Articles by Jessica Levey

A ‘wiccaning’ is the deeply joyful ritual celebration of welcoming a new Pagan into a spiritual community, with a promise and blessing to protect them against harm. The rite is also known as a ‘saining’ in some places, a word taken from the Scottish Gaelic seun and the Old Irish sén.

Learn how to get a license to marry people, which states require minister registration, how to become an ordained minister, and other requirements to officiate a wedding ceremony.

Feminist wedding vows examples & a fun wedding vows template with tips on how to write your own vows & add personal stories to your wedding ceremony script

The ancient magic of Norse runes is used in Viking weddings and other Pagan weddings and handfastings as blessing and protection. Add these runes from the Elder Futhark to your wedding altar, wedding bands, wedding swords, invitations, and day-of ceremony decor as part of a memorable marriage rite.

Raven Symone and Cardi B throw a stunning pop up wedding for two brides in celebration of National Coming Out Day on the latest episode of Cardi Tries. Read the full wedding ceremony script transcript and see what happened!

Learn how to add housekeeping announcements to a wedding ceremony, including sample scripts and examples of popular choices to share with your wedding officiant.

Viking wedding traditions to include in your marriage ceremony: wedding swords, blot ritual, Norse runes, spell casting, handfasting, cleansing, what to wear, how to officiate & more Pagan marriage rites

Curious why it's so important to fill out and file a marriage license correctly? This simple checklist for wedding officiants and couples explains expiration and return dates, who files the marriage license, where to return it, what happens if you don't file, and how to make sure the marriage is legal.

The Mormon Church opposes same-sex marriage, but a rising number of LGBT + members, including vocal Millennial and Gen Z members, could change that. A summary of Emily Kaplan’s essay for the Washington Post, and why online ordination remains so important.

Add a wine blending unity ritual to your wedding ceremony with inspiration from this personalized script, from AMM Minister Max Dovala. This script was used in Nick and Stacey’s outdoor wedding at the San Francisco Zoo this summer, planned during the COVID pandemic.

Limits to Hawaii wedding ceremony and reception sizes during COVID are some of the strictest in the country, something marriage officiants and other vendors say hurts business and can lead to dangerous rogue weddings. Gov. Ige will review their mitigation strategy proposal but restrictions remain.

In 1948, an interracial couple in California challenged the state's anti-miscegenation laws and won. The Perez v Sharp case ended a state ban on interracial marriage, and was referenced in future landmark cases, including Loving v Virginia and In re Marriage Cases, as precedent for a fundamental constitutional right to marry.