Interfaith Wedding Ceremony
Candle Ceremony
The Baal Shem Tov said: From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven. And when two souls that are destined for each other find one another, their streams of light flow together and a single brighter light goes forth from their united being.
Maid of Honor and Best Man light candles
Fire is the passion within your love, the spark of love itself, the heat of anger, and the warmth of compassion. May the element of fire bless this union.
Convocation
We are here today to honor, to laugh, to dance, and to be glad. Love is alive and well in the land. ______ and _______ are here to prove it, and we are here to celebrate with them.
Love is a miraculous gift, and a wedding is a celebration of that magic. We are gathered together to rejoice with ______ and _______, who are so wonderfully suited to one another that it is a delight to see how very happy two people can be.
When we think of love, we sometimes talk of people who deserve one another. ______ and _______ are a perfect match. They fell so deeply in love that they had no choice; their marriage was inevitable. They are the promise of possibility, the expectation of joyful surprise.
Tribute to Ancestors
When two people come together to form a new ring around the Tree of Life, it is important that they should give thanks to those who came before them: those dearly present and those dearly departed whose blessings they seek and whose gifts they acknowledge.
Calla lilies are collected from important family members and put into a vase on the altar.
Invocation
______ and _______ will now lead us in a traditional Cherokee Prayer
God in heaven above please protect the ones we love
We honor all you created as we pledge our hearts and lives together
We honor Mother Earth and ask for our marriage to be abundant and grow
stronger than the seasons;
We honor fire and ask that our union be warm and glowing with love in our hearts.
We honor wind and ask that we sail through life safe and calm as in our father’s arms;
We honor water to clean and soothe our relationship, that it may never thirst for love
With all the forces of the universe you created, we pray for harmony and true happiness
as we forever grow young together.
Thank you _______ and ________ . Let us all join together in prayer. Divine light that illuminates our hearts and gives life to each cell of our being, we give thanks for the love that has gathered us together in this place, and especially for the beautiful, heartwarming love that _______ and ________ have chosen to consecrate in marriage.
For all the beauty you have imbued in them, we give great thanks. For their open hearts and loving spirits, for their wisdom in choosing love, for their willingness to walk on the path of true love, with all its joys, burdens and lessons, we are grateful. Bless them so that the words they say, the feelings that beautifully transform them, and the dreams that they dare to dream, light their way on the path of marriage. Amen.
Charge to the Couple by the Minister
_______ and ________, a relationship has its own mysterious sense of balance, its own timing, its own unique choreography, its particular destination. It will carry you along where it needs to go, but if you are overly focused on the “me” and the “I” of yourselves, the relationship may become starved. So be kind to your relationship, treat it with respect and nourish it with laughter, passion and kindness.
As you tend to the requirements that your individual destinies will inevitably demand, return in your hearts again and again to the love between you. Love will most happily distract you when you tend to become too serious, or too involved in your own important undertakings. Love will give you joy. Love will comfort you during difficult times. Love will give meaning to the pursuit of your destinines. For love is life’s highest destiny; it’s greatest purpose, and it’s finest work.
Consecration
Enfolded in joy, inhabited by hope, bathed in the infinite spectrum of light that is love, may you always be infused with it and beautifully illumined by it. May every desire you have for your love be fulfilled, and may you be given the vision with which to clearly behold one another, the listening with which to perceive one another most genuinely, and the endless generosity of spirit with which to nourish one another’s soul and sweetly keep the promises you make here today.
Kiddush / Ceremony of the Red Thread
The sages say that an invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break. For those who have wound the thread around and around, until it led them to their soulmate, for whom they have searched for a lifetime, this is a moment of greatest joy and expectation.
Wine like love is carefully tended and lovingly grown. This wine symbolizes the water of your lives. Minister pours blessed wine into the cups. Please take these cups which represent your individual selves. The wine within them is as your own lives, similar yet separate. Drink from each other’s cups and each other’s love. Couple drinks from each other’s cup.
Minister picks up the Kiddush glass. This Kiddush cup symbolizes your new life together. It can only be full if you give of yourselves. _______ and ________, if you freely intend to commit to this union, then mix the waters of your lives here in this cup. They pour wine from their cups into the Kiddush glass.
In the mixing of this wine in the singular vessel of your union are you lives thus blended. See how the two, once separate, are a complete whole. So now are your lives.
With respect for your deep connection and your personal growth, drink together to honor and keep sacred your marriage, now and forever. Baruch ata adonai, eloheinu melech ha’olam, boray p’ree ha’gafen. Couple drinks from the Kiddush cup
Water nourishes and replenishes us. The waters of emotion and harmony pour vitality into our lives. Water to water, and soul to soul. Love binds and blends us all. May the element of water bless this union with fulfillment and contentment.
Expression of Intent
__________, do you take __________, from this day forward to be your beloved, your partner, your husband? Do you promise to always love him, adore him, respect him and to give thanks for the gift of his love? I do
_________, do you take __________, from this day forward to be your beloved, your partner, your wife? Do you promise to always love her, adore her, respect her and to give thanks for the gift of her love? I do
As you have both expressed your intentions to bind your lives together as husband and wife, repeat after me:
You are the one I admire
You are the one I adore
You are the one I choose to go on with forever
From now until the end of my life.
Blessing of the Rings
All life springs from the earth and returns to the earth. May the element of earth bless these rings and this marriage with strength and solidity. The Circle is a perfect figure, without beginning, without end, with no area of weakness. It is a symbol of the Cycle of Life. This shall serve as a physical reminder of your vow, and that all things begin and end and being again. When you are engulfed in anger or sadness, look to your hand, and remember that love turns the Wheel forever onward.
Ring Exchange
With these rings we unite our hearts. We will honor each other as we join to form a trusting relationship. We will protect, support, and encourage each other as we create a loving future together. May our lives be intertwined forever and be as one in faith and hope.
We promise to establish a home for ourselves and our children shaped by our respective heritages; a loving environment dedicated to peace, hope and respect for all people; a family filled with love and learning, goodness and generosity, compassion and integrity.
Rosh Hodesh Blessing
Give us long life, A life of peace, A life of goodness, A life of blessing, A life of nourishment and sustenance. May it be a life of bodily health, A life in which is found, awe and wonder for the sacred, a life of happiness and honor, a life of integrity and discernment, intelligence and knowledge. A life in which our heart’s longings are met with gladness. Couple drinks from the Kiddush cup
Pronouncement of Marriage & Breaking of the Glass
Throughout this ceremony, _______ and ________have vowed, in our presence, to be loyal and loving towards each other. They have formalized the existence of the bond between them with words spoken and with the giving and receiving of rings. Therefore, it is my pleasure to now pronounce them husband and wife.
Minister holds up glass used in ceremony and says: May this glass be for you and for you alone. Respecting the fragility of love and promising your mutual fidelity and trust, I invite you to enter now into the kingdom of marriage! Groom stomps on the glass and everyone shouts Mazeltov!
Benediction
May every step of your path be blessed. May the sun shine upon you; may the moon move the tide of your emotions with every grace and magic; may your hearts sing; may your hearth be warm; and may ever day be filled with joy. Air is the breath of life, the stuff of hopes and dreams. May the element of air bless this union with clear communication and vitality. Amidst love, nature, family and friends, you may now kiss your beloved.
Joanna Scaparotti | RMT & Ordained Minister | 617-429-1793 | joannascaparotti@gmail.com