Weddings By Sal
Justice of the Peace in Ct, Ma, R.I, & New York
Sal Fiore
Box, Wine & Love Letter
"Groom & Bride”, I have asked you as a couple, to find a strong wooden box that will hold a bottle of wine and two glasses. In addition, I have asked each of you to write a letter to one another, expressing your thoughts about the good qualities that you have found in your future partner, as well as, your reasons for falling in love with each other.
I requested that under no condition were you to read each other’s letter, and that you were to seal them in individual envelopes and put them in the box with the wine and glasses."
"Groom and Bride”, since we all are aware that today is one of the most important days of your life, we realize that your Love will expand and grow and as that will transpire, I ask that you both visualize a significant future occasion.
At that time, I ask that you both, as a couple, open that box, sip some wine together, and then read the letters that you wrote to one another when you were united as a couple. By reading these love letters, you will reflect upon the reasons that you fell in love with each other in the first place.
The hope here is, that your Love will continue to grow and develop. Also, that Significant future occasion will have more purpose that just another day in your lives.
That significant occasion will in reality turn out to be-- “” THE CELEBRATION OF YOUR 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY””.
"Groom and Bride”, I now ask that Bride take the lock and place it into the box and that Groom lock the box shut.
Unity Candle Ceremony
(At the beginning of the Ceremony, The Officiant Greets the People and states the following.)
“ As we gather here today for this special occasion, we ask that ____ and ____ to please come forward to light the 2 outer candles that will later in the Ceremony, represent Groom and Bride in becoming one in Commitment.
(The two people to come forward would represent the Groom's and the Bride's side with lighting the 2 candles based on how they are standing.)
(This is said after the exchange of rings and before being pronounced Man & Wife.)
Groom and Bride, would you please take the flame from the outer candles and light the Unity Candle.
(This is the cue for the Groom & Bride to move to the table for the Unification.)
Groom and Bride, The two separate candles symbolize your separate lives, separate families and separate sets of friends. As you each light the Unity Candle with your flame. This action represents that your two lives are now joined into one light, and also merges your families and friends into one.
Sand Ceremony
Groom and Bride, You have just sealed your Relationship by the giving and receiving of Rings. This Covenant is a relationship pledge between two people who agree that they will commit themselves to one another throughout their lives. The most beautiful example of this partnership is the Marriage Relationship. You have committed here today to share the rest of your lives with each other.
Today, this relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these 2 individual containers of sand. One, representing you Groom and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be. And the other representing you Bride, and all that you were , and all that you are and all that you will ever be.
As these 2 containers are poured into the 3rd container, the individual containers will no longer exist, but will be joined together as one. Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your Marriage and your Family merge together as one.
**** A very popular choice among couples that may be merging their families or want to include a child and/or young adult in their Ceremony. ****
Blessing Stone
Shell Ceremony
For those couples who are looking for a unique addition to their wedding ceremony, the Blessing Stones / Blessing Shells is a great way to capture your guests’ heartfelt love for you. The Blessing Stones / Shells is a beautiful unity ceremony that includes everyone who is in attendance at your wedding. The Bowl of Blessings will serve as a beautiful, lasting reminder of the love and support given you on your special day!
(Each guest is given a small polished stone or seashell upon arriving, either personally by a designated attendant, or by placing a stone / shell on each guest’s chair.)
BRIDE and GROOM, before you met, your lives were on different paths with different destinations. But love has brought you together and joined these separate paths into one.
Each one of your friends and family here today have been given a small polished stone / shell, that represents their unique individuality and their presence at your wedding today.
I will now ask that everyone please take out the stone / shell you have been given and pause for a moment to make a wish or blessing for happiness and good will for GROOM and BRIDE and the future of their marriage. (Everyone pauses to make their wish.)
Following the ceremony, GROOM and BRIDE invite you to place the stone / shell into the Bowl of Blessings with your personal blessing for them as husband and wife. As the stones / shells are combined with love into one container, so now are your friends and family joined, through you, into one. And your once solitary life’s paths are also now one. All that was once separate is now shared, and in this sharing you both will find new strength and joy as together you forge a new life’s path and destination.
Place a bowl filled with Blessing Stones where guests enter and exit the seating area. Each guest receives a Blessing Stone as they enter your ceremony. An designated assistant can help give out one Stone to each guest (they need not explain the stone)… OR, you could place a Blessing Stone on each wedding chair.
During the ceremony, guests will be advised by the officiant to transfer their good wishes for the couple to the stone.
Following the reading or as guests leave the service, the stones are placed back into your Bowl of Blessings.
Rose Ceremony
The Rose Ceremony is simple yet profoundly moving. The bride and groom exchange two roses, symbolizing the giving and receiving of their love for each other throughout their entire married life. The Rose Ceremony also conveys how to use the rose and its symbolism in difficult times in order to forgive each other.
