sake of another person; it is a great, demanding claim on a person, something that chooses you and calls you to vast distances.

Rilke's words on marriage emphasize what the individual brings to the union. But there is a spiritual aspect as well. Thomas and Trystan believe their love transcends the everyday world, and there is a Chinese legend that suggests how their souls might be linked for eternity.3

According to this legend, at birth the gods tie an invisible silken red cord around the ankles of a man and a woman destined to be husband and wife. As the years pass, the cord grows shorter and shorter, until finally they are united. Nothing can break this cord -- not distance, not changing circumstances, not even death.

In homage to this legend and to Trystan's Chinese ancestry, the couple will now share wine from nuptial glasses tied together with a silken red cord.

[Trystan and Thomas each drink from a glass. Crossing arms, they exchange glasses and drink again.]

James: This is the essence of a Chinese wedding ritual called tuan yuan or "completing the circle." The red cord tying the couple's souls together now forms a circle around their hearts, uniting them forever in this life and the next. The sharing and mingling of wine is symbolic of a harmonious married life.

Trystan's friend Janet Canning would like to offer a reading about love's lessons at this time.

Janet: [reading]

"A Lesson in Love" by Trystan L. Bass4

Love fully and completely -- don't hold back

Don't be afraid to be a human like the rest of us

Let your heart feel all it can and could and should

Let others know the depth and breadth of your emotions

Love fully and completely -- express yourself in love

Be yourself, feel free to the wind and sky

Be whoever you are and let your lover know it

Love fully and completely -- live a passionate life

Take time with all your loved ones

To be tender and joyful and playful and noisy

Be erotic and sensuous and satisfying and silly

Love is not love without passionate intensity

Love fully and completely -- whoever you love

Love yourself, all of you, inside and out,

Love others, friends, family, and romantic entanglements alike

Love humankind for their greatness and forgive their pettiness

Above all, love your home earth, fully and completely,

For in the end, she'll open her dark arms for your final embrace

James: As they take their marriage vows, Trystan and Thomas would like to talk to each other about the love that has brought them here today.

Trystan: I have, for the first time, found what I can truly love -- I have found you. You are my sympathy -- my better self. I think you good, gifted, lovely. You are the epitome of everything I have ever looked for in another human being. I can't stand next to you without wanting to hold you. I can't look into your eyes without feeling that longing you only read about in trashy romance novels. I can't talk to you without wanting to express my love for everything you are. I've never felt this way before. I like who I am because of it. There isn't another soul on this planet who has ever made me half the person I am when I'm with you. Please know that I am forever changed because of who you are and what you mean to me.5

[Trystan and Thomas hold hands]

I, Trystan,

take you, Thomas,

to be my husband

to love you and to cherish you

to help you and to honor you

to give you understanding and comfort

in whatever the future may bring

I look forward to the joy we will find

in each other's separate successes,

as well our shared ones,

and welcome the challenge of whatever obstacles we encounter.

By the exchange of these vows,

we not only join ourselves together as partners,

but also create a new family, of which we are the heart.

So in the name of all that we have created together and all we are yet to become, I offer you my love and loyalty, for always and for ever.6

Thomas: I come here today out of love for you. But not just for love of your dazzling, witty smile, your whimsical nature, or your passionate longings. I enter into this marriage today not only for who you are, but for who we are -- who we've become. Our journey ahead will be fruitful and divine, whether through material riches or from our wealth of passion for each other. We will share adventures unbound --- both challenges and triumphs -- but will always nurture each other's souls from now until the end of time. I too am changed forever by my love for you. Together in our metamorphosis, we have truly completed one another.

[Thomas and Trystan hold hands]

I, Thomas,

take you, Trystan,

to be my wife

to love you and to cherish you

to help you and to honor you

to give you understanding and comfort

in whatever the future may bring

I look forward to the joy we will find

in each other's separate successes,

as well our shared ones,

and welcome the challenge of whatever obstacles we encounter.

