Radiant Touch Weddings... wedding prayers, blessings & readingsPrayers, Blessings and Special Readings are a simple way of combining beliefs and styles. Special readings can be read by the officiant OR a friend or relative.
RELIGIOUS TRADITION
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face shine upon you,
and be gracious unto you.
May the Lord lift up his countenance unto you,
and give you peace.
PRAYER OF BLESSING
" Dear heavenly Father (or "Oh Lord"), our hearts are filled with great happiness on _____________ and _________________’s wedding day, as they come before You pledging their hearts and lives to one another. Grant that they may be ever true and loving, living together in such a way as to never bring shame or heartbreak into their marriage. Temper their hearts with kindness and understanding, rid them of all pretense of jealousy. Help them to remember to be each other's sweetheart, helpmate, friend and guide, so that together they may meet the cares and problems of life more bravely. And with the passage of time, may the home they are creating today, truly be a place of love and harmony, where your spirit is ever present.
(optional mention of children in prayer here; see prayer including children below)
Bless this union we pray, and walk beside _________________ and ________________ throughout all their lives together. We ask these things in Jesus name; AMEN
PRAYER INCLUDING CHILDREN: (This is added to the Prayer above)
"Oh Lord, today we not only celebrate this marriage, but we also celebrate the formation and affirmation of a family with - (child or children's names) -
We pray that you guide _______ and ________ as parents to raise and teach (child/children’s names) with love and respect; and that you protect this new family and keep them always in your care..."
CHEROKEE PRAYER:
"God in heaven above please protect the ones we love.
We honour all you created as these two pledge their hearts and lives together.
We honour mother-earth - and ask for this marriage to be abundant and grow stronger through the seasons;
We honour fire - and ask that this union be warm and glowing with love in their hearts;
We honour wind - and ask they sail though life safe and calm as in our father's arms;
We honour water - to cleanse and soothe this relationship - that it may never thirsts for love;
With all the forces of the universe you created, we pray for harmony and true happiness as they forever grow young together. Amen."
INDIGENOUS PRAYER
Now you will feel no pain / for each of you will be shelter to another….
Now you will feel no cold / for each of you will be warmth to another…
Now there is no loneliness for you / for each of you will show compassion to the other…
Now you are two persons / but there is one life before you…..
Go now to your dwelling place / to enter into the days of your togetherness….
And may your days be good and long / upon this earth…..
I offer this Blessing upon your Marriage::
May you always be surrounded with love
Every breath you take is sweet and good
See, Know, Recognize Goodness in You - Others - Everything
May your lives Be Long
Be free from harm
Wishes Given from Goodness Within
Received from Goodness Within
Be united as one, in love forever.
PRAYER
Our dear Heavenly Father. We come before you this day, to consummate the marriage promises and commitment made by groom & bride. We give thanks to you for the many blessings you have bestowed on us. Thank you for bringing their paths together so that they may find and know true love.
Today we ask for blessing upon this ceremony and this marriage. We ask that you give bride and groom, words both kind and loving, hearts always ready to ask forgiveness as well as to forgive, and spirits filled with well-being and light.
May the love that brought them together grow and mature with each passing year. Bring them ever closer to You through their love for each other. May their love grow to perfection.
Amen
BLESSING SPIRITUAL NATURE
May the Lord and Lady bless you both, and may these blessings fall upon your love and
your marriage for as long as you shall live and love together.
Blessed be by the element of air. May you be blessed with communication,
intellectual growth, and wisdom.
Blessed be by the element of fire. May you be blessed with harmony, vitality,
creativity, and passion.
Blessed be by the element of water. May you be blessed with friendship, intuition,
caring, understanding, and love.
Blessed be by the element of earth. May you be blessed with tenderness,
happiness, compassion, and sensuality.
May these blessings of the Lord and Lady be with you always, and fill all of your coming
days.
BLESSING OF THE ELEMENTS
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 the growth found in the sharing of silences.
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 illuminate 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.
MARRIAGE PRAYER
Dear Lord,
We have come before you this day to give thanks for the love you have shared with these two people. We ask that you help (groom) and (bride) to always remember when they first met and to remember the strong love that grew between them. To work that love into practical things so nothing can divide them. Please help them find words both kind and loving and hearts always ready to ask forgiveness as well as able to forgive.
