Handfasting-by-Design             

Native Prayer
May the sun bring you new strengh by day,
May the moon softly restore you by nite,
May the rain-wash away your fears,
And the breeze envigorates your being.
May you, all the days of your life,
Walk gently through the world,

Apache Wedding Blessing

Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for each 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 only one life before you. May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years, May happiness be your companion and your days together be good and long upon the earth. Treat yourself and each other with respect, and remind yourself often of what brought you together.  Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves.  When frustration, difficulties and fear assail you relationship-as they sometimes do, remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part that seems wrong.  In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the Sun in your lives, Remember that even if you loose sight of it for a moment the sun is still there.  And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.                            

Gaelic Wedding Blessing
Mi\le fa\ilte dhuit le d'bhre/id,
Fad do re/ gun robh thu sla\n.
Mo/ran la\ithean dhuit is si\th,
Le d'mhaitheas is le d'ni\ bhi fa\s.

Translated as:

"A thousand welcomes to you with your marriage kerchief, may you be healthy all your days. May you be blessed
with long life and peace, may you grow old with
goodness, and with riches."

This is attributed to the Rev. Donald MacLeod, minister of Duirinish, Skye, Scotland c. 1760. Supplied by Christopher Lau, University of Calgary                                                                                 

Cherokee Wedding Prayer
Father Sky please protect the ones we love.
We honor all you created as we pledge our hearts and lives together.
We honor Mother Earth - and ask for our marriage to be abundant and grow stronger through the seasons
We honor fire - and ask that our union be warm and glowing with love in our hearts
We honour wind - and ask we sail though life safe and calm as in our father's arms
We honour water - to clean and soothe our relationship - that it may never thirst for love
With all the forces of the universe you created, we pray for harmony and true happiness as we forever grow young together

An Irish Prayer

May God give you...
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer

RECEPTION MEAL BLESSING Samples

1.Before we eat it is customary to say a prayer which can remind us of how interconnected we all are.  We not only bless the food we are about to eat but we bless and are thankful for those who grew or raised our food, those who processed it and brought it to market. We are grateful for those who prepare it for us and those who are serving it to us today (this evening). And may we be so grateful for being able to share this food on this wondrous occasion where Tina and Brad professed their love and two became one.

2.Bless our friends, bless our food. Come, Creator, and sit with us. May our talks glow with peace, Bring your love to surround us. Friendship and peace, may it bloom and grow forever. Thanks for friends, thanks for food, Thanks for freedom. Allow this meal to enrich us with wisdom and laughter all the rest of our days. Amen

3.Let us pray, Heavenly father, you have placed the earth and it's fruit under our care so that by our efforts we may insure that all will share in the benefits of your creation. We ask that you bless this food and all those that are present here today, the families and friends and also all those who are were unable to attend today.  We also ask your blessing on bride and groom who have come to you this day to unite themselves to You in love and sacrament, all this we ask in your love. Amen

 4.We come to the table not merely to refresh our bodies but to renew our hearts. We are thankful for food in a world where many walk in hunger, for friends in a world where many walk alone, and for faith in a world where many walk in fear. O Lord, Thou Sustainer of our body, heart and soul, Bless all we receive. In thankfulness. Amen

 5.        Dear God: Thank you for the food we share this afternoon in celebration of Sean and Caitlin's marriage. We thank you for the love, guidance and support of all the important people in their lives, their parents, family and friends We offer our gratitude for this joyful and abundant day. Please bless those that have worked hard to make this day a success for Sean and Caitlin. And, please bless this meal that we are about to share – Caitlin and Sean's first meal together as a married couple.

6."Lord, behold our family here assembled. We thank you for this place in which we dwell, for the love that unites us, for the peace accorded us this day, for the hope with which we expect the morrow, for the health, the work, the food, and the bright skies that make our lives delightful; for our friends in all parts of the earth. Amen"