By the exchange of these vows,

we not only join ourselves together as partners,

but also create a new family, of which we are the heart.

So in the name of all that we have created together and all we are yet to become, I offer you my love and loyalty, for always and for ever.

James: Thomas and Trystan, in exchanging words and vows, you have declared your intent to live together in love for all your days. Now you may share a tangible, outward sign of your union and commitment.

Rings are an ancient symbol, blessed and simple. Round like the sun, like the eye, like arms that embrace. Circles, for love that is given comes back round again and again. Therefore, may these rings remind you that your love, like the sun, illuminates; that your love, like the eye, must see clearly; and that your love, like arms that embrace, is a grace upon this world.7

[Irina hands Trystan the ring.]

Trystan: [Places ring on Thomas' finger.]

With this ring, I take you to my heart as my one and only great love, my husband, and to you I will be true for always and ever.

[Mike hands Thomas the ring.]

Thomas: [Places ring on Trystan's finger.]

With this ring, I take you to my heart as my one and only great love, my wife, and to you I will be true for always and ever.

James: Thomas' mother, Mary Lord would like to offer a reading about remembering love at this time.

Mary: [reading]

"Remembering Love" by Thomas Dowrie8

Twas once long ago on a warm spring night

With my own two eyes I espied

Two shadowy figures, and as I grew nearer

They seemed to be entangled vines

The figures stood beneath a large oak tree

And gazed into each other's eyes

Aware of no more than the tree and themselves

These were two perfect lovers entwined

As I stopped and stood still, careful not to stir

I reminisced about moments like these

When the world outside blurs with each passing thought

And time ceases with the greatest of ease

When all that truly matters should the world come to pass

Is the warmth of your true love's hand

Caressing your spirit by some mystic means

Each touch a sensation so grand

And so as I stood in my place of reflection

I felt a tear well in my eye

No sadness did I feel for these two lovers

Or myself as I began to cry

My tears were of joy for the lovers of the world

As I watched these two move away

For I know that true love can exist for all and I

Still feel it for my love every day

Trystan, James, and Thomas during the handfasting.

James: There is an ancient Celtic tradition of binding a couple in marriage by hand-fasting -- literally, tying their hands together with cord or ribbon as a symbol that they are bound together not just for a lifetime, but for eternity.

Trystan and Thomas have decided to include a hand-fasting in their wedding ceremony in homage to Thomas' Scottish ancestry and to emphasize their eternal bond and reinforce the feeling that they never wish to be parted from one another.9

[Trystan and Thomas join hands, right to right, left to left. James wraps silver cord around their joined hands.]

Trystan: I give you my hand in marriage.

Thomas: And I give you mine.

Trystan: My Love for you is a bond made in perfect trust.

Thomas: My Trust in you is a bond made in perfect love.

James: May your wedding bring you many blessings.

May you be blessed with beauty and eloquence.

May you be blessed with love and passion.

May you be blessed with vision and wisdom.

May you be blessed with honesty and justice.

May you be blessed with empathy and understanding.

[Removes cord.]

Trystan: Love given in trust brings freedom; let us be free to love.

Thomas: Trust given with love brings freedom; let us be free to trust.

James: Thomas and Trystan have bound themselves to each other, both figuratively and literally. Their union will be the heart of a new family, joining and extending the Bass and Dowrie families.

The Chinese word for marriage, hun-yin, implies not just a joining of individuals, but a relationship between families. The ties are spiritual as well as physical, memories and emotion running as deep as blood.10

Behind us stand two candles, one lit by Trystan's parents, Florence and Robert, and the other lit by Thomas' parents, Mary and Robert. To celebrate this newly joined family, Trystan and Thomas will now join the single flames to form a united flame that will warm their hearts and home from now on.

[Trystan and Thomas each take a lit taper candle and together light the large pillar candle between them.]

James: While we bask in the candles' glow and reflect on what the future holds for Thomas and Trystan, a friend of the couple, Scott Yourmans, would like to read from Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss.

Scott: [reading]

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

You're on your own. And you know what you know.

