Handfasting Ceremonies 
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Handfasting is the Wiccan word for the marriage ceremony. The difference between a handfasting and the Christian wedding ceremony, is this- In the Christian Ceremony, couples are joined "till death do us part", even if they find out later on that they aren't meant for one another later on. The Wiccan handfasting joins a couple "for as long as love shall last". When the couple wishes to part, be it for lack of love, or if they outgrow tolerance for one another, they are free to part their ways.

Priestess speaks:

Welcome, friends, as we gather to celebrate the marriage of Bride and Groom. 
Divine One, I ask thee to bless this couple, their love, and their marriage as long as they shall live in love together. 
May they each enjoy a healthy life filled with joy, love, stability and fertility. 

Turns to the East:

Blessed be by the element of air. 
May you be blessed with communication, intellectual growth, and wisdom. 

Turns to the South:

Blessed be by the element of fire. 
May you be blessed with harmony, vitality, creativity, and passion. 

Turns to the West:

Blessed be by the element of water. 
May you be blessed with friendship, intuition, caring, understanding, and love. 

Turns to the North: 

Blessed be by the element of earth. 
May you be blessed with tenderness, happiness, compassion, and sensuality.

Faces all:

In all the eons, the long slow climb of evolution has no greater culmination than the union of people in love.
From the time the first amoeba fissioned into two, there has been the possibility of companionship -- and the possibility of loneliness.
From the time Nature invented sexual reproduction, love has been a quickening. 
In humans as self-aware beings, sexuality provided a way that love can conjoin the bodies, hearts, minds, and souls of those who love.

Humans have sadly turned away from Nature's harmony for most of our lives.
There is war, loneliness, and desolation, and the soul of Nature mourns.
So when there are those of us who love enough to make a commitment such as this one tonight between Bride and Groom  the very stars rejoice at the rediscovery of love, joy, and bounty.

Love has its seasons the same as does the Earth.
In the spring of love is the discovery of each other, the pulse of the senses, the getting to know the mind and heart of the other; a blooming like the buds and flowers of springtime.

In the summer of love comes the strength, the commitment to each other, the most active part of life, perhaps including the giving of life back to itself through children; the sharing of joys and sorrows, the learning to be humans who are each complete and whole but who can merge each with the other, as the trees grow green and tall in the heat of the sun.

In the fall of love is the contentment of love that knows the other completely. Passion remains, and ease of companionship. 
The heart smoothes love into a steady light, glorious as the autumn leaves.

In the winter of love, there is parting, and sorrow. But love remains, as do the stark and bare tree trunks in the snow, ready for the renewal of love in the spring as life and love begin anew.

Now is the time of summer.
Bride and Groom have gathered before their friends to make a statement of their commitment to each other, to their love.

They face each other.

Do you now commit to each other to love, honor, respect each other, to communicate with each other, to look to your own emotional health so that you can relate in a healthy way, and provide a healthy home for children if you choose to have them; to be a support and comfort for your partner in times of sickness and health, as long as love shall last ?

Together they say: We do.

Then recite the vows you have written for each other.

The couple moves first to the East, then around the directions.
Couple and Priestess move to table where sits 3 candles.
Priestess asks them to each light a candle, they do.

These two candles are yourselves.
Each of you is a whole and complete human being.
Groom  speak to us of who you are.

Groom describes himself.

Bride , speak to us of who you are

Bride  describes herself.

Together, light the third candle, but extinguish not the first two.
For in marriage you do not lose yourself; you add something new, a relationship, the capacity to merge into one another without losing sight of your individual self.
Together, speak to us of who you are as a couple.

Bride and Groom alternate speaking of what they are as a couple.

Let us bless the rings.

Circles represent eternity, and though our lives are finite, love is everlasting, the creative force that binds us together, the force that gives new life.

The blessings of the wind upon these rings and your love, that you share communication and creativity.

The blessings of fire upon these rings and your love, that you share passion and the spirit.
The blessings of water upon these rings and your love, that you share love and compassion.
The blessings of the earth upon these rings and your love, that you share health and sexuality.

We humans are born of stardust and deepest oceans, of erupting volcanoes and the bones of the earth.
In celebrating love you celebrate a heritage of all these things, and of the love of all humans from the dawn of time.
In making a commitment to loving each other, you share that which is best in us and give a moment of light to the world.

Bride, place the ring on Groom's finger and repeat after me:
With this ring, I thee wed. 

Groom, place the ring on Bride's hand and repeat after me: 
With this ring, I thee wed. 

I now pronounce you married.
May you each and together be blessed with health, happiness, harmony, and love. 
So mote it be! 

           (© 1994 by Mary A. Axford; may be reproduced as long as this copyright accompanies it)