Blessing of the Marriage 1
Before I pronounce you husband and wife, I have just one more thing I want you to do.
Your wedding day is one that seems to fly.
It’s a day filled with emotion, friends, rings and dances.
Many people remember how fleeting their own wedding day was.
So I want you to take a few seconds to look onto each other’s eyes.
Think about the happiness that you’re feeling in this place, in this moment.
Really let that feeling register in your heart and your mind.
Now, I want you to think about your life together in twenty years.
Where are you?
What are you doing?
We all know that your visions of the future are not identical, but always complementary.
John Lennon once said, “a dream you dream alone is only a dream.
A dream you dream together, that is reality.”
And for BRIDE and GROOM, that reality starts now.
Blessing of the Marriage 2
Remember that your love is the basis for this marriage; desire nothing else, fear nothing else and allow your love to blossom into what love was meant to be.
Allow for spaces in your time together, giving each other room to grow.
Love one another; allow that love to be a source of strength, which feeds your soul.
Fill one another’s cup, but drink each from your own.
Share your bread, but have each your own slice.
Sing and dance together, but remember that though you may move together, you each must dance your own steps.
None of us knows what the future will bring . . . the important thing is to live today to the fullest and face tomorrow with the certainty that you can accept and handle what it brings.
Blessing of the Marriage 3
May your love be one based on freedom.
For though our hands may touch, it’s our hearts that hold.
When you hold love within your heart, you radiate a light, which shall brighten all the days of your life and beyond.
Everything we truly love becomes a part of us forever.
So take your time with each other. Let your love’s seed grow and mature with the seasons, to provide you with warmth, serenity, joy and acceptance throughout all the years of your marriage.
Love is not a wall; it is a bridge.
Love does not confine; it sets you free.
It leads, as a pathway, winding, to places unknown and mysterious.
With love to light the way, you can meet any challenge, together.
Blessing of the Marriage 4
Go into the world and fulfill your dreams.
Love, support, and help one another as you grow.
Seek out opportunities to be good to each other.
May the seeds of your love, now planted in marriage, continue to grow.
May your life together be as a pebble dropped in a pond — an example of love and unity spread outward to your family, your friends and to the wider circle of the world.
Blessing of the Marriage 5
BRIDE and GROOM, you came here today, in the presence of family and friends, to express your love for, and commitment to each other. Your lives are forever changed.
Now, you can face your fears, for you each will be strength to the other.
Now, you can brave the wind, for you each will be shelter to the other.
Now, you can reap the rewards, for you each will be partner to the other.
Now though you are two bodies, there is one life before you.
And there, in that life, may you always find love.
Blessing of the Marriage 6
May you be blessed by God.
May you be touched by angels.
May your hearts stay full, your spirits stay connected, and may you love long and happily in one another’s arms.
Blessing of the Marriage 7
May every desire you have for your Holy Union be fulfilled.
May you be given the mindfulness to clearly behold one another, the Truth with which to perceive each other most genuinely, and the endless generosity of spirit necessary to nourish one another’s soul and sweetly keep the promises you make here today.
May the lifelong joining of your hearts and minds continue to show you your purpose and may you always be brought most beautifully and steadfastly into the presence of yourselves and of one another living long and happily, fulfilling all that you are.
Blessing of the Marriage 8
Each day of your life together,
May the sun rise on new joys and new treasures
To discover with each other.
And each evening,
May it set peacefully on a world made bright and beautiful by the love you share.
Blessing of the Marriage 9
From this day forward, may you live together in peace; may you grow each day in understanding and compassion.
When you are apart, may you return to one another in togetherness.
May the home you establish be a place of sanctuary, where many will find a friend.
Blessing of the Marriage 10
This marriage is complete. Where there were two, there is now one.
Closing words are often the hardest. One never knows where one will find them. To begin, here’s a wedding toast from Africa…
Through others, we are someone.
Through this marriage, we broaden our family circle, we remember our heritage and recall those who gave us life.
We call upon our ancestors, the foundations of our families, immortalized in our thoughts.
We call upon our elders, whose wisdom we seek in all endeavors, our friends, whom we are blessed to have in our lives and our parents, who have guided us along the road to adulthood.
We call upon those who have passed over and could not be here today, and we call upon the bride and groom, that they may always find prosperity in love and devotion.
We ask that children bless this couple, because children give glory to a home.
Therefore we cast a libation to the North, to the South, to the East and to the West.
And we wish everyone to leave more blessed than when they came.
