Parts of a Wedding Ceremony
Photo taken at the Scottish Rite Cathedral
by Halee Betzner Photography
by Halee Betzner Photography
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2/22/2023 Closing Prayers xoA final blessing for the couple. We end most formal wedding ceremonies with a final blessing. For a Christian Couple, we may include a prayer for the couples as well as a blessing. These are examples of prayers, often, a prayer comes from the heart so these can be used as inspiration to write your own prayers. Prayer of Love “Our prayer for you is this: That you will always remember the qualities that attracted you to each other when you first met and how you felt as your feelings of attraction turned into respect, admiration and finally love. That you will work hard to turn your feelings of love into acts of love so that nothing and no one can divide you. That you will always have kind and loving hearts that are quick to ask for forgiveness when you are wrong as well as to forgive when your partner is wrong. That your love might grow to hear all things, believe all things, and hope for all things, endure all things. we pray you place your marriage in God’s hands, and that your love increases and overflows, beyond anything you can yet imagine.” Adapted from Illuminata by Marianne Williamson Dear God, Please make of this relationship a great and holy adventure. May their joining be a sacred space. May the two of them find rest here, a haven for their souls. Remove from them any temptation to judge themselves or each other or to direct each other. May they surrender to You their conflicts and their burdens. We know You are their Answer and their rock. Help them not forget. Bring them together in heart and mind as well as body and guide them in the ways of holiness. May this relationship be a burst of light. May it be a fount of love and wisdom for them, for their family, for their community, and for their world. May this bond be a channel for Your love and healing, a vehicle of Your grace and power. As lessons come and challenges grow, let them not be tempted to forsake each other. Let them always remember that in each other they have the most beautiful woman, the most beautiful man, the strongest one, the sacred one in whose arms we are repaired. May they remain young in this relationship. May they grow wise in this relationship. Bring them what You desire for them. And show them how you would have them be. Thank You, dear God. Final Prayer 1 Dear God, thank you for this joyous day. Thank you for Your Light that has entered Name and Name’s life. Thank you for all the miracles and blessings. Please bless this union. Help Name and Name find the perfect place in this world for their love to flourish. Let the radiant light of their love shine on all those around them. May all their future creations be blessed. God, bless them with the inner gifts of trust, compassion, forgiveness, and truth that they may live and grow together in love and peace. Final Prayer 2 We ask that the Holy Spirit of love may deepen the lives of Name and Name. May the relationship, which today has been expressed, continue to grow in the years to come. And whatever changes time may bring, let this wedding ceremony remain as a treasured memory and a guide to life. May they always experience that breathless wonder that exclaims: "Out of all this world, you have chosen me." When life is done and the sun is setting, may they be found then as now, still hand in hand, still thanking you for each other. Amen Final Prayer 3 May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of God's son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you always. May the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you, The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Final Prayer 4 Heavenly Father, Bless this marriage, as Name and Name begin their journey down the road of life together. We don’t know what lies ahead. But help them to make the best of whatever comes their way. Help them to hug each other often … laugh a lot, talk more, and argue less. Help them to continue to enjoy each other as they did when they first met. Help them to realize that nothing or no one is perfect and to look for the good in all things and all people including themselves. Help them to respect each other’s likes and dislikes, opinions and beliefs, hopes and dreams and fears even though they may not always understand them. Help them to learn from each other and help each other grow mentally and emotionally. Give them peace of heart and strength of spirit so they may honor the vows they made here today. And may the promises they made inspire each of us who celebrates with them. Amen Final Prayer 5 Dear God, when you look down upon Name and Name, give them peace and happiness. Bless their children, family, friends, and visitors through a happy life. May their trails lie straight and level before them. May their days be good and long upon the earth. We are all your children and ask these things with good hearts. May Heaven and Earth bless this union. Amen Final Prayer 6 The wedding is not over - it has just begun. Not once and forever, but again and again shall the mystery of two people, together in love, move one another and touch the world. For marriage is not something said and done, but a promise, whose fulfillment is acted out over time. For in the end, truth remains elusive - death a secret - love a challenge. Life goes on neither more nor less incidentally than before. But one’s hand is strengthened, one’s way brightened, and one’s load, if not lightened, is made easier to bear. So for Name and Name, we simply pray that the promises of marriage have a long and complete fulfillment; that their love is nurtured and shared by their families and friends; and that the seasons be joyous along the way. