Wedding Essence

When performing a wedding, I prefer to include the following...  This could be considered the essential wedding verbiage according to my conscience:

by Kahlil Gibran

In the beginning, before the beginning, God created man... [Gen. 1:26-27] "...And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them..."  [Gen. 2:20-24] "....And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.  And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;  And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother; and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh..."

by Kahlil Gibran

Let's now speak of Love.  Kahlil Gibran wrote an insightful book about the important aspects of life and spiritualism called The Prophet.  "...Then said Almitra, Speak to us of Love.  And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them.  And with a great voice he said: When love beckons you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep.  And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.  And when he speaks to you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.  For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.  Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.  Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.  Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.  He threshes you to make you naked.  He sifts you to free you from your husks.  He grinds you to whiteness.  He kneads you until you are pliant; And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.  All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.  But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

'Love" by Kahlil Gibran

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.  Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love.  When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."  And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.  Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.  But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.  To know the pain of too much tenderness.  To be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully.  To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving; To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy; To return home at eventide with gratitude; And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

by Kahlil Gibran

Then Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage, master? And he answered saying: You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. you shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Ay, 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 one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.  Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.  For only the hand 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.

by Kahlil Gibran

"[...for those with kids, I like to continue reading...]  And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.  And he said: Your children are not your children.  They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.  They come through you but not from you.  And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.  You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts.  You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.  You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.  For life goes not backwards nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.  The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable."


Creation - In Genesis 1:1 (King James version) - it reads "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."  When read in Hebrew - it reads that way, but also reads "In the beginning before the beginning the Gods (or the God of Gods - Elohim) allowed to become the heavens and the earth."  Elohim is a plural feminine noun.  In Hebrew, if a woman is present, the noun accepts a feminine ending.  (all men = masculine ending i.e. Eloah or all women = i.e. Elohim) - so we learn that In the beginning before the beginning multiple Gods, including female Gods, are acknowledged by the scripture and were present at the time creation was allowed to happen.

[This is where I would let tokens be exchanged (i.e. the rings), and would let each read their vows (i.e. poetry, heart felt letters, decided by bride and groom).  If binding a family, i would ask the child(ren) up, and then bind the families hands.]


Then, let's talk about Om.  According to some, Om is the sound that God made when he/she created the universe.  The better explanation of Om is that once something is created spiritually, its physical existence is inevitable so it already exists.  For example, you made a plan to create a day when the two of you (or your family) would be bound together.  You chose what you wanted to happen at this so called wedding, created invitations and sent them out.  You decided who you wanted in attendance, where to have the wedding, and ultimately, you made a plan, down to the finest details, you created a wedding.  Once you had everything set in stone, you had created your wedding spiritually.  Right now is the time that you have created, and was inevitable!  Its as if you were already married, and so you really already are, and will be as long as you exist, you will be and are a family.  You were married before you even stepped into this ceremony.

Please remember, never go to bed angry.  The key to staying together forever is to always listen before speaking.  Share of yourselves.  108 Kiss your spouse!