Amen.
Blessing of the Marriage 11
Aware now that there is one Presence and Power, and that we are each part of that Divine unity, we now join in blessing BRIDE and GROOM as they begin their lives together.
We recognize that the presence of Spirit within them enables them to fulfill the promise of true partnership in life.
We know and affirm that life in joy and love.
Blessing of the Marriage 12
May the lifelong joining of your hearts and minds continue to show you your purpose and may you always be brought most beautifully and steadfastly into the presence of yourselves and of one another living long and happily, fulfilling all that you are.
Blessing of the Marriage 13
GROOM AND BRIDE I would ask that you always treat yourself and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together today.
Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your marriage deserves.
When frustration and difficulty assail your marriage – as they do to every relationship at one time or another – focus on what still seems right between you, not only the part that seems wrong.
This way, when clouds of trouble hide the sun in your lives and you lose sight of it for a moment, you can remember that the sun is still there.
And if each of you will take responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and happiness.
Blessing of the Marriage 14
Treat yourself and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together.
Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves.
When frustration, difficulties and fear assail your relationship, as they threaten all relationships at one time or another, remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part that seems wrong.
In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives — remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there.
And if each of you will take responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.
Blessing of the Marriage 15
To make your relationship work will take love.
This is the core of your marriage and why you are here today.
It will take trust, to know, that in your hearts, you truly want what is best for each other.
It will take dedication, to stay open to one another – and to learn and grow together.
It will take faith, to go forward together, without knowing exactly what the future brings.
And it will take commitment, to hold true to the journey you both have pledged to today.
Blessing of the Marriage 16
We give thanks for life, for health, for all that sustains us, and for this joyous day. We honor the mystery and wonder in Creation’s every breath. We praise human being: its yearning for tomorrow’s wine, and for the taste of this morning’s bread.
We celebrate the divine energy that pours through our separate selves and makes us one. We sing of these friends, whose life renews itself in their communion of body and mind and heart.
We pray that joy be found in earth’s four corners. Justice, freedom, laughter, truth; peace, and love, and hope — may the human heritage become, at last, the human way.
Blessing of the Marriage 17
It was love that brought you here today. It’s love that makes your’s a glorious union. And it will be love that makes your marriage endure.
Love has given you wings, and your journey begins today. Wherever the wind may carry you, you will stay by each other’s side.
I therefore join with everyone gathered here today in extending to you our love and support, and our wish for your relationship to just simply flourish and grow throughout a long and happy life together.
Blessing of the Marriage 18
May your lives be filled with wisdom, blessed with good health, and abundant with miracles.
May you eternally have your amusement, remembering how to play, and may you always see the connection that brought you both together.
Blessing of the Marriage 19
BRIDE and GROOM, we are here today to celebrate with you, as you declare your love for and commitment to each other.
We are also here to offer you the gift of our blessings.
We wish for you love — a love that brings out the best in you, as you bring out the best in each other.
One that gives you something to lean on when you need it most.
And one that allows you to see each other as you really are, reminding you why you’re together.
We wish for you a home — more just a place to live, but a haven from the pressures of the world outside your door.
A place to let down your guard, unburden yourself and know that there’s someone always on your side.
Finally, we wish for you joy — a joy that makes you laugh out loud.
A joy that lights your eyes and fills your soul.
And a joy that shouts to the world of your happiness with one another.
All this and more we wish for you today, and every day throughout the years of your marriage.
Blessing of the Marriage 20
May you be blessed and sustained as you venture through the uncharted and challenging times that every relationship experiences.
May you find within yourselves all that you need to nurture your marriage.
May you continue to grow closer together with a love that grows deeper and richer with each passing day.
Blessing of the Marriage 21
The Spirit moves in each of our lives.
What shall we call it?
God, Christ, the Universe, the Higher Self, a Higher Power?
We call it by different names, or we may not know what to call it.
We get glimpses of Spirit as we go though our day-to-day lives.
At times we are lifted above the mundane to see and sense the sacred clearly.
May today be one of those times, when Spirit is present and clearly felt, when we’re lifted out of our daily concerns and for a moment held in the embrace of a higher awareness.
Blessing of the Marriage 22
May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring,
And may life grant you patience, tolerance, and understanding.
May you always need one another — not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you know your fullness.
May you need one another, but not out of weakness.
May you want one another, but not out of lack.
May you entice one another but not compel one another.
May you embrace one another, without smothering.