And YOU are the couple who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.

About some you will say, "We don't choose to go there."

With your heads full of brains and your shoes full of feet,

you're too smart to go down, any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any

you'll want to go down.

In that case, of course,

you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there

in the wide open air,

Out there things can happen

and frequently do

to people as brainy

and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,

don't worry. Don't stew.

Just go right along.

You'll start happening too.

OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!

You'll be seeing great sights!

You'll join the high fliers

who soar to high heights!

You won't lag behind, because you'll have all the speed.

You'll pass the whole gang, and you'll soon take the lead.

Wherever you fly you'll be best of the best.

Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't.

Because sometimes, you won't.

You'll get mixed up of course,

as you already know.

You'll get mixed up

with so many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step.

Step with care and great tact

and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.

And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KIDS, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So, be your name Buxbaum or Dowrie or Bass

or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,

you're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So ... get on your way!

James: Trystan and Thomas, you have proclaimed your commitment to each other before your family and friends, you have symbolized the eternal strength and depth of your connection by sharing wine, exchanging rings, and by hand-fasting, and you have willingly entered into a legal contract confirmed by the State of California. So, as a representative of the Universal Life Church, I am happy to pronounce you married.

As the left hand to the right, may you be forever at one -- in caste and clan, in home and heritage, at fireside and in council, sharing all things at home and abroad, in love and in loyalty, now and for all time to come. May you be joined in heart as in law. In token, I bid you exchange a kiss.11

[Trystan and Thomas kiss. Afterwards, turn to face the guests.]

James: It is my pleasure to present Thomas and Trystan as partners in love and life.

Footnotes:

1. This introductory passage was modified from an example ceremony in Into the Garden: A Wedding Anthology edited by Robert Hass and Stephen Mitchell. This book is an excellent resource for ceremony planning and readings.

2. I found Rainer Maria Rilke's writings in Into the Garden as well.

3. This legend is described in Wild Geese and Tea: An Asian-American Wedding Planner by Shu Shu Costa. This book is very useful for anyone of Asian descent who's curious about traditional wedding arrangements and ways to incorporate them into a modern ceremony.

4. I wrote this for a graduate-level composition course many years ago and rediscovered it just in time for the wedding.

5. Since I'm a better editor than writer, I reconfigured bits of Rochester's final marriage proposal to Jane in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre with Holden's proclamation of love in Kevin Smith's cult movie Chasing Amy.

6. Thomas and I took bits and pieces of vows from a variety of sources, including Penny Dreadful's wedding ceremony.

7. More text modified from Into the Garden.

8. Thomas starting writing this late last year, expressly for the wedding ceremony.

9. After reading thru literally dozens of hand-fasting ceremonies, we settled on this one from Penny Dreadful's wedding.

10. Another explanation lifted from Wild Geese and Tea.

11. This blessing is from the Di Catenas marriage ceremony in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover books. I'm not sure if Bradley wrote it herself, or if it's from one of the anthologies of Darkover stories written by other writers. But it's a beautiful bit that I've had on a scrap of paper in my filing cabinet for ages, and I've always wanted to include it in my own marriage ceremony.

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.

Candle Ceremony

Childrens' Unity Candle Ceremony

Invite children forward.

(Bride's and Groom's Names) light the candles which represent love for each other and for (Child's Name).

From the uniqueness of these separate flames, they kindle a larger and brighter flame which represents the union between (Groom's, Bride's and Child's Names).

The side candles remain burning to symbolize the continuing importance of the individual integrity within the marriage relationship. The greater height of the center candle depicts their belief that together they can become more than either could alone.

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The Universal Life Church offers handfasting ceremonies, funeral ceremonies and free minister training.   As a long time member of ULC, Rev. Long created the seminary site to help train our ministers. We also have a huge catalog of Universal Life Church materials.  I've been ordained with the Universal Life Church for many years and it's Seminary since the beginning and have loved watching the continual growth of the seminary. Try our new free toolbar at: ULC Toolbar.