HAND CEREMONIES

1. Blessing of the Hands Ceremony

Bride and Groom, please face each other and hold hands, palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you. These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever. These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future. These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch, will comfort you like no other. These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes; tears of sorrow, and tears of joy. These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children. These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one. These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it. These are the hands that will encourage you to chase down your dreams. And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you that same unspoken tenderness with just a touch. Together as a team, everything you wish can be realized.

2. Hand-Fasting Ceremony

Officiant: Bride and Groom have chosen to include the tradition of hand-fasting into their wedding ceremony today. Hand-fasting is a wedding ritual in which the hands of the couple are tied together as a symbol of their lives being joined together.

Bride and Groom, marriage forms eternal and sacred bonds. The promises made today bind your lives together. Do you still seek to enter this ceremony? Bride and Groom: "Yes.”

Officiant: Bride and Groom, please hold hands and look into each other's eyes. (Bride’s left hand holds Groom’s right hand) Will you honour and respect one another, and seek to never break that honour? Bride and Groom: "We will.”

Family member or friend wraps the cord once, loosely, over the hands of the couple.

Officiant: Will you share each other's pain and seek to ease it? Bride and Groom: "We will.”

Family member or friend wraps cord again over the hands of the Bride and Groom.

Officiant: Will you share the burdens of each so that your spirits may grow in this union? Bride and Groom: "We will."

Family member or friend wraps cord again over their hands.

Officiant: Will you share each other's laughter, and look for the brightness in life and the positive in each other? Bride and Groom: "We will."

Family member or friend wraps cord again over their hands, then ties the hands together.

Officiant: Bride and Groom, as your hands are now bound together, so your lives are joined in a union of love and trust. The knots of this binding symbolize the vows you have made. Like the stars, your love should be a constant source of light, and like the earth, a firm foundation from which to grow.

May this knot of love remain forever tied, and may your hands be blessed. May they always be held by one another. May they have the strength to hold on tightly during the storms of life. May they remain tender and gentle as they nurture each other. May your hands build a relationship of love, caring, and devotion. May you both see each other's hands as healer, protector, shelter and guide.

Family member or friend unties the cord.