May you succeed in the important ways with one another, and excel in the little graces.
May you look for things to praise, often say ‘I love you’, and take ignore any small faults.
If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you have good sense enough to take the first step back.
May you enter into the mystery that is the awareness of one another’s presence — no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when you are side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or even distant cities.
May you have love, and may you find it loving one another.
Blessing of the Marriage 23
May there be truth and understanding between you.
May you enjoy length of days, fulfillment of hopes, and peace and contentment of mind.
May God bless you and keep you always.
Amen
Blessing of the Marriage 24
BRIDE and GROOM have come a long way. From (insert reference to how the couple met), to declaring their devotion to each other today.
Theirs is a continuing journey.
It will not always be easy.
They will face challenges, trials, and hardships, as we all do.
But their union is strong and vital.
Their task now is to find joy in seeing each other constantly blossoming, to find exhilaration in change and purpose in the new roads traveled, no matter what direction is taken.
They are explorers, these two.
And the strength of their marriage is a strength that celebrates every minute of life, as well as the living mystery of their love.
Blessing of the Marriage 25
May every desire you have for your Holy Union be fulfilled.
May you be given the mindfulness to clearly behold one another, the Truth with which to perceive each other most genuinely, and the endless generosity of spirit necessary to nourish one another’s soul and sweetly keep the promises you make here today.
Blessing of the Marriage 26
Aware now that there is one Presence and Power, and that we are each part of that Divine unity, we now join in blessing BRIDE and GROOM as they begin their lives together.
We recognize that the presence of Spirit within them enables them to fulfill the promise of true partnership in life.
We know and affirm that life in joy and love.
Blessing of the Marriage 27
Bless their marriage, O God, as they begin their journey down the road of life together.
We don’t know what lies ahead for the road turns and bends.
But help them to make the best of whatever comes their way.
Help them to continue to enjoy each other as they did when they first met.
Help them to realize that nothing nor no one is perfect and to look for the good in all things and all people including themselves.
Help them to respect each other’s likes and dislikes, opinions and beliefs, hopes and dreams and fears even though they may not always understand them.
Help them to learn from each other and to help each other to grow mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Help them to realize that no matter what happens to them they will hold on to each other and know that things have a way of working out for the good.
Help them to create for their children a peaceful, stable home of love as a foundation on which they can build their lives.
But most of all, dear God, help them to keep lit the torch of love’ that they now share so that by their loving example they may pass on the light of love to their children and to their children’s children forever.
Amen.
Blessing of the Marriage 28
Bride and Groom, you now have the opportunity for expressing through your union and partnership, God’s glory, love and healing.
How could this be?
Through devotion and service to each other.
Through patience, kindness, total acceptance of each other, tempered by the willingness to change.
You will be tempted, as time goes by, to take for granted the love which today seems so precious and dear, to speak to and treat each other in ways that do not reflect the highest good in both of you.
Resist it.
Promise to always see the goodness in your partner, even when it’s especially difficult.
God will provide you the way, if you are willing.
He is the key to your success as a married couple.
Call on Him devotedly and consistently to guide your thinking and bless your home.
May this marriage be to you a heavenly sanctuary.
God bless you.
Blessing of the Marriage 29
May God’s blessings rest upon you, may God’s peace abide with you, and may God’s presence illuminate your hearts, now and forevermore.
Amen.
Blessing of the Marriage 30
May the Peace that passes all understanding be yours now and forevermore.
Blessing of the Marriage 31
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
Blessing of the Marriage 32
The two of you are now joined in one unbroken circle.
Wherever you go, may you always return to one another in your togetherness.
May you two find in each other the love for which all men and women long.
May you grow in understanding and in compassion.
May the home that you establish be such a place of sanctuary that all who visit will find there a friend.
And may the Lord bless you and keep you forevermore.
Amen.
Blessing of the Marriage 33
The Irish Wedding Blessing
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon the fields.
May the light of friendship guide your paths together.
May the laughter of children grace the halls of your home.
May the joy of living for one another trip a smile from your lips, a twinkle from your eye.
And when eternity beckons,
at the end of a life heaped high with love,
May the good Lord embrace you
with the arms that have nurtured you
the whole length of your joy-filled days.
Blessing of the Marriage 34
May you always share with each other the gifts of love and be one in heart and always beautiful of mind.
And may you always create a home together that puts in your hearts, love, generosity and kindness.