 
Dear God:Thank you for the food we share this afternoon in celebration of ______ and______ marriage.We thank you for the love, guidance and support of all the important peoplein their lives, their parents, family and friendsWe offer our gratitude for this joyful and abundant day. Please bless thosethat have worked hard to make this day a success for _______ and _______i.And, please bless this meal that we are about to share - _______ and _______first meal together as a married couple.________May their love be firm, and may their dream of life together be a riverbetween two shores--by day bathed in sunlight, and by night illuminated from within.May the heron carry news of them to the heavens, and the salmon bring thesea's blue grace.May their twin thoughts spiral upward like leafy vines, like fiddle stringsin the wind, and be as noble as the Douglas fir.May they never find themselves back to back without love pulling them aroundinto each other's arms. Amen.Adapted from a verse by James BertolinoThe Wedding Prayer can also work as a meal blessing:"The Wedding Prayer"by Robert Lewis Stevenson"Lord, behold our family here assembled. We thank you for this place in which we dwell, for the love that unites us, for the peace accorded us this day, for the hope with which we expect the morrow, for the health, the work, the food, and the bright skies that make our lives delightful; for our friends in all parts of the earth. Amen"For an after the Ceremony Blessing, I often modify a couple that are in theULC Wedding Planning book:Blessing 1:May you be blessed and sustained as you venture through theuncharted and challenging times that every relationship experiences.May you find within yourselves all that you need to nurture yourmarriage.May you continue to grow closer together with a love that growsdeeper and richer with each passing day.Blessing 2:_______ & ________, we are here today to celebrate with you, asyou declare your love for and commitment to each other. We are also here tooffer you the gift of our blessings.We wish for you love - a love that brings out the best in you,as you bring out the best in each other. One that gives you something tolean on when you need it most. And one that allows you to see each other asyou really are, reminding you why you're together.We wish for you a home - more than just a place to live, but ahaven from the pressures of the world outside your door. A place to letdown your guard, unburden yourself and know that there's someone always onyour side.Finally, we wish for you joy - a joy that makes you laugh outloud. A joy that lights your eyes and fills your soul. And a joy thatshouts to the world of your happiness with one another.All this and more we wish for you today, and every daythroughout the years of your marriage.Blessing 3:May your lives be filled with wisdom, blessed with good health,and abundant with miracles.May you eternally have your amusement, remembering how to play,and may you always see the connection that brought you together.Some additional blessings I have come across:"May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage shouldbring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding.May you always need one another-not so much to fill your emptiness as tohelp you know your fullness.A mountain needs a valley to be complete. The valley does not make themountain less, but more. And the valley is more a valley because it has amountain towering over it. So let it be with you and you.May you need one another, but not out of weakness. May you want one another,but not out of lack. May you entice one another, but not compel one another.May you embrace one another, but not out encircle one another. May yousucceed in all important ways with one another, but not out encircle oneanother. May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and notfail in the little graces. May you look for things to praise, often say, "Ilove You!" and take no notice of small faults. If you have quarrels thatpush you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take thefirst step back. May you enter into the mystery that is the awareness of oneanother's presence - no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when youare side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or evendistant cities. May you have happiness, and may you find it making oneanother happy. May you have love, and may you find it loving one another."Old Apache Blessing (Author unknown)Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter to the other. Nowyou will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Nowthere is no loneliness. You are two bodies, but there is one life beforeyou, and one home. You will take each others hand and you'll turn togetherto look at the road you traveled to reach this---the hour of your happiness.It stretches behind you and the future lies ahead. A long and winding road,whose every turn means discovery, old hopes, new laughter and shared tears.May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years,May happiness be your companion and your days together be good and long uponthe earth. The adventure has just begun!# # # # # #Irish Blessing (Traditional)May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of his hand. May green be the grass you walk on, May blue be the skies above you, May pure be the joys that surround you, May true be the hearts that love you May God be with you and bless you; May you see your children's children. May you be poor in misfortune, Rich in blessings, May you know nothing but happiness From this day forward.# # # # # #BlessingMay you never take each other for granted but always experience the wondersof your union. May your love consist not only in gazing into each other'seyes, but also in looking outward in the same direction. May your lifetogether be a source of strength and inspiration to yourselves, yourfamilies and your friends. May you never forget the beginning of your lovefor one another, take care of it, nurture it, and allow it to grow strongand firm in the years that are to come. May you always concentrate on makingeach other happy and secure in your commitment to one another and alwaysrely on your ability to keep the promises you have made to one another todaythroughout the thick and thin of life's experiences. And may you always bein love. May your love be as beautiful each day you share as it is on thisday of Your Wedding and may all of your wishes come true.