|
|
||
|
HOME |
||
Bed &
Breakfast
|
||
WEDDING
|
||
WEDDING
|
||
WEDDINGS
|
||
WEDDING
|
||
WEDDING
|
||
ABOUT
|
||
MARRIAGE LICENSES |
||
RECEPTIONS -
|
||
OTHER
|
||
|
INQUIRIES |
||
|
GETTING HERE |
||
|
USEFUL SITES |
||
|
More info
on |
||
|
|
||
|
Biggie Toad,
Quinn Mountain |
|
Quinn Mountain
|
ceremonies in nature
|
|
|
|
Wedding Ceremony in
NATURE :
Marry with Nature as Your Honored Guest
Many couples who enjoy outdoor life and deep connections to Nature may be attracted to the idea of inviting Nature into their wedding ceremony as an Honored Guest. For this reason, we created the special outdoor wedding element below. There is a special Outdoor Wedding in Nature ceremony that can be used with or without the Nature element described on this page.
Or the Element described below and the accompanying ceremony language can be incorporated into any traditional ceremony.
More info at
Nature and Forest Wedding Ceremonies
WEDDING WEDNESDAY Ceremonies: This Nature Ceremony
can replace the simple ceremony listed on the Wedding Wednesday page. It will be
personalized, color-printed and bound for ceremony, and then given to the bride
and groom as a keepsake for an additional $50.
|
|
Couples who love Nature and the outdoors often decide to share outdoor wedding vows amid the forest in wedding ceremonies created specially for them by Christina Brittain, wedding officiant, Quinn Mountain Weddings. |
|
Some engaged couples look for
unique ways to bring Nature into their wedding ceremony. A special way is to
make Nature the wedding guest of honor. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
MARRYING WITH NATURE AS YOUR HONORED GUESTA special wedding element that invites Nature into your new marriage as a lifelong source of joy |
NATURE ELEMENT:
|
|
|
The object should be put safely away where it can be easily retrieved for the upcoming ceremony. If it is a living object, such as a leaf, it may be possible to keep it fresh in water; it can also be pressed and dried in a book. |
|
|
|
(Back to Top) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
WEDDING
CEREMONY with NATURE
ELEMENT
|
|
|
PAGE 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
of
________ _____
_____ ________ _____ _____
|
|
|
PAGE 2 |
|
|
|
LOVE
|
|
|
|
PAGE 3 |
|
|
|
Marriage of
_______ _____ _____ |
|
WELCOME Officiant: Welcome! We are here today in honor of the lives of (Groom) and (Bride) becoming one. We are here in the presence of Nature’s spirit,( Name of nature place where ceremony takes place) to celebrate the joining, of two hearts. Today , in this natural, supportive place, we are honored to share in (Groom‘s) and (Bride‘s) expression of lifelong commitment and love MESSAGE TO BRIDE AND GROOM Officiant: As your relationship first began, love was only spoken softly in your hearts. During silent moments, through stolen glances, with knowing smiles, you both began to know. Today, the whispers are gladly proclaimed aloud as loud as the wind down a canyon and the roar of a falls. Your love for each other has given you the courage, to speak the words, I love you, aloud. And today, you are ready to let the journey of marital love begin. FIRST READING Officiant: Here is a special wish for your marriage: May this be a day of new beginnings with sun shining
on you like a fragrant apple, May berries melt like honey on your tongues. May your hearts rise in wonder at the clouds drifting across the sky. May the trails under your boots be covered in pine quills. May leaves rain down like memories in the autumn of your hearts. May snow beneath your footsteps be as soft as watered silk. May the cold air kiss your cheeks, turn them red as summer's roses. May rivers always flow with their amazing beauty, as
the first freshet of snow melts May you always walk in gladness on whatever path or
highway; |
|
|
PAGE 4 |
|
|
|
|
|
QUESTION OF CONSENT Officiant: (Groom) and (Bride), have you come
here today of your own free will to marry?
BLESSING OF THE RINGS Officiant: I understand that you wish to exchange rings as tokens of your love. Officiant with hand over them during the blessing says: Officiant: These circlets of precious metal are fitting symbols of the soul of your marriage; your love that has no beginning, no end. We humbly ask the Great Spirit who has given us the
heavens, lives in the rivers and oceans, who is the voice we can hear in the
wind, feel in the heat of fire and the cool of rain; to bless this marriage.
