Wedding Prayers and Blessings

These days , many couples are doing away with church weddings and the traditions associated with them. However, it is always good to include certain rituals, such as reading out prayers and blessings for the newly weds by their friends and family.

For those of you who strictly want to keep their marriage a non-religious affair, an alternative would be to read out some poems, verses, or passages on marriage. Here is an interesting collection of Christian prayers for a wedding reception, followed by some poems and verses on love and relationships.

Lord, help us to remember when we first met, and the strong love that grew between us.
To work that love into practical things, so nothing can divide us.
We ask for words both kind and loving,
and for hearts always ready to ask forgiveness as well as to forgive.
Dear Lord, we put our marriage into your hands. Amen.

Almighty God, hear our prayers for [Groom] and [Bride], who have come here today to be united in the sacrament of marriage. Increase their faith in you and in each other, and through them, bless your Church. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

O Lord, omnipotent and eternal God, we give you thanks, and we bless your holy name. You created man and woman in your image, and blessed their union so that each would be for the other a help and support. Remember us today....

Protect us, and grant that our love may be in the image of the devotion and love of Christ for his Church. Grant us a long and fruitful life together, in joy and in peace so that through your Son and in the Holy Spirit, our hearts may always rise to you in praise and goods works. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, grant that I and my spouse may have a true and understanding love for each other. Grant that we may both be filled with faith and trust. Give us the grace to live with each other in peace and harmony. May we always bear with one another's weaknesses and grow from each other's strengths...

Help us to forgive one another's failings, and grant us patience, kindness, cheerfulness, and the spirit of placing the well-being of one another ahead of self. May the love that brought us together grow and mature with each passing year. Bring us both ever closer to You through our love for each other. Let our love grow to perfection. Amen.

We thank You, O God, for the love You have implanted in our hearts.
May it always inspire us to be kind in our words, considerate of feelings, and concerned for each other's needs and wishes. Help us to be understanding and forgiving of human weaknesses and failings...

Increase our faith and trust in You, and may Your prudence guide our life and love. Bless our marriage, O God, with peace and happiness, and make our Love fruitful for Your glory and our joy both here and in eternity. Amen.

May your mornings bring joy and your evenings bring peace.
May your troubles grow few as your blessings increase.
May the saddest day of your future
Be no worse than the happiest day of your past.
May your hands be forever clasped in friendship...

And your hearts joined forever in love and relationship.
Your lives are very special,
God has touched you in many ways.
May his blessings rest upon you
And fill all your coming days.

Now you will feel no rain
For each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now each of you will feel no cold
For each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no loneliness for you
For each of you will be companion to the other.

Now you are two persons
But there is one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place to enter into the days of your togetherness
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.

All earthly goods I wish thee.
All that's good for thee and thine
And still, not only earthly
But all we know to be divine.
May earth and heaven mingle
May earth and heaven be one
All through your earthly journey
Till sets your earthly sun.
In Sunshine and in shadow
Through dancing and in song
May heaven bless your union
Throughout your whole life long.

What is a vow,
but an intention
spoken out before the world
so that the world, in hearing,
might take part
in aspirations
of the willing heart?
In our coming here today
to join and bless
the joy of your becoming wed,
may we enter in
the truth of the words you've said,
"I do."
 ― Maureen Tolman Flannery

You and I
Have so much love
That it
Burns like a fire,
In which we bake a lump of clay
Molded into a figure of you
And a figure of me.
Then we take both of them,
And break them into pieces,
And mix the pieces with water,
And mold again a figure of you,
And a figure of me.

I am in your clay.
You are in my clay.
In life we share a single quilt.
In death we will share one bed.
― Kuan Tao-Sheng

Two doves meeting in the sky
Two loves hand in hand eye to eye
Two parts of a loving whole
Two hearts and a single soul
Two stars shining big and bright
Two fires bringing warmth and light...

Two songs played in perfect tune
Two flowers growing into bloom
Two Doves gliding in the air
Two loves free without a care
Two parts of a loving whole
Two hearts and a single soul.
― Anonymous

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone,
Even as the strings of the lute are alone though they quiver
with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hands of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
― Kahlil Gibran

These prayers and blessings can be read just before or immediately after the couple takes their vows. They can be read out during post marriage ceremony dinners as well as on wedding anniversaries. These blessings, prayers, verses and poems celebrate the union of two people, and thus, are the perfect way to wish them happiness and love in their relationship.