June 25th, 2024

Intimate Handfasting Ceremony Script

Family, friends and guests gather around and for a circle around the bride and groom

Bride and Groom, it is our joy to witness and celebrate your wedding in a rich celebration, sustained as we are in the mysterious power of all creation and whose core is Love. 

You come here today as individuals. You come to become one - of course not to lose yourselves, but instead to promise a new life of unity and love.

And we, your family and friends, have gathered here to share in your joy and to ask the infinite power in creation to bless you. We hold that marriage is a gift, sealed by an achiest, lasting sacred covenant.

Giving of the Bride & Groom

Who presents this couple to be married?

Bride and Groom have chosen a traditional handfasting ceremony. In Europe, until the mid 1700’s, few unions were sanctified in a church or synagogue. Rather, they were celebrated by a simple handfasting ceremony in which the two partners joined hands over the village anvil, in the fields or in the groves of trees. Today, we build upon this tradition. The couple linked hands, to form an infinity circle, symbolizing the entirety of the universe as represented in their relationship.

Groom and Bride, please join hands in the infinity circle.

Know now before you go further, that since your lives have crossed in this life you have formed ties between each other. 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 hand fasted before your friends and family, but you speak that intent also to God. 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 still seek to enter this ceremony?

Couple: Yes, We Seek to Enter.

Dedication (Blessing) of the Hands

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness.

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 comfort you in illness, and hold you when fear or grief racks your mind.

These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times.

These are the hands that will give you support and encourage you to chase your dreams. Together, everything you wish for can be realized.

Prepare the cords

Back in earlier years, the hands would be bound with whatever was available - vines, colorful cords, or scarf. Today we will use this cord to symbolize the binding, or promises.

The first promise
(also known as the binding)

Groom, Will you be Bride’s faithful partner for life? 

Yes 

Bride, will you be Groom’s faithful partner for life?
Yes


Will you be each other’s constant friends and one true love? 

Both answer: Yes

And so the binding is made.

The cord is wrapped around the couple's wrist.

The second promise

Bride, do you promise to love Groom without reservation? 

Yes

Groom, do you promise to love Bride without reservation?
Yes


Will both of you stand by one another in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want?

Both answer: Yes


And so the binding is made. 

The cord is wrapped around the couple's wrist.

The third promise

Bride, will you stand together with Groom your times of joy and sorrow?

I will

Groom, will you stand together with Bride your times of joy and sorrow?

I will

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

Both answer: Yes, we will

And so the binding is made. 

The cord is wrapped around the couple's wrist.

The fourth promise

Groom will you always to be open and honest with Bride, for as long as you both shall live?

Yes 

Bride, will you always to be open and honest with Groom,  for as long as you both shall live?

Yes

Will you dream together to create new realities and hopes for this marriage? 

Yes

And so the binding is made.


The cord is wrapped around the couple's wrist.

The fifth promise

Bride, Will you honor this man? 

I will

Groom, Will you honor this woman?
I will

Will you both seek to cherish and strengthen that honor?
We will

And so the binding is made.
The cord is wrapped around the couple's wrist.
 
Binding of all promises

Remove cord 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 or breaking of this union.

Once chord is removed, it is placed on altar

Blessing and Exchange of Rings

Who holds the rings?

Witnesses: We do

Couple holds their hands up to display the rings and holds them up to be blessed

Let us all bless these rings! These rings are circles, symbols that remind us of the Sun, and the Earth, and the universe. Symbols of holiness, of perfection and peace ... that which has no beginning and no end. And so, in this moment, let us all bring our blessing to these rings so that they may remain symbols of unity and commitment. Grant that the love which Bride and Groom have for each other now may always be as unending as these rings.

These are the rings that Bride and Groom will wear for the rest of their lives, that express the love that they have for one another. Let us take a moment and send our prayers, our thoughts and our love to these rings, so that as they wear them, they will carry our love with them as well. 

Exchange rings and state for each: With this ring, I thee wed, let it ever be a symbol of my love.”

Recognition Of Marriage

Only a couple can seal the promise of a marriage to each other, and only a couple can bind it. No power vested in me by the state can grant me the authority to declare what only these two hearts can declare, and what only these two souls can make real.

And so now, inasmuch as you, Groom, and you, Bride, have announced the truths that are already written in your hearts, and have witnessed the same in the presence of these, your family and friends, -- we observe joyfully that you are now husband and wife.

I present to you Mrs. and Mrs. !!!!



 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.