A Simple, Romantic, Handfasting Script

Simple Romantic Handfasting Ceremony Script


Hello and Welcome!  Thank you all for being here today.  You who are here in person and all of you joining us by way of the interwebs.  Today is a wonderful day.  Today is the day Bride and Groom are proclaiming their love for each other through the joining of hands and exchanging of vows. .  They are pledging themselves to each other for life through marriage. 

They’ve decided to celebrate their marriage  with something a little different.  Today, they will be handfasted.  This is actually a very old tradition.  They chose it for the Romance.  Braveheart, The Princess Bride, Bride and Bride, Groom and Groom, Bride and Groom.  It’s a tradition of many cultures and also of the Pagan faith.  One of the traditions that can make us all stop and think is the fact that Pagans, traditionally, are handfasted for a year and a day.  Now, this may sound like an easy out.  You just have to get through a year….  They are of course signing a marriage license today so this day it’s a little different when you add a legal contract.  But, The idea of making a conscious decision to pledge their lives to each other like this really has many good points.  I usually tell couples I’ve been married for 28 years and we are having a good year.  I wish everyone very many good years. 

Sometimes it’s easier to think about things in small increments.  Sometimes getting through a moment or an hour is how you have to break it down.  Sometimes a day.  In respects to a marriage lasting a lifetime, a year at a time is very good choice.  The way of our lives is to keep moving.  To go through the seasons, to learn and to grow.  Breaking it down into smaller pieces can be a good thing. 

At this time we also ask those here present to remember that just because a couple had made a commitment and is married, they still need support to keep a good thing going!  Thank you for being the community that surrounds them.

Now, for the binding…

What we are doing is taking a chord that Bride and Groom have made.  They put thought into it and we are using it today for the handfasting but they will also have this chord as a memory. 

Bride and Groom join hands and Officiant ties the chord

In days of old, rings were not exchanged or worn when a couple married. Bride and Groom are waiting on rings too. The way the hand of the couple are joined when they are crossed like this to make the symbol for infinity.  With this, may your love for each other be infinite and may you draw up on the infinite force of love that flows through the universe to flow through and support you. 

Now, I ask You:

Do you promise to be there for each other when you need each other?

We do.

Do you promise to fill each other’s days with sunshine?

We do.

Do you promise to comfort each other

We do

Do you promise to encourage each other?

We do

Do you promise to help each other reach your goals?

We do

Do you promise to be best friends forever?

We do.

And do you promise to love each other with all your hearts?

We do. 

May the words you have chosen to share today stay with you throughout your lives.  May they have meaning for you in the days to come - Through the triumphs and challenges of life, through plenty and want, through sickness and health.  May you continually bring all you have into your relationship and may you continually be replenished from the source of love itself. 

Now, some old cultures used to leave the couple’s hands bound for the first 30 days of their marriage.  Only 2 of their hands, not all 4.  How’s that for real?  Now, I’ll remove this cord, may it’s symbolism stay with you always. 

I wish you the strength To be true to the vows You have made here today. May you always have the wisdom To cherish the precious love you share. May you Nurture yourselves and this marriage With acceptance, understanding,Cooperation and loving.

May the life you share Be peaceful, healthy and filled With blessings and joy. 

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 will be no loneliness, For each of you will be companion to the other. Now you are two persons, But there is one life before you. As you leave here To enter into the days of your togetherness, May your days be good and long upon the earth.

So, by joining hands and looking into each other's eyes, let it be known that you are joined, body and soul in this lifetime, and that this bond is sacred and eternal. And now that you have exchanged these rings and these vows,  I witness and affirm your union of love and it gives me great pleasure to pronounce that you are and will continue to be partners for life.

You are married!

You may kiss!!



 I do not claim to be the original author of this script. I am sharing it like this to make it easier for anyone to use.

​