And we ask all of nature to grant blessing on your union that is symbolized
by these rings. VOWS AND EXCHANGE OF RINGS Groom’s Vows Officiant: Hands ring to Groom: Please place this ring on (Bride’s) hand and repeat after me: I ask you, (Bride), to be my wife. I vow to love, honor and cherish you. I will be at your side for all the risings and settings of the sun, for all the days of fullness and challenge. I pledge my heart to you and promise you a shared life of friendship, adventure, and love. Brides Vows Officiant: Hands ring to Bride: Please place this ring on (Groom’s) hand and repeat after me: I ask you, (Groom), to be my husband. I vow to love, honor and cherish you. I will be at your side for all the risings and settings of the sun, for all the days of fullness and challenge. I pledge my heart to you and promise you a shared life of friendship, adventure, and love. |
|
|
PAGE 5 |
|
 |
|
|
HONORING NATURE in WEDDING CEREMONY Officiant: You have pledged your love to each other by exchanging vows as a statement of your marital commitment and love for each other. With those vows, you agreed to accept the most honorable title that can exist between a man and a woman - Husband and Wife. Before the final Pronouncement, you have chosen to honor Nature on this day and all your days to come by exchanging a small part of Nature with each other. The object each of you chose as a gift to your new spouse is blessed by the Earth and says, I love you. Please exchange the objects you hold. (Bride and Groom exchange gifts.) Officiant: As you look at the new object in your hand, it may seem that you have done nothing special at all. Just a moment ago, you were holding a tiny part of Nature - and now you still do. But there’s a significant difference. You gave and received one of life’s most valuable and precious gifts - one to be remembered always -the gift of abiding love. (Groom) and (Bride), wherever you make your home in the future - be it a large, elegant home or a small, humble one, reserve in it a special place for Nature. And, on each anniversary, rekindle the memory of the simple exchange by going to Nature together and creating a new memory as a way of recommitting yourself to your partner and your marriage. In times of angry emotions that will come between you, as they do, turn to Nature to nurture your relationship. If the words, I’m sorry, or I forgive you; or I need you, or I am hurting are difficult to say, gather a part of Nature and leave it for the other to find. Let the natural object speak what matters most: I still love you. The recipient should accept it for the caring that could not be expressed, recalling fond memories of the love you share today. Officiant: (Groom) and (Bride), always remember that natural love for each other brought you here today, and only love will make assure a marriage that endures. |
|
|
PAGE 6 |
|
|
BLESSING Officiant: Here is a blessing from Nature for your marriage: May you always have a have warm fire burning in your hearth, a full moon to light a dark night, and sweet water in your well. May you always have time to walk along winding river banks together and listen often to its song. May you always give thanks for the love you share. May your future bring adventure, peace, and great joy! DECLARATION OF MARRIAGE Officiant: And now, by the power vested in me
by the state of (STATE), I am honored to pronounce you husband and wife. KISS! Officiant: Congratulations, you may now kiss! PRESENTATION Officiant: I now present for the first time Mr. & Mrs. (Groom’s first / last name). |
|
|
(Back to Top) |
|
 |
|
Arousing Nature's Wisdom: A Marriage Blessing |
|
|
May you connect more deeply to the wisdom of Nature through the
marriage union you are forming today; Let your new life together guide and support your journeys of mutual and self-discovery. |
|
 |
|
Marrying Among the Stones |
|
|
In early Britain, couples were married on stone steps at the entrance to the church. Even earlier, brides and grooms each stood on special stones—betrothal stones—located in places specifically designated for religious ceremonies. In the village of Doagh in Ireland, couples who clasped hands through a hole bored in a ‘wedding stone’ were considered married. On England’s Isle of Man, the marital pair wed within a ring of stones in the churchyard. In Scotland’s island of Colonsayup, marriages were held at Sithean Mor, a mound thought to be inhabited by a community of fairies. Asking the Stone’s Blessing for the Wedding East of Bowen Road in Hong Kong, a footpath called Marriage Road winds through the scenic countryside to Amah Rock where betrothed couples seek Nature’s blessing for a prosperous marriage. Their first stop is by the confluence of two waters where a sign in the stone tells them that the song of the falling streams is there to soothe and comfort them. They continue along the path to the Rock itself where they seek approval of their union by burning incense. Finally, they reach a worn oblong granite bench where they pledge their commitment to each other. The ceremony concludes with the couple setting fire to a written request for spiritual protection. The document turns to ashes, and is absorbed by Nature, thereby becoming readable by unseen spirits. According to V. R. BurkhardT,[1] the Amah Rock was not a coincidental creation of Nature. It was deliberately created as a shrine by the ancient inhabitants out of the conviction that “there’s a Divinity that shapes their ends, and that His propitiation will ensure that children bless the union.” Amah Rock is thought to be part of that blessing. A Wedding Place Where Gods GatherIt is thought that every year the gods come together at Japan’s Great Shine of Kitzuki to discuss wedding plans. Japanese lore suggests that all the gods meet at Kitzuki at 4:00 AM on the first day of the 10th lunar month to arrange for the year’s upcoming marriages. Proponents of the Shinto religion believe that all of Nature is the land of the gods, and that sacred places or geopoints like Kitzuki exist everywhere and exude positive energies coming from their placement at geomantically significant places. Petrified Remnants of a Weddings PastIn Andrja, Morocco, there are stones standing erect that are believed to be petrified remains of a once living wedding procession. According to folklore, while the bride was being carried to the marriage in an ammariya (a closed bridal –box), terrible diarrhea overcame her because one of her wedding attendants had committed a transgression. In retaliation, the entire wedding party was turned to stone. Since that time, it has become tradition for young women about to be married to visit the stones where over several weeks they perform a series of complicated rites in hopes of increasing their chances of fertility and a successful marriage. Merry Maidens, located in Cornwall, England is a circle of stones called a gland, and is believed to have been formed from the petrified remains of young woman who met this eternal punishment by happily dancing on the Sabbath in opposition to Church edict.
While
some believe that the stones at Andrja, Morocco and Cornwall, England are
the remains of those who defied the morality of the day, geomancers suggest
that these are special places visited by spirits or deities who continue to
imbued the stones with life-giving energies that transfer to all those who
rub against them, including wedding couples. |
|
| Quinn
Mountain specializes in planning, hosting, and officiating elopements, small weddings and other ceremonies in the Columbia River Gorge, Portland, and Hood River, Oregon, and Camas, Vancouver, Washougal, and Skamania County, Washington. |
|
