Handfasting Ceremony

It can be used as a declaration of intent. This is usually done at the end of the ceremony right before the couple walks off together holding hands. The knot remains tied and the couple will slip it off to enjoy the reception. The chord is kept as a keepsake and remembrance of this vow.

In the joining of hands and the fashion of a knot, so are your lives now bound, one to another.

Woven into this cord, imbued into its very fibers, are all the hopes of your friends and family, and of yourselves, for your new life together. With the fashioning of this knot do I tie all the desires, dreams, love, and happiness wished here in this place to your lives for as long as love shall last.

As your hands are now bound together, so your lives are joined in a union of love and trust.  The knots of this binding symbolize the vows you have made.  Like the stars, your love should be a constant source of light, and like the earth, a firm foundation from which to grow.

May this knot of love remain forever tied, and may these hands be blessed.  May they always be held by one another.

May they have the strength to hold on tightly during the storms of life.  May they remain tender and gentle as they nurture each other.

May these hands build a relationship of love, caring, and devotion.

May ______ and ______ see each other’s hands as healer, protector, shelter and guide.

By this cord you are thus bound to your vow.

May this knot remain tied for as long as love shall last.