Dear Lord, we put this marriage into your hands.
Amen
NATIVE AMERICAN BLESSING
May the sun bring you new energy by day, may the moon softly restore you by night, may the rain wash away your worries, may the breeze blow new strength into your being.
Classic Reading from "The Prophet"
" Love one another, but make not a bond of that love. Let it rather be like a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
And stand together, and yet not too near together. For even the pillars of the temple must stand apart; and the oak tree and the cypress will not grow in each other’s shadow.
Remember that love gives nothing but from itself. Love possesses not, nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love.
And think not that you can direct the course of love. For love, if it finds you worthy, will direct your course."
REAL LOVE: (Optional to use in any ceremony)
Real love is identifiable by the way it makes us feel. Love should feel good. There is a peaceful quality to an authentic experience of love that penetrates to our core, touching a part of ourselves that has always been there. True love activates this inner being, filling us with warmth and light. An authentic experience of love does not ask us to look a certain way, drive a certain car, or have a certain job. It takes us as we are, no changes required. When someone truly loves us, their love for us awakens our love for ourselves. They remind us that what we seek outside of ourselves is a mirror image of the lover within. In this way, true love never makes us feel needy or lacking or anxious. Instead, true love empowers us with its implicit message that we are, always have been, and always will be, made of love.
Marriage Box
Most people get married believing a myth that marriage is beautiful box full of all the things they have longed for; Companionship, intimacy, friendship etc … The truth is, that marriage at the start is an empty box, you must put something in before you can take anything out. There is no love in marriage, love is in people, and people put love in marriage. There is no romance in marriage, you have to infuse it into your marriage. A couple must learn the art, and form the habit of giving, loving, serving, praising, of keeping the box full. If you take out more than you put in, the box will be empty.
Love isn’t Practical
It isn’t meant to be easy. It doesn’t appear on command. It doesn’t let you fall for whomever you’d like. It surfaces neither at the most opportune moment nor in the most convenient, it’ll pair you with someone you might never have expected. It’ll put you face to face with endless obstacles. But in the end, none of that will matter because it’s how you overcome its obstacles that will define your love. It may not be practical, but love is ultimately the best thing that will ever happen to you.
TO LOVE
As you take these vows, I would have you remember: To love is to enter a whole New World, a world of togetherness, a world of sharing.
Always remember those unique qualities that drew you to each other in the beginning...the thrill of discovery.... That wonderful feeling of oneness when your eyes met.
To love is to constantly search for new ways to bring each other to happiness, to make the most of every moment you share together.
With love there is no need to pretend...where you can be yourselves.... And know within your hearts, you will be accepted by one another.
To love is to always believe and trust in one another.
To love is to dream, and to dare.... And always believe that all things are possible with faith and love.
By Louis de Bernieres
Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being in love, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.
This is a passage from "To Love is Not to Possess" by James Kavanaugh
To love is not to possess,
To own or imprison,
Nor to lose one's self in another.
Love is to join and separate,
To walk alone and together,
To find a laughing freedom That lonely isolation does not permit.
It is finally to be able
To be who we really are
No longer clinging in childish dependency
Nor docilely living separate lives in silence,
It is to be perfectly one's self
And perfectly joined in permanent commitment
To another--and to one's inner self.
Love only endures when it moves like waves,
Receding and returning gently or passionately,
Or moving lovingly like the tide In the moon's own predictable harmony,
Because finally, despite a child's scars
Or an adult's deepest wounds,
They are openly free to be Who they really are--and always secretly were,
In the very core of their being Where true and lasting love can alone abide.
"Of Shared Love in Marriage" by (Victor Hugo)
You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. We pardon to the extent that we love. Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be lonely again. A great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Loved for ourselves. And even loved in spite of ourselves.
TO LOVE 2
To love is to remember and keep alive forever all those unique qualities that drew you to one another in the beginning.... Those first halting phrase...the thrill of discovery.... That wonderful feeling of oneness when your eyes met.