# # # # # #This DayMay this day shine eternally in your lives.May it add brilliance to every achievement and cast a divine light over any misfortune.May you care for each other in all sadness.May you give cheer to each other.May you give vitality to each other in all undertakings.May all that is virtuous, beautiful and honest, remain with you always.# # # # # #AnonymousTreat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often ofwhat brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness,gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration,difficulty and fear assail your relationship - as they threaten allrelationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is rightbetween you, not only the part which seems wrong. In this way, you can rideout the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives -remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is stillthere. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your lifetogether, it will be marked by abundance and delight.# # # # # #Blessing For A Marriage - James Dillet FreemanMay your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage shouldbring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding.May you always need one another - not so much to fill your emptiness as tohelp you know your fullness. A mountain needs a valley to be complete; thevalley does not make the mountain less, but more; and the valley is more avalley because it has a mountain towering over it. So let it be with you andyou. May you need one another, but not out of weakness. May you want oneanother, but not out of lack. May you entice one another, but not compel oneanother. May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and notfail in the little graces. May you look for things to praise, often say, "Ilove you!" and take no notice of small faults. If you have quarrels thatpush you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take thefirst step back. May you enter into the mystery which is the awareness ofone another's presence - no more physical than spiritual, warm and near whenyou are side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms oreven distant cities. May you have happiness, and may you find it making oneanother happy. May you have love, and may you find it loving one another!
Dear God:Thank you for the food we share this afternoon in celebration of ______ and______ marriage.We thank you for the love, guidance and support of all the important peoplein their lives, their parents, family and friendsWe offer our gratitude for this joyful and abundant day. Please bless thosethat have worked hard to make this day a success for _______ and _______i.And, please bless this meal that we are about to share - _______ and _______first meal together as a married couple.________May their love be firm, and may their dream of life together be a riverbetween two shores--by day bathed in sunlight, and by night illuminated from within.May the heron carry news of them to the heavens, and the salmon bring thesea's blue grace.May their twin thoughts spiral upward like leafy vines, like fiddle stringsin the wind, and be as noble as the Douglas fir.May they never find themselves back to back without love pulling them aroundinto each other's arms. Amen.Adapted from a verse by James BertolinoThe Wedding Prayer can also work as a meal blessing:"The Wedding Prayer"by Robert Lewis Stevenson"Lord, behold our family here assembled. We thank you for this place in which we dwell, for the love that unites us, for the peace accorded us this day, for the hope with which we expect the morrow, for the health, the work, the food, and the bright skies that make our lives delightful; for our friends in all parts of the earth. Amen"For an after the Ceremony Blessing, I often modify a couple that are in theULC Wedding Planning book:Blessing 1:May you be blessed and sustained as you venture through theuncharted and challenging times that every relationship experiences.May you find within yourselves all that you need to nurture yourmarriage.May you continue to grow closer together with a love that growsdeeper and richer with each passing day.Blessing 2:_______ & ________, we are here today to celebrate with you, asyou declare your love for and commitment to each other. We are also here tooffer you the gift of our blessings.We wish for you love - a love that brings out the best in you,as you bring out the best in each other. One that gives you something tolean on when you need it most. And one that allows you to see each other asyou really are, reminding you why you're together.We wish for you a home - more than just a place to live, but ahaven from the pressures of the world outside your door. A place to letdown your guard, unburden yourself and know that there's someone always onyour side.Finally, we wish for you joy - a joy that makes you laugh outloud. A joy that lights your eyes and fills your soul. And a joy thatshouts to the world of your happiness with one another.All this and more we wish for you today, and every daythroughout the years of your marriage.Blessing 3:May your lives be filled with wisdom, blessed with good health,and abundant with miracles.May you eternally have your amusement, remembering how to play,and may you always see the connection that brought you together.Some additional blessings I have come across:"May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage shouldbring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding.May you always need one another-not so much to fill your emptiness as tohelp you know your fullness.A mountain needs a valley to be complete. The valley does not make themountain less, but more. And the valley is more a valley because it has amountain towering over it. So let it be with you and you.May you need one another, but not out of weakness. May you want one another,but not out of lack. May you entice one another, but not compel one another.May you embrace one another, but not out encircle one another. May yousucceed in all important ways with one another, but not out encircle oneanother. May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and notfail in the little graces. May you look for things to praise, often say, "Ilove You!" and take no notice of small faults. If you have quarrels thatpush