Wedding Rings are a symbol, a daily reminder of the Marriage Vows you have taken.
There are many lovely Ring Vows. Here’s a very sweet example:
Groom:
With this ring, I give you my promise
that my heart will be your shelter,
My arms your home.
We will walk together through all things.
Know that you are deeply loved.
I feel honored to henceforth call you my wife
and fortunate to forever call you my Love.
Sedona Destination Weddings has a a special Ring Blessing Tradition.
First we fill a Tibetan Bowl with water from Oak Creek. Oak Creek is considered sacred by the local tribes. I call it the Ganges of America. This then is Holy or Sacred Water.
The Wedding Rings are placed in the water at the beginning of the Ceremony. They are being cleansed and empowered with the Words of the Ceremony and the Vows of the Bride and Groom.
When it is time to exchange rings our Officiant further Blesses the Rings by ringing a bell over them and calling for a Blessing for the Marriage and for the Couple to wear these rings as a reminder of the Vows they have spoken.
After the Ceremony the Bride and Groom and all the guests take turns scooping out a bit of the Sacred Water and sprinkling it on the Rocks – giving the precious water back to the desert and as they do so saying a Blessing for the Marriage. It is a lovely way to include everyone in your Celebration.
The last of the water is given back by the Officiant with this Blessing:
MAY THE RAIN OF BLESSING FROM THIS DAY FALL ON EVERYONE.
Here is a beautiful image of a Sand Ceremony set up along Oak Creek at Red Rock Crossing.
The Sand Ceremony is a lovely element to add to your Ceremony.
You are left with a lovely souvenir of your Special Day and the Vows you spoke and the Union that you share.
I still am in awe of how perfect our wedding was, from beginning to end. There’s really a powerful combo of having time the day before the wedding with Akal to bond with the earth, the vortexes and with our spirits. It sets the stage for the wedding, and a foundation, to build upon with the connections of our spirits and energy that unites a couple in marriage… in perfect harmony.
The comments are pouring in at my blog and Facebook about how beautiful, powerful, and love filled our wedding looks in the pictures, description and video. People are saying their eyes fill up with tears or they actually weep while watching it. Just think if they had been there with us that on that mountain smack dab in the middle of vibrant, powerful, breathtaking action that only being married in Sedona can bring. I can thank Patricia, our photographer, for her energetic, giggling ways that instinctively knows when to snap the moment as if it had been rehearsed a million times. She almost seemed like another Super Hero, “Spidey Girl”; being everywhere at once click….click… finding all the tender, humorous, and big screen drama of our made for TV movie like wedding. Pinch me!! Our wedding photographs are heirlooms.
Thank you, Rev. Iala and Akal for taking our love story and turning it into a cover of a romance novel. Part of me laughs at saying that last statement, and the other part knows we asked the Universe to give us the wedding of our dreams, and then the Universe delivered it to us wrapped in turquoise skies, rich red dirt, Raven filled vistas and a couple in tune with our needs, desires and spiritual longings. Our wedding kicked it, didn’t it?! Oh man, as in Superman and Lille Lane, it sure did!
Sedona Destination Weddings also does Commitment Ceremonies.
This is a wonderful opportunity to declare and commit to your partner and your Love. This is a Ceremony where the emphasis is on your Sacred union. Each partner has an opportunity to share the depth of their feelings and state vows that are meaningful and heartfelt to their Beloved.
The Commitment Ceremony is between you and your Beloved. This is an exclusively Spiritual Union. It is a wonderful gift to each other and a fantastic celebration of Love.
We have a beautiful Sacred Union Ceremony and many Traditions such as the Salt Covenant, the Sand Ceremony, Hand Fasting, The Honey and the Rose Ceremony can be included.
I really love this Tradition.
Its based on Old Time agreements. Apparently once you gave your word on a deal you secured it by taking some salt out of you little salt pouch and putting it into the pouch of the person you were making the deal with.
You could break your word whenever you wanted – you simply had to remove your exact grains of salt from his bag of salt. Impossible.
Your Word was your Word. A vow was a vow. No breaking it.
The Salt covenant comes from this Tradition.
In the Ceremony both the Bride and groom Blend their Salt together. They use the blended salt in their daily cooking. When the salt gets low they repeat the Ceremony refilling the Salt Container and having a constant reminder of their Vows.
The actual Ceremony is as follows:
The Salt Covenant
Now you shall make a Covenant of Salt together.
During ancient times agreements and promises
were sealed by a salt covenant.
Each person would take a pinch of salt from their
pouch and place it in the pouch of the other.
This agreement could not be broken unless an
individual could retrieve their own grains of salt.
But this, of course, is impossible.
Now you have chosen to create a salt covenant with
each other at the beginning of your new life together.
The egg shape symbolizes the full cycle of life,
and therefore encompasses all that you will enjoy,
create, and love in your life together.
Bride and Groom, please now combine your two bags
of salt together in this egg.
This is a bond that can not be broken and is a symbol
of an unbreakable promise of love.
Salt is a good preservative.
It will help you remember that your love for
one another should be preserved for all time.
Salt adds flavor.
We all need a little spice in our lives.
Salt melts ice.
When your heart begins to grow cold you can
melt one another again.
Salt is easily dissolved.
You can remember to dissolve your issues
and learn to work together.
Now use this salt in your cooking until it is gone,
and each time it needs refilled, refill it together.
It is a wonderful way to remember what your
marriage is about.
I wanted to share this with you.
Our Bride and Groom on Valentine’s Day went so far as to have each others name tattoed on their arms.
The Groom said that she did hers first as a gift to him. It freaked him out at first but then he got one too and he went even bigger.
Now that’s a serious commitment!
The Sand Ceremony is a very popular Wedding Ceremony.
The different color sand in the separate vessels represents the uniqueness and the wholeness of each individual. The Bride has her vessel and the groom has his. Often if there are children involved in the new union they will have a separate vessel of their own.
The Bride and Groom each take turns holding their vessel and speaking of who they are as an individual. Their hopes and dreams and their family and history. Then the Groom has his say.
Then the couple combine their sands into a new vessel. This represents the Union of their Marriage.
When they have finished they both speak of who they are together. What their relationship means. What their shared hopes and dreams are.
The new vessel with the combined sands becomes a very special and treasured family heirloom. It is displayed in a prominent place in their new home. A daily reminder of their Vows and their Sacred Union.