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~12 minute ceremony
The salt covenant, which is a version of the unity candle ceremony, is a symbolically rich practice. This wedding script incorporates the salt covenant into the wedding ceremony, which can be customized or printed and used right away. The act symbolizes the coming together of two people and the formation of a new union and family. The linked vessel represents the union of the hopes, dreams, and ideals of the couple.
Introduction/Welcome/Wedding Sermon
Officiant (to guests):
Welcome! _______________ and _______________ and have gathered us here for a joyous occasion and a cause for tremendous celebration. They've created the kind of relationship that will serve them well as the foundation for their marriage. They have picked each of you to be here with them as they exchange wedding vows and join their lives together.
Officiant (to couple):
_______________ and _______________, your marriage will take more than love. It will take trust, dedication, and faith. These qualities are not a destination, but a journey. Marriage is a balancing act between two personalities, a blending of two qualities which diminishes neither but enhances both.
Reading
Officiant (to guests):
“Love is an adventure and a conquest. It survives and develops like the universe itself only by perpetual discovery. The only right love is that between couples whose passion leads them both, one through the other, to a higher possession of their being. Put your faith in the spirit which dwells between the two of you. You have each offered yourself to the other as a boundless field of understanding, of enrichment, of mutually increased sensibility. You will meet above all by entering into and constantly sharing one another’s thoughts, affections, and dreams. There alone, as you know, in spirit, which is arrived through flesh, you will find no disappointments, no limits. There alone the skies are ever open for your love; there alone lies the great road ahead.”
(Love is an Adventure by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)
Declaration of Intent
Officiant (to couple):
_______________ and _______________, please join hands. _______________, do you take _______________ to be your legally married husband/wife/partner to share the rest of your life with? Will you love them, laugh with them, comfort them, honor and defend them, and be true to them above everything else for the rest of your lives?
Partner 1:
I do.
Officiant (to Partner 2):
_______________, do you take _______________ to be your legally married husband/wife/partner to share the rest of your life with? Will you love them, laugh with them, comfort them, honor and defend them, and be true to them above everything else for the rest of your lives?
Partner 2:
I do.
Exchanging of Vows
Officiant (to couple):
_______________ and _______________, if you are willing to accept the commitments and responsibilities that I have described, you will join your hands and promise your love and lives to one another.
_______________, you may go first.
Partner 1:
I, _______________, choose you, _______________, in the presence of our families and friends, to be my wife/husband/partner from today through eternity; to be a comfort and safe haven in your life, to love you, to hold you close, to uphold you with my strength, to listen deeply when you speak, to never take you for granted, and to always give thanks for your presence in my life.
Officiant (to Parter 2):
_______________, you may now share your vows.
Partner 2:
I, _______________, choose you, _______________, in the presence of our families and friends, to be my wife/husband/partner from today through eternity; to be a comfort and safe haven in your life, to love you, to hold you close, to uphold you with my strength, to listen deeply when you speak, to never take you for granted, and to always give thanks for your presence in my life.
Exchanging of Rings
Officiant (to couple):
_______________, and ______________ have chosen to exchange rings as a symbol of their never-ending love.
Officiant (to Partner 1):
_______________, place your ring on _______________’s finger and repeat after me. “I'm giving you this ring as a promise to always love, cherish, honor, and comfort you. I promise to love you and keep my heart open for you for the rest of my life.”
Partner 1:
“I'm giving you this ring as a promise to always love, cherish, honor, and comfort you. I promise to love you and keep my heart open for you for the rest of my life.”
Officiant (to Partner 2):
_______________, place your ring on _______________’s finger and repeat after me. “I'm giving you this ring as a promise to always love, cherish, honor, and comfort you. I promise to love you and keep my heart open for you for the rest of my life.”
Partner 2:
“I'm giving you this ring as a promise to always love, cherish, honor, and comfort you. I promise to love you and keep my heart open for you for the rest of my life.”
Introduction To Salt Ceremony
Officiant (to guests):
Salt has been used as a preservative and purifier to prevent decay and corruption since ancient times. It is the symbol of God's character and dependability because it is eternal, enduring, never changing, and abiding eternally. Entering into a Covenant of Salt means tying oneself to another with utmost loyalty and truthfulness, even if it means death, rather than breaking the covenant.
Explanation of Ritual
Officiant (to couple):
_______________ and _______________, a vial of salt stands before each of you, symbolizing your individuality as well as your aspirations, goals, desires, and pledges for the success of this marriage and the family it is becoming. You create a Covenant by mixing your salt with everyone else's, symbolizing your acceptance of this marriage and your pledge to join one family.
Officiant (to couple):
_______________ and _______________, At this time, I ask each one of you to lift your salt and blend them together.
Closing The Salt Ceremony
Officiant (to couple):
This salt exchange symbolizes the power of your marriage; by integrating your lives, you will be as difficult to separate as these grains of salt. Your agreement here today is the unbreakable contract that your union represents, and it will not be broken.
Pronouncement
Officiant (to couple):
_______________ and _______________, only you have the authority to proclaim yourself married. You've started it today by exchanging vows in front of your family and friends, and you'll continue it in the days and years ahead, standing by one other and sharing all that is good and bad in life. Every gentle gesture, every kind word will be a testimony of what has been accomplished here today.
By the power vested in me by the Universal Life Church Ministries, it is my pleasure to formally recognize your union as husband/wife/partner and husband/wife/partner. With a kiss, you can now seal your union!