"Your gift to each other for your wedding today has been your wedding rings - which shall always be an outward demonstration of your vows of love and respect; and a public showing of your commitment to each other.
You now have what remains the most honorable title which may exist between a man and a woman - the title of "husband" and "wife". For your first gift as husband and wife, that gift will be a single rose.
In the past, the rose was considered a symbol of love and a single rose always meant only one thing - it meant the words "I love you." So it is appropriate that for your first gift - as husband and wife - that gift would be a single rose.
(2 Roses are handed to the Bride and Groom)
Bride and Groom !! Please exchange your first gift as husband and wife. In some ways it seems like you have not done anything at all. Just a moment ago you were holding one small rose - and now you are holding one small rose. In some ways, a marriage ceremony is like this. In some ways, tomorrow is going to seem no different than yesterday. But in fact today, just now, you both have given and received one of the most valuable and precious gifts of life - one I hope you always remember - the gift of true and abiding love within the devotion of marriage.
Groom & Bride, I would ask that where ever you make your home in the future - whether it be a large and elegant home - or a small and graceful one - that you both pick one very special location for roses; so that on each anniversary of this truly wonderful occasion you both may take a rose to that spot both as a recommitment to your marriage - and a recommitment that THIS will be a marriage based upon love.
In every marriage there are times where it is difficult to find the right words for some intricate occasions. If this should happen, if you simply can not find these words, leave a rose at that spot which both of you have selected - for that rose then says what matters most of all and should overpower all other things and all other words.
That rose says the words: "I still love you." The other should accept this rose for the words which cannot be found, and remember the love and hope that you both share today.
Groom & Bride, if there is anything you remember of this marriage ceremony, it is that it was love that brought you here today, it is only love which can make it a glorious union, and it is by love which your marriage shall endure."
Empty Box & Love Letter Ceremony
Most people get married believing a myth that marriage is a 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 that 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.
"Groom and Bride, I have asked you as a couple, to find an empty box to bring before us. I have also asked each of you to write a letter to one another, expressing your thoughts about the good qualities that you have found in your future partner, as well as, your reasons for falling in love with each other.
I have requested that under no condition were you to read each other’s letter, and that you were to seal them in individual envelopes and put them into the empty box."
"Groom and Bride, while today is one of the most important days of your relationship and life, I ask that you both visualize a significant future occasion.
When that occasion arrives, I ask that you both, as a couple, open that box, and then read the letters that you wrote to one another when you were united as a couple.
The hope here is, that the box that started as empty will now hold not only your letters but also the ingredients used to grow and flourish your love and commitment to each other.
Also, that significant future occasion will in reality turn out to be the Celebration of your 5 Year Anniversary!!
Groom & Bride will now place their letters into that Box and latch the box shut.
Tying the Knot
Groom and Bride have just sealed their relationship with the giving and receiving of rings. Today their relationship is further symbolized by the tying of a fisherman’s knot; a true lovers knot, for it is the strongest there is; its bond will not break, becoming ever stronger under pressure.
Groom and Bride, will you please tie this knot? ~(couple begin tying the knot)
These two cords represent your past; each of you as individuals and the unique and special gifts you bring to your marriage.
As you fasten your pieces together, these actions represent the present; this moment when you join your two lives into one common purpose. The completed knot represents your future, secure in the knowledge your relationship will continue to be strong despite the inevitable changes life brings.
Although the fisherman's knot is one of the simplest to tie, it is also one of the sturdiest. As stress is applied, the knot becomes ever stronger.
It is the goal of marriage to achieve a blending of hearts and lives, but like the spaces between these cords formed by the knot, let there also be spaces in your new life together, so each may encourage and nurture the individual growth of the other.
I ask that you know pull on this rope to see it strengthen under pressure while still allowing us to see the individual cords ~ just as your support of one another as beautiful and blessed individuals strengthens your union. ~(pull on the rope together)
As you hold one another in mutual concern and shared respect, may you continue holding each other tightly in your hearts and form a strong bond, now and forever. Let this knot indicate the strength of your love and be a symbol of your unity from this day forward.
Wine Ceremony
“Groom and Bride, into this cup has been poured both sweet and sour wine. The sweet is said to be the joy of life, the bitter is said to be the sorrow of life.
As these two wines have been mixed in this cup, so will the joy and sorrow be mixed in your life. As you drink from this cup, remember that as you share your lives, you will also share the joys and sorrows that come to one or both of you, each in their turn.
As you together partake in this cup of wine, remember that your union is meant to strengthen you in the sorrowful times and that from one another you may draw contentment, comfort and joy from the cup of life.
Thereby may you find life’s joy doubly gladdened, it’s bitterness sweetened and all things allowed by true companionship and love.
Breaking the Glass
Breaking of the Glass is done at the very end of the Ceremony for those with a Jewish heritage.