you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take thefirst step back. May you enter into the mystery that is the awareness of oneanother's presence - no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when youare side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or evendistant cities. May you have happiness, and may you find it making oneanother happy. May you have love, and may you find it loving one another."Old Apache Blessing (Author unknown)Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter to the other. Nowyou will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other. Nowthere is no loneliness. You are two bodies, but there is one life beforeyou, and one home. You will take each others hand and you'll turn togetherto look at the road you traveled to reach this---the hour of your happiness.It stretches behind you and the future lies ahead. A long and winding road,whose every turn means discovery, old hopes, new laughter and shared tears.May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years,May happiness be your companion and your days together be good and long uponthe earth. The adventure has just begun!# # # # # #Irish Blessing (Traditional)May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of his hand. May green be the grass you walk on, May blue be the skies above you, May pure be the joys that surround you, May true be the hearts that love you May God be with you and bless you; May you see your children's children. May you be poor in misfortune, Rich in blessings, May you know nothing but happiness From this day forward.# # # # # #BlessingMay you never take each other for granted but always experience the wondersof your union. May your love consist not only in gazing into each other'seyes, but also in looking outward in the same direction. May your lifetogether be a source of strength and inspiration to yourselves, yourfamilies and your friends. May you never forget the beginning of your lovefor one another, take care of it, nurture it, and allow it to grow strongand firm in the years that are to come. May you always concentrate on makingeach other happy and secure in your commitment to one another and alwaysrely on your ability to keep the promises you have made to one another todaythroughout the thick and thin of life's experiences. And may you always bein love. May your love be as beautiful each day you share as it is on thisday of Your Wedding and may all of your wishes come true.# # # # # #This DayMay this day shine eternally in your lives.May it add brilliance to every achievement and cast a divine light over any misfortune.May you care for each other in all sadness.May you give cheer to each other.May you give vitality to each other in all undertakings.May all that is virtuous, beautiful and honest, remain with you always.# # # # # #AnonymousTreat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often ofwhat brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness,gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration,difficulty and fear assail your relationship - as they threaten allrelationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is rightbetween you, not only the part which seems wrong. In this way, you can rideout the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives -remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is stillthere. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your lifetogether, it will be marked by abundance and delight.# # # # # #Blessing For A Marriage - James Dillet FreemanMay your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage shouldbring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding.May you always need one another - not so much to fill your emptiness as tohelp you know your fullness. A mountain needs a valley to be complete; thevalley does not make the mountain less, but more; and the valley is more avalley because it has a mountain towering over it. So let it be with you andyou. May you need one another, but not out of weakness. May you want oneanother, but not out of lack. May you entice one another, but not compel oneanother. May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and notfail in the little graces. May you look for things to praise, often say, "Ilove you!" and take no notice of small faults. If you have quarrels thatpush you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take thefirst step back. May you enter into the mystery which is the awareness ofone another's presence - no more physical than spiritual, warm and near whenyou are side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms oreven distant cities. May you have happiness, and may you find it making oneanother happy. May you have love, and may you find it loving one another!
 Buddhist Prayer for PeaceBy the power and the truth of this practice,may all beings have happiness,and the causes of happiness.May all be free from sorrow,and the causes of sorrow.May all never be separatedfrom the sacred happiness which is sorrowless.And may all live in equanimity,without too much attachmentand too much aversion,And live believingin the equality of all that lives.May all beings be filled with joy and peace.May all beings everywhere,The strong and the weak,The great and the small,The mean and the powerful,The short and the long,the subtle and the gross:May all beings everywhere,Seen and unseen,Dwelling far off or nearby,Being or waiting to become:May all be filled with lasting joy.Let no one deceive another,Let no one anywhere despise another,Let no one out of anger or resentmentWish suffering on anyone at all.Just as a mother with her own lifeProtects her child, her only child, from harm,So within yourself let growA boundless love for all creatures.Let your love flow outwardthrough the universe,To its height, its depth, its broad extent,A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.Then as you stand or walk,Sit or lie down, As long as you are awake,Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;Your life will bring heaven to earth.                                                                                                    Druid Prayer for Peace
 
 Druid  Prayer For Peace =  Deep within the still centre of my being

 May I find peace.

 Silently within the quiet of the Grove

 May I share peace.

 Gently within the greater circle of humankind