Harvey Charles Huff

We are here to watch Maria (Mia) and Walt finally get hitched.

This ceremony is a very old and cherished symbolic binding of the hands that inspired such terms as the “Bonds of Holy Matrimony” and to “Tie the knot”.

Let us begin ~

May the divine powers that surround us and watch over us every day of our lives be here with us now to Bless this place, this time and we who are with you.

Mia and Walt ~ please come forward for a blessing ~

Know now before you go further, that since your souls have kissed in this life, you have formed ties between each other.

The promises made today and the ties that are bound here greatly strengthen your union; they will cross the years and lives of each soul's growth.

I ask - do you still seek to enter this ceremony?

Yes, We Seek to Enter.

Mia ~ you, my dear friend, will be a bride for one day, but you will, with God’s grace and your own hard work, be a wife to this man every day for the rest of your life.

Make your love story one worth telling. Make it one worth living, every day, as long as you both shall live.

Within you resides everything Walt shall ever need.

A faithful wife, lover, friend, prophet, and confidant.

In you is strength and wisdom, perfection, and peace.

Walt ~ you, my dear friend, will be a groom for one day, but you will, with God’s grace and your own hard work, be a husband to this woman every day for the rest of your life. Make your love story one worth telling. Make it one worth living, every day, as long as you both shall live.

Within you resides everything Mia shall ever need.

A faithful husband, lover, protector, visionary, friend, and confidant. In you is strength and wisdom, perfection, and peace.

To bind them together as one

I bid you face each other, hold hands and look into each other’s eyes

take the first cord

With the first cord of yellow, white & silver ~ and a call to the East ~ the fresh start of a new day

Mia, will you share Walt’s laughter?

Yes

Walt, will you share Mia’s laughter?

Yes

Will both of you look for the brightness in life and the positive in each other?

We Will

*First cord is draped across the bride and grooms hands*

take the second cord

With the second cord of orange, red and gold ~ and a call to the South ~ warmth of hearth and home.

Walt, will you cause Mia pain?

I may

Is that your intent?

No

Mia, will you cause Walt pain?

I may

Is that your intent?

No

*To Both*

Will you share each other's pain and seek to ease it?

We Will

*Second cord is draped across the bride and grooms hands*

take the third cord

With the third cord of blue, turquoise & silver ~ and a call to the West ~ life giving and cleansing waters of reflection and compassion.

Mia, will you share Walt’s dreams?

Yes

Walt, will you share Mia’s dreams?

Yes

*To Both*

Will you dream together to create new realities and hopes?

We Will

*Third cord is draped across the bride and grooms hands*

take the fourth cord

With the fourth cord of green, brown & gold ~ and a call to the North ~ the firm foundation of balance, wisdom, rest and recovery.

Walt, will you burden Mia?

I may

Is that your intent?

No

Mia, will you burden Walt?

I may

Is that your intent?

No

*To Both*

Will you share the burdens of each so that your spirits may grow in this union?

We Will

*Fourth cord is draped across the bride and grooms hands*

fifth cord

With the fifth cord – 3 strands of gold ~

Walt, will you cause Mia anger?

I may

Is that your intent?

No

Mia, will you cause Walt anger?

I may

Is that your intent?

No

*To Both*

Will you take the heat of anger and use it to temper the strength of this union?

We Will

*Fifth cord is draped across the bride and grooms hands*

the sixth cord

With the sixth cord - 3 strands of silver ~

Mia, will you honor Walt?

I will

Walt, will you honor Mia?

I will

*To Both*

(Whisper ~ this is the trick question)

Will you seek never to give cause to break that honor?

We shall never break this honor

*Sixth cord is draped across the bride and grooms hands*

And so this binding is made complete ~

Mia and Walt ~ as your hands are bound together now, so your lives and spirits are joined in a union of love and trust. The bond of marriage is not formed by these cords, but rather by the vows you have made.

You hold the fate of this union within your own hands. Above you are stars and below you is the earth. Like stars your love should be a constant source of light, and like the earth, a firm foundation from which to grow.

May these hands be blessed this day. May they always hold each other. May they have the strength to hang on during the storms of stress and the dark of disillusionment. May they remain tender and gentle as they nurture each other in their wondrous love.

May these hands be healer, protector, shelter, and guide for each other.

*Take the still tied cords and hand them to Harvey

Blessing of the rings

Walt and Mia ~ will you now hold out the rings.

Your hands beneath serve as a symbol of how Walt and Mia and their union are supported upon this earth by the love of their friends and family as blessed from above.

We ask that the divine bless these rings and this couple who shall wear them. Keep them safe through adversity forever supported by your eternal blessing.

The ring finger of the left hand - the side of the body that holds the heart - has been used for the wedding band for centuries because people believed that there was a vein that ran directly from that finger to the heart. They also believed that the words that were spoken during the placing of the ring would resonate over and over, like the circumference of the band itself, through to the heart and soul of both giver and receiver of the most monumental promise of all, the promise of a lifetime as husband and wife.

Pronouncement & kiss ~

Walt and Mia the strength of your own love, and the powers vested in me as a Minister of the American Marriage Ministries and the State of New York I pronounce you husband and wife!