Greetings family and friends, this is a day for celebration and thanksgiving. We are gathered to witness the marriage of -Name- and -Name-.

They have invited us to share in the commitment they make to each other today. They ask your blessing on this solemn and joyful occasion If life has any meaning to us at all, it possesses it because of love. It is that which enshrines and ennobles our human experience. It is the basis for the peace of the family and the peace of the peoples of the Earth.

Into this closest of relationships you two come now to be joined by a ceremony, which, to be true, must be but a symbol of something inner and real - a sacred union of hearts and lives - which religion may bless and the state may make legal, but which neither can create or annul.

You two, only, may do that. -Name- and -Name- have invited you here today to witness the ceremony of their marriage to each other. It is important to both of them that you understand what you will be witnessing. They created their own ceremony to symbolize to them and you the things that their marriage means to them, "a symbol of something inner and real."

Their understanding of the true meaning of marriage has resulted from many influences; their families, their friends, and each of their own personal beliefs. Their marriage is a result of not only their love for each other but also the integration of their understandings of marriage resulting from these influences.

We are here not only strengthen the binds of -Name- and -Name- love for each other but also to bring family and friends together to celebrate these same said bonds that hold us all together. All things alive grow, and growth means change.

What defines -Name- and -Name-'s love today will grow into new definitions and depth in the future. This ceremony is the celebration of a single stage in a much larger process that is the love between husband and wife over a lifetime.

As you seek to enter this state of matrimony you should strive to make real, the ideals which give meaning to both this ceremony and the institution of marriage. With full awareness, know that within this circle you are not only declaring your intent to be handfasted before your friends and family, but you speak that intent also to your creative higher powers.

The promises made today and the ties that are bound here greatly strengthen your union; they will cross the years and lives of each soul's growth.

Do you seek to enter this ceremony ?
Yes, We Seek to Enter.

Officiate:
In times past it was believed that the human soul shared characteristics with all things divine. It is this belief which assigned virtues to the cardinal directions; East, South, West and North. It is in this tradition that a blessing is offered in support of this ceremony.

Blessed be this union with the gifts of the East. Communication of the heart, mind, and body. Fresh beginnings with the rising of each sun. The knowledge of growth found in the sharing of silence.

Blessed be this union with the gifts of the South. Warmth of hearth and home The heat of the heart's passion. The light created by both to lighten the darkest of times.

Blessed be this union with the gifts of the West. The deep commitments of the lake. The swift excitement of the river. The refreshing cleansing of the rain. The all encompassing passion of the sea.

Blessed be this union with the gifts of the North. Firm foundation on which to build fertility of the fields to enrich your lives A stable home to which you may always return.

Each of these blessings from the four cardinal directions emphasizes those things which will help you build a happy and successful union. Yet they are only tools. Tools which you must use together in order to create what you seek in this union. I bid you to look into each others eyes.

[Groom] Will you cause her pain?
I May

Is that your intent ?
No

[Bride] Will you cause him pain ?
I may

Is that your intent ?
No

To Both-
Will you share each other's pain and seek to ease it ?
Yes

And so the binding is made. Join your hands.
First cord is draped across the bride and grooms hands-

[Bride] Will you share his laughter ?
Yes

[Groom] Will you share her laughter ?
Yes

To Both-
Will both of you look for the brightness in life and the positive in each other ?
Yes

And so the binding is made.
Second chord is draped across the couples hands-

[Bride] Will you burden him?
I may

Is that your intent?
No

[Groom] Will you burden her ?
I may

Is that your intent ?
No

To Both-
Will you share the burdens of each so that your spirits may grow in this union ?
Yes

And so the binding is made.
-Drape third chord across the couples hands-

[Bride] will you share his dreams?
Yes

[Groom] will you share her dreams?
Yes

To Both-
Will you dream together to create new realities and hopes?
yes

And so the binding is made.
Drape fourth chord across the couples hands-

[Groom] will you cause her anger?
I may

Is that your intent?
no

[Bride] will you cause him anger?
I may

Is that your intent?
no

To Both-
Will you take the heat of anger and use it to temper the strength of this union?
We will

And so the binding is made.
Drape fifth chord across the couples hands-

[Bride] Will you honor him?
I will

[Groom] Will you honor her?
I will

-To Both-
Will you seek to never give cause to break that honor?
We shall never do so

And so the binding is made.
Drape sixth chord across the couples hands-
Tie chords together while saying:-

The knots of this binding are not formed by these chords but instead by your vows. Either of you may drop the chords, for as always, you hold in your own hands the making of breaking of this union.

Once chords are tied together they are removed

Spirit of Love, may [Bride] and [Groom] know great love together, and may they live in the desire to attain that best which each may win more richly because of the other.

May they strengthen one another in all sorrow, share with one another in all gladness, and be companions to each other in times of silence. May their home help to make the world more homelike.

And wherever they are placed by changing fortune, may they be united not in word and outward form alone, but by the presence in the hearts of each, of the deepening love they share. May the benedictions that rest on those who truly love, rest on them, and fill them with love's grace, now and forevermore. You may now kiss.