Blessing of the Marriage 35
We rejoice in the grace of this moment of giving and receiving of the heart, of the miracle of love expressed on earth.
May these two loving people be a blessing and inspiration to each other and to all those close to them.
May they share each other’s joys, sorrows, achievements and dreams in their life’s adventure and journey together.
May their sensitivity and understanding for one another deepen, and may they nurture and support one another through all growth and all challenges.
May they maintain and strengthen their respect and honor for each other’s individuality while holding in their hearts the truth and the power of this union.
May patience and understanding be theirs in vast resources to call upon, and may forgiveness always be a natural expression of their love for each other and for all those in their lives.
We now ask a blessing of happiness upon BRIDE and GROOM, and may they share their happiness with all those whose lives they touch.
Blessing of the Marriage 36
BRIDE and GROOM, may this be the love that you bring into this relationship and may its essence touch all those with whom you come in contact.
Just as the waters touch and nourish the many shores of the earth, may your love be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Love enriches each part of life and marriage enriches love.
Your lives, shared in love, can hold more fulfillment and happiness than either life alone.
Love is the reason this day was chosen by you to begin you lives together and love is the reason you will give with all your hearts for the good of each other.
Love is the reason that together you will become one; one in hope; one in believing; one in sharing the coming years.
Blessing of the Marriage 37
BRIDE and GROOM, if there is anything you remember of this marriage ceremony, may it be the love that brought you here today.
It is only love which can make it a glorious union, and by love which your marriage shall endure.
Today your separate lives with your individual memories, desires, and hopes merge into one.
You are now taking into your care and keeping the happiness of the one person in the entire world whom you love above all others.
You are adding to your life not only the affection of each other, but also the companionship and blessing of a deep trust as well.
You are agreeing to share strength, responsibilities and to share love.
May you be a blessing and comfort to each other, sharers of each others dreams, conscience of each other’s sorrows, helpers to each other in all of life’s challenges.
May you encourage each other in whatever you set out to achieve.
May you trust each other, trust life and be unafraid.
May you love each other and offer love and support to those around you.
May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you patience, tolerance, and understanding.
Blessing of the Marriage 38
You have promised your love to each other, formalizing the existence of the bond between you, and you have exchanged vows and symbols of love before God and this community.
From now on each of your will see your own experiences in a new light as your life together unfolds.
May you have courage to love each other and all others on this earth, not only as you are now but as you are yet to be.
Let all others honor your decision.
Blessing of the Marriage 39
BRIDE and GROOM,
God bless you and guide you in your faithful commitment to one another.
God defend you and shelter you in your tender love for one another.
God uphold you in all life’s challenges, and shower you with all life’s rewards,
That you always find strength and delight in each other, and grow in love until your life’s end. Amen.
Blessing of the Marriage 40
May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance and understanding.
May you always need one another not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness.
A mountain needs a valley to be complete; the valley does not make the mountain less, but more; and the valley is more a valley because it has a mountain towering over it.
So let it be with you and you.
May you need one another, but not out of weakness.
May you want one another, but not out of lack.
May you entice one another, but not compel one another.
May you embrace one another, but not encircle one another.
May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces.
May you look for things to praise, often say, “I love you!” and take no notice of small faults.
If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take
the first step back.
May you enter into the mystery which is the awareness of one another’s presence no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when you are side by side,
and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or even distant cities.
May you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy.
May you have love, and may you find it loving one another!
Thank You, God, for Your presence here with us and Your blessing on this marriage.
Amen.
Blessing of the Marriage 41
Father our hearts are filled with great happiness.
This is BRIDE and GROOM’s wedding day.
They come before you, pledging their lives and their hearts to one another.
Grant that they may be ever true and loving, living together in such a way as to never bring heartache into their marriage.
Temper their hearts with kindness and help them to be sweethearts, helpmates, friend and guide, and together, may they meet the cares and problems of life more bravely.
Let them remember the value of each other as individuals, and never take each other for granted.
And as time takes away their youthful charm, may they find contentment in the greater joys of rich companionship.
May their home truly be a place of love and harmony where your spirit is ever present.
Bless their wedding day, we pray, and walk beside them, through all their life together.
May their love continue through life and finally blend in the life eternal. Amen
Blessing of the Marriage 42
Holy Father, Creator of the Universe, maker of man and woman in your likeness, source of blessing for married life, we humbly pray to You for BRIDE and GROOM who today are united in this sacrament of marriage.
May Your fullest blessing come upon them so that they may together rejoice in Your gift of married love.