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. Final Prayer 7 Let us pray. God, we ask for your blessings upon Name and Name, as we celebrate this momentous occasion in their lives. Grant them happiness and contentment as they establish their new home, create a new family and explore the depths of their love for one another and for you. Bless their families and friends and the relationships, which have supported, strengthened and sustained them throughout their lives. Bless their home as a place of love and of peace. And if times grow hard and tempers grow short, help them to look into their hearts and remember the love that brought them here today Amen. Final Prayer 8 Loving Spirit, grant Name and Name, that in giving and forgiving they may receive from each other everlasting joy. Bind them together with cords that cannot be broken. Bind them together with love. Grant that they may always take delight in each other, and that each will remain in the other’s heart and desire. Heavenly Spirit. Everlasting God, have compassion with Bride and Groom, as they process of committing to each other and professing their vows. I ask you to be with them in all their undertakings, and I see them both blessed with an abundance of all good. Furthermore I see their minds illumined by divine wisdom, and their hearts quickened by divine love. And now, let us affirm these things in an awareness that we are in the living, loving, indwelling Presence of God. Amen. Final Prayer 9 Name and Name, May your love and deep respect for each other sustain throughout the years to come. May your life together flow with peace and harmony. May your vows be fully realized and may you realize their own true nature together. May you both promise to do what you think to be right; speak what you think to be the truth; help others in what is fair, accept your mistakes without excuses for them. May you both accept full responsibility for your actions and reactions. May sincerity of this resolution give you both strength to fulfill your duties towards yourself and others. Amen. Final Prayer 10 Hand in hand, Name and Name come before you, O Lord. Hand in hand, they are stepping out in faith. We, who are gathered here, ask that you would take this couple into your hands. Help them, O Lord, to keep firm in the commitments they have just made. Guide them, O God, as they become a family, as they each change through the years. May they be flexible as they are faithful. And Lord, help us all to be your hands if there be need. Strengthen, tenderly all of our commitments, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Final Prayer 11 Most gracious God, we give you thanks for your tender love in sending Jesus Christ to come among us, to be born of a human mother, and to make the way of the cross to be the way of life. We thank you, also, for consecrating the union of man and woman in his Name. By the power of your Holy Spirit, pour out the abundance of your blessing upon Name and Name. Defend them from every enemy. Lead them into all peace. Let their love for each other be a seal upon their hearts, a mantle about their shoulders, and a crown upon their foreheads. Bless them in their work and in their companionship; in their sleeping and in their waking; in their joys and in their sorrows; in their life and in their death. Finally, in your mercy, bring them to that table where your saints feast forever in your heavenly home; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Final Prayer 12 Heavenly Father, We come to you asking your blessing and favor on Name and Name. We pray for patience, tolerance, and understanding as they begin to adjust to wedded life. May theirs be a home where there is much joy, laughter, support and an atmosphere of acceptance and safety. We pray that they will always respect each other and may both of them enjoy the freedom to become all that you want them to be individually and as a family unit. Grant them courage to choose God’s instructions in a world that often abandons these. May their trust in you increase. May their home be filled with your peace. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen Final Prayer 13 Name and Name, you have committed yourselves to each other in the joyous and sacred covenant. May there be peace in your home and confidence in your hearts. May the God of Sarah and Abraham, who watches over all the families of the earth, bless you and grand that the love which unites you grow in abiding happiness and seal your bond of marriage with love everlasting. May we remember always that this is You, O Lord, our God, who has brought us to this and all the joyful season. Amen. Final Prayer 14 Name and Name, I want you to be happy in the Lord; let your tolerance be evident to everyone. The Lord is very near and there is no need to worry. But if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus. Amen Final Prayer 15 May the two of you be blessed by God. May you be touched by angels. May your hearts stay full, may your spirits stay connected, and may you love long and happily in one another arms. Final Prayer 16 Gracious God, spirit of life and love, we ask all blessings upon Name and Name in their life together. May they be blessed with patience, to see them through times of tensions or conflict. May they be blessed with kindness, to enable them to nurture and care for one another in times of pain or sorrow. May they be blessed with a spirit of play and joyfulness, that they may participate fully in the beauties and pleasures of creation. May they be blessed, finally, with a knowledge of the ever-flowing presence of love in the world, that they may be channels of this love to one another and to all whom they meet in their life’s journey. Amen. Comments are closed.
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