To love is to constantly search for new ways to bring each other to happiness, to make the most of every moment you share together, and marvel at how your feelings for one another keep rising to new dimensions.
To love is to create an oasis of tranquility for one another and a quiet place, apart from others, where you need not pretend...where you can be yourselves.... And know within your hearts, you will be accepted by one another. To love is to greet each day with anticipation...Always eager for another opportunity to share new adventures...And gather up new memories TOGETHER!
To love is to follow the rainbow through the rain, to be able to laugh at yourselves and be willing to say...."I was wrong, I'm sorry"...To forgive, and more importantly, to FORGET, and to always believe and trust in one another.
To love is to watch with wonder all the miracles of creation, to find beauty in all the simple things of life, and to find, within ourselves, a deeper appreciation and a new awareness of how wonderful it is to be alive...To be happy...To be…TOGETHER.
To love is to come together from the pathways of our past and then move forward...Hand in hand, along the uncharted roads of our future, ready to risk, to dream, and to dare.... And always believe that all things are possible with faith and love.
Friendship and Love
We have come together from near and far to celebrate your lives as individuals and to bestow our blessings upon you as you begin a magical journey together as husband and wife. We have come together to witness the creation of a brand new family, and to share in the joy of that moment with you. Your marriage will develop a true friendship between you and that friendship must be strong and able to withstand the tests of time. Remember that when you are a true friend to someone you want to spend time with them; you want to share with them; care for them when they are sick spiritually or physically; you want to learn new things with them;
you want to change with them; you want to grow in truth with them; and you want to experience all that life has to offer with them. Through this process you will wind-up on the same page together, and that is the secret to having peace and happiness in your lives. Take responsibility for making the other one to feel safe, and give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness, and kindness that your relationship deserves. Never allow anything to be more important than the one you have chosen to spend your life together with.
This is a passage from "Gift from the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh:
"When you love someone, you do not love them all the time in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility, it is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity, in freedom.
The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what it was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting as it is now. For relationships, too, must be like islands, one must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits - islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides. One must accept the security of the winged life, of the ebb and flow of intermittency."
The Art of Marriage by Wilferd A. Peterson (long version)
Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens.
A good marriage must be created.
In the art of marriage the little things are the big things...
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted;
the courtship should not end with the honeymoon,
it should continue through all the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude
of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation
and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience,
understanding and a sense of humour.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal,
dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.
It is discovering what marriage can be, at its best.
Opening & Closing Quotes
1. "We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet — I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things — all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying, 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness.'" — Shall We Dance?
2. "You and you alone make me feel that I am alive. Other men it is said have seen angels, but I have seen thee and thou art enough." — George Moore
3. "Love doesn't sit there like a stone. It has to be made, like bread; remade all of the time, made new." — Ursula K. Le Guin
4. "Marriage: If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. You shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don't expose it to the elements. You don't make it common or ordinary. If it ever becomes tarnished, you lovingly polish it until it gleams like new. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more beautiful and precious as time goes by." — F. Burton Howard
5. "Love me and the world is mine." — David Reed
6. "A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." — Mignon McLaughlin
7. "Love is a partnership of two unique people who bring out the very best in each other, and who know that even though they are wonderful as individuals, they are even better together." — Barbara Cage
8. "You meet thousands of people and none of them really touch you, and then you meet one person and your life is changed forever." — Love and Other Drugs
9. "There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage." — Martin Luther
10. "Sometimes I do wake up in the mornings and feel like I've just had the most incredible dream. I've just dreamt my life." — Richard Branson
11. "To love abundantly is to live abundantly, and to love forever is to live forever." — Henry Drummond
(these 11 quotes were shared by Brides.com http://www.brides.com/blogs/aisle-say/2015/03/unique-romantic-sayings-for-wedding-vows.html )
Radiant Touch Wedding Officiant, Beverly Mason, is a non-denomination wedding minister / officiant in Oregon & SW Washington.
Beverly is happy to share this compilation of wedding related Prayers, Blessings and Readings.
If you are in need of someone to perform your wedding ceremony, please contact Beverly at 971-570-5121 or for more information send an email.
Thank you for visiting Radiant Touch Weddings.