To honor Groom's Jewish Heritage, Groom and Bride have chosen to “break the glass.”
The breaking of glass at the end of a wedding ceremony serves to remind us of a very important aspect of a marriage.
It reminds us that these marriage vows are as permanent and final as the breaking of this glass is unchangeable. Knowing that this marriage is permanent, Groom and Bide, should strive to show each other the love and respect befitting their spouse and love of their life.
In Hebrew, Mazel tov translates to Congratulations!!
So, on my count of 3, Groom will break the glass and we will all shout Mazel tov!
(Place Glass on the Ground)
1--- 2--- 3 !!!!! Crunch !! All shout: Mazel tov!!
Handfasting
Ladies and Gentlemen, There are many versions of a hand fasting and tradition does explain that hand fasting is an Old Celtic Tradition were the term “ Tying the knot” originated.
Groom and Bride have decided to include this version of a hand fasting within their Ceremony as a symbol of their love for each other.
Groom and Bride: Please place your hands palm up so that you both may see the gift that your hands are to each of you and would you please join them!!
Officiant then places the handfasting rope around the hands and wrists to “join” the couple.
“These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future. These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish
you through the years, and with the slightest touch, will comfort you like no other.
These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears form your eyes; tears of sorrow, and tears of joy.
These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.
These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one.
These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.
And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with
just a touch.
With this cord, I bind Groom and Bride to the vows they make to each other.
The knots of this binding are not formed by this cord, but by your vows.
You hold in your hands and hearts the making of this union.
May your marriage be blessed with patience and dedication, forgiveness and respect, love and understanding.
Hourglass Sand Ceremony
We have all joined here on this day to witness Groom and Bride join their lives and become Husband and Wife.
What better way to symbolize this union than to share a gift that displays growth and a life shared with someone you love so deeply?
This gift for your Wedding Day will become a cherished heirloom that can be passed on for generations to come and will always symbolize your love for each other.
In a matter of minutes you will have what remains the most honorable title which may exist between a man and a woman - the title of Husband and Wife.
Please accept this gift. (Here the Officiant or a Guest hands the Hourglass to the couple)
The couple each pours their sand into the hourglass, seal it with the closure and the sand begins to flow.
In some ways, tomorrow will seem to be no different than yesterday. But today, you both have given and received one of the most valuable and precious gifts of life - one I hope you will always remember - the gift of true love felt for each other on this first day of the rest of your new life together.
Groom and Bride, I ask that wherever you make your home now and in the future - whether it be large and elegant or small and modest - that you both pick one special place for this hourglass and on every anniversary, may you turn it over together and watch the sand flow through it and remember how you felt for one another on this, your wedding day, and how your love will continue to grow.
In every part of life, there are challenges and in every marriage there are times to find the right words for some intricate occasions. If this should happen and you can not find the right words, simply turn that hourglass over in that place you have selected. Then look to the sand flowing through the hourglass - for that hourglass says with its memories what matters most of all.
This hourglass will bring you back to this very moment in time when you first filled it together and will say the words that were hard to find. This hourglass says the words “I still love you.”
Groom and Bride, as you think back and remember this marriage ceremony, always remember that it was love that brought you here today, it is only love which will make it a perfect marriage, and it is only by true love that your marriage shall last forever
Wedding Vase Ceremony
Justin and Tessa have decided to include the unique Wedding Vase Ceremony as part of their celebration. You both are displaying your profound love for each other andI ask that each of you drink from this vessel as a symbol of the two individuals whose lives are becoming one.
Justin and Tessa, as you share this wine from two spouts, may each of you share contentment, comfort and happiness from the common cup of your marriage.
May you find life’s joys great, its bitterness sweetened and all things enriched by your companionship and love.
Justin and Tessa, if there is anything you remember of this marriage ceremony, it is that it was love that brought you here today, it is only love which can make it a glorious union, and it is by love which your marriage shall endure."
Unity Glass Ceremony
Bride & Groom have decided to include a very unique Unity Glass Ceremony. This will represent the beautiful joining of two families and leaves the new united family with a visual Unity Glass keepsake reminder of the commitment that has been made.”
Bride & Groom !! You have just sealed your relationship by your vows. This Covenant is a relationship pledge between two people who agree that they will commit themselves to one another throughout their lives.
The most beautiful example of this partnership is the Marriage Relationship.
Your relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these individual containers of crystals; one, representing you Bride, your family, and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be.
And the other representing you, Groom, your family, and all that you were and all that you are, and all that you will ever be.
Also included on this fine day is ____ and he/she represents the beautiful new family that has been created with him.
As you now combine your crystals together you are symbolizing the uniting of the two families into one.
Just as the glistening crystals can never be separated and poured again into individual vessels, so will your marriage and new family be forever one.