BRIDE and GROOM, may you reach old age in the company of your friends, and come at last to the kingdom of heaven.
Amen
Blessing of the Marriage 43
Most gracious God, by the power of your Holy Spirit, pour out the abundance of your blessing upon BRIDE and GROOM.
Defend them from every enemy.
Lead them into all peace.
Let their love for each other be a seal upon their hearts, a mantle about their shoulders, and a crown upon their foreheads.
Bless them in their work and in their companionship; in their sleeping and in their waking; in their joys and in their sorrows; in their life and in their death.
Blessing of the Marriage 44
Blessed by you, Life-Spirit of the universe, who makes a distinction between holy and not yet holy, between light and dark, between committed and uncommitted, between common goals and personal goals, between love and aloneness.
Blessed by You who distinguishes, BRIDE and GROOM begin their marriage tonight.
Bless them in their work and in their companionship, in their sleeping and in their waking, in their joys and in their sorrows; in their lives and in their deaths.
As they become bound more closely to each other, may they also be more surely themselves.
Let their love for each other be a seal upon their hearts and a sign of Your high love. In beauty, they walk, with beauty before them, with beauty behind them , they walk.
With beauty below and above them, in the beauty about them they walk.
It is finished in beauty.
Amen
Blessing of the Marriage 45
Let us pray.
Faithful Lord, we thank you for the love and joy Karen and Roy have found in each other.
Pour down your grace that they may fulfill the vows they have made this day and reflect your steadfast love in their faithfulness to each other.
May they continue to grow in wisdom, understanding, patience, respect, affection, and love toward you, toward each other, and toward the world.
Use us to support them in their promises and life together. Grant that all married persons witnessing these vows may find their lives strengthened and their loyalties confirmed.
Enrich all families making them a sign of the fulfillment of your perfect kingdom, where, with your Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, you live and reign, one God through all ages of ages.
Amen.
Blessing of the Marriage 46
Numbers 6:24-26 (NKJV)
The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you, 
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, 
And give you peace.
Blessing of the Marriage 47
St. Theresa’s Prayer:
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly
where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you..
May you be content knowing you are a child of God….
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.
Amen.
Blessing of the Marriage 48
May all that you are, always be in love; may all that is love, always be in you.
May your love be as beautiful on each day you share as it is on this day of celebration.
And may each day you share be as precious to you as the day when you first fell in love.
May you always see and encourage the best in each other.
May the challenges life brings your way make your marriage even stronger.
And may you always be each other’s best friend and greatest love.
Blessing of the Marriage 49
Our Heavenly Father, we ask Your blessing upon these two lives and the home they are establishing today.
May the love they have for each other grow deeper and stronger because of their love for You.
Lord, You guided them to each other, now guide them in this new journey as husband and wife.
As they walk down this path, light their way so they may keep their eyes focused on Your will, their hands holding fast to Your truth, their feet firmly planted in Your Word, and their hearts bound together by Your love. This we pray in Your name. Amen.
Blessing of the Marriage 50
Dear Lord, we pray that You will bless this man and this woman as they begin their new journey together.
In all the experiences of life, may they always stay close to You and to each other as they share the joys and blessings, as well as the trials and heartaches.
Help them to honor and keep the promises made here today.
Remind them daily of Your great love for them so they, in turn, may reach out in love to others.
Give them such love and devotion that each may be to the other a strength in need, a comfort in sorrow, a counselor in difficulty, and a companion in joy.
Amen.
Blessing of the Marriage 51
May your marriage be blessed with faith for the future. May your hearts be filled with the happiness of hope.
May your lives be enlightened with an everlasting love.
May God grant you a new beginning as He opens the door to life’s deepest and richest experiences.
May the life you build together be a lasting testimony that a second chance is for those who never give up believing in the power of faith, hope, and love.
Blessing of the Marriage 52
May God bless this marriage and family as they create a new home together.
A family is a circle of strength and love.
With every birth and every union, the circle grows.
May every joy shared add love to the circle, and may every crisis faced together make the circle even stronger.
May this family become like a beautiful rainbow as each color of their lives is carefully blended together with both the showers and the sunshine of God’s love.
Blessing of the Marriage 53
Dearest God, I ask that you bless and sanctify this union of these souls, BRIDE and GROOM.
As they live in Your love, awake and asleep, at work and at play, and as they seek Your wisdom and understanding, let them find all of those secret joys You have especially for them.
Amen.
