Know that before you go further since your lives have crossed in this life, you have formed ties between each other. As you seek to enter into 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 that you speak that intent also to your 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.
Consent
Do you still seek to enter into this ceremony? “yes we seek to enter”
HandFasting
I bid you look into each others eyes.
________ will you cause him/her pain? “I may”.
Is that your intent? “No”.
________ will you cause him/her 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. Please join hands.
(First cord is draped across Grooms’ or Brides’ hands)
________ will you share his/her laughter? “Yes”.
________ will you share his/her laughter? “Yes”.
(to both) Will you both look for the brightness in life
and the positive in each other? “Yes”.
And so the binding is made. (Second cord is draped)
________ will you burden him/her? “I may”.
Is that your intent? “No”.
________ will you burden him/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. (Third cord is draped).
________ will you share his/her dreams? “Yes”.
________ will you share his/her dreams? “Yes”.
(to both) Will you dream together
to create new realities and hopes? “Yes”.
And so this binding is made (fourth cord is draped).
________ will you cause his/her anger? “I may”.
Is that your intent? “No”.
________ will you cause his/her 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 this binding is made (fifth cord is draped).
________ will you honor him/her? “I will”.
________ will you honor him/her? “I will”.
(to both) Will you seek never to give cause
to break that honor? “We shall never do so”.
And so this binding is made (drape sixth cord). (Cords are tied with three knots)
“The knots of this binding are not formed by these cords but instead by your vows. Either of you may drop the cords, for, as always, you hold in your own hands the making or breaking of this union”.
Celtic One Cord Handfasting Ritual
The officiant holds the cord and says to the couple: Please hold each other’s hands (palms up and her hands resting in his).
____________ and ____________ this cord is a symbol of the life
you have chosen to live together. Until this moment you have been separate in thought, word, and deed. But as this cord is tied together, so shall your lives become intertwined. With this cord, I bind you to the vows that you have made to one another. With this knot, I tie you heart to heart, together as one.
The Officiant wraps the cord loosely around the Grooms’ or Brides’ wrists to tie a “love knot”.
Officiant says: The knot of this binding is not bound by the cord, but rather, by your own vows of love. For, as always, you have in your own hands the making or breaking of this union. May this “love knot” always be a reminder of the binding together of two hands, two hearts, and two souls into one. And so are you bound, each to the other, for all the days of your lives.
Cord may then be removed and placed on the altar. Many couples choose to keep the “love knot” as a memento of their new union created that day.