About Wedding Traditions & Meanings

Showing posts with label irish wedding blessing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label irish wedding blessing. Show all posts

Friday, April 17, 2020

Ring warming ceremony – an Irish tradition


For couples looking for ways to involve their guests in the wedding ceremony beyond things like responsive reading, the Irish ring warming ceremony is a meaningful ritual that involves everyone. This ceremony is also known as the ring blessing and is often performed instead of lighting the unity candle. It's a sweet way to involve family and loved ones as they add their own blessings, prayers and best wishes to the marriage.


How to incorporate ring warming ceremony into wedding


How you incorporate the ring warming into your wedding ceremony is up to you. Here are a few ideas.


Passing the rings


Traditionally, rings were passed from one guest to another. If you choose to go this route, the officiant can make an announcement at the beginning of the ceremony letting guests know the rings will be passed around and that each guest is invited to hold the ring and say a silent blessing or prayer for the marriage before passing the ring to the person beside them. This works best with smaller weddings as rings are handed to someone in the front row and told to pass them on until they make their way back to the front. To avoid the possibility of a dropped ring rolling along the floor beneath guests’ feet leading to a chaotic mass of people crawling around looking for the missing ring, rings are usually tied with a piece of ring warming ribbon, place in a ring warming ceremony box, or tied to the cushion carried by the ring bearer as they are passed around.

Rings are often tied with ring warming ribbon

Ring warming dish


Not everyone is comfortable with passing the rings around, especially in larger gatherings as this creates the feel of a lot of dead time. Instead of passing the rings, some couples choose to place them in an attractive ring warming dish near the entrance with a sign inviting guests to warm the ring with prayers, blessing and well wishes for the couple. This is also a good place to display the guest book and pen.
  
Ring warming dish

Ideas for ring warming ceremony songs


If you do decide to pass the rings, its nice to play meaningful music. Song choice can be instrumental or with lyrics. It can be contemporary like All You Need Is Love by the Beatles, a song with a folksy flare like Christina Perri’s, Thousand Years of Arms, or a Christian love song like The Prayer by Josh Groban and Charlotte Church. Song choice is a perfect opportunity for the couple to share their love for each other with their guests.

Ring warming box

How long does a ring warming ceremony take?


How long the ring warming ceremony takes will depend on whether or not you pass the rings around or have them in a dish at the entrance. If you pass them around, how long the ceremony will take will depend on how many guests you have and how long they take to pray over the rings. It is one of the things you’ll want to take into consideration, because even with music playing while the rings are passed, the couple will be standing up front. If it takes a long time, it can start to create that awkward feeling that you should be “doing” something. 


Irish wedding blessing


While the Irish wedding blessing isn’t part of the ring warming ceremony, it is certainly worth mentioning because the two pair to make a uniquely special wedding. While no one knows for sure where this blessing originated, some attribute it to Ireland’s St. Patrick and traditionally, it is said by the father of the bride to the groom during the ring exchange ceremony.


May the Road Rise Up To Meet You



May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

the rain fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

may God hold you in the palm of his hand.


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Monday, January 22, 2018

Irish wedding blessings


Wedding blessings are found across many cultures. In the Irish culture, traditionally the father of the bride gives his blessing to the groom and the marital union. However, for the most part, Irish people don’t care for much formality and there isn’t a specific method for giving a blessing. Sometimes blessings are shared privately with the couple together, other times they may be shared with only the bride or just the groom. Other times they are offered publicly, and in some cases, they are used as a wedding toast such as, “May your neighbors respect you, may trouble neglect you, may the angels protect you, and may heaven accept you.”



Irish Wedding Prayer
May God be with you and bless you.
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortunes
and rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
from this day forward.



Irish wedding blessing poem
“May the Road Rise Up to Meet You” is a popular Irish wedding blessing poem which some historians attribute to Ireland's Saint Patrick. It’s origins come from the Gaelic phrase "Go n-éiri an bóthar leat," which translates to mean ‘may your journey be successful.’ However, the origins of this popular wedding blessing is really considered unknown and today is often presented in song.

“May the Road Rise Up To Meet You”

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
the rain fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Some couples choose to use a wedding blessing on their wedding invitations. And in the same way many couples write their own vows, writing your own poetic wedding prayers offers a similar opportunity, or have others in the wedding party write out blessings as gifts to the bride and groom. The result is a unique wedding ceremony rich in personal meaning that creates a new level of special memories that will be talked about for years to come and may even become a new tradition which blesses your family in the years ahead.
 
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