Rituals can add a spiritual dimension to a ceremony. They can also offer an interesting cultural element. And, simply enough, they are often beautiful in their own right.
There’s nothing to stop you incorporating rituals from other cultures, if you so desire.
Your celebrant will be able to make suggestions and advise you.
So you will probably need to look at religious or pagan ritual.
I have seen quite a few in my time. Some have been included as part of fairly woo-woo services, others in a fairly conventional ceremony.
There are lots to choose from, but, judging from the services where I have officiated, here is my top three.
Handfasting
You may choose a full handfasting, which can last quite a time. It’s nature-related and features beautiful blessings and prayers, but is definitely pagan.
At a lighter level, there is partial-handfasting, which can simply consist of a brief binding of wrists accompanied by some special words.
This is a major simplification of a historic ritual, one that dates from Celtic times. Your celebrant can go into greater detail, if you want.
Sand Ceremony
This is pagan too and is a lovely ceremony that can be performed in a variety of ways. It symbolises the joining together of two families.
The essence is that sand of one colour is poured into a receptacle by a member of one family; sand of another colour is poured into it by a member of the other family. Agan, the celebrant will accompany these acts with suitable words.
Loving Cup (Quaich)
This has links to Christianity and Judaism, but is not specific to either religion and is actually Celtic.
Wine (or whatever the couple choose) is poured into a goblet. The couple usually drink three toasts – to the past, present and future.
At two weddings where I officiated, the groom took charge of the bottle and poured out extremely generous portions for himself. The effects were soon obvious, but fortunately no harm was done!
Conclusion
This blog may have given you a flavour of what rituals can achieve for you. I’d certainly urge you to go into this more deeply and consider what a ritual or two may add to your ceremony.
Of course, you can always have a chat with me for further thoughts.
photo: Jamie Dodd