The ceremony for Maia & Liz March 18, 2006

THE CEREMONY
Processional
"A Day Without Rain"–Enya
"Beyond"–Marc Saul

Smudging - Native American blessing
Blessing spoken during smudging
Oh Spirit of the North, Ancient One of the Earth, I call you to attend this circle.
(blow sage to north)

Oh Spirit of the East, Ancient One of the Air, I call you to attend this circle
(blow sage to east)
Oh Spirit of the South, Ancient One of Fire, I call you to attend this circle.
(blow sage to south)
Oh Spirit of the West, Ancient One of Water, I call you to attend this circle
(blow sage to west)
Spirits of the Earth, hold the boundary of this Circle
Naught but love shall enter in
Naught but love shall emerge
Charged by your Powers, Old Ones.
What you have just witnessed was a Native American ritual calling the spirits to “hold the space” or circle the ceremony. The belief is that the Spirits are called upon to protect participants during rituals to keep away any negative energies that may attempt to enter the space.

Statement of Intention

We have come together this evening in the presence and spirit of Love, to honor and bless the union of Maia and Liz. This union symbolizes a joining of lives, hearts, and souls, and a formal commitment to a relationship that keeps growing more beautiful throughout time.
Maia and Liz have invited you to join them in this holy celebration because they feel close to you, and value your support and loyalty. I remind you that you have been invited here for a sacred purpose, not just to witness, but to fully participate with your thoughts and prayers, extending your blessing to this couple and their united life.

The merging lives of Maia and Liz symbolize their commitment to being a part of something bigger, a loving power far beyond that of their separate parts. It is through this unity that we all have to the love that connects us, that we are able to discover our greatest expression.
We open our hearts to you, Maia and Liz, as you have come here to publicly dedicate the rest of your lives to one another. We celebrate with you the deep love and spiritual connection you have found in one another. With this, we recognize and honor the past life you have shared, making this ceremony today a blissful recommitment of your souls.

Declaration of Commitment

Maia and Liz, we welcome you to this moment in your lives, and to the place you have come to in each other’s hearts. Congratulations on the journey you have made to take you to this place today, to commit to and embrace a very serious love. It is a commitment already made in your hearts, yet today we formally acknowledge it.

Your relationship has been built by an understanding that you must work together and communicate through whatever challenges may arise. You recognize that you must acknowledge each other as individuals, and support one another’s growth. May humor, acceptance and passion always be nurturing staples of your daily lives.

Marriage is an ultimate sharing of experience. It is an adventure in the most intimate of human relationships. Within its framework of loyalty, permanence, and fidelity, marriage creates a home where honesty, understanding and fun can nurture a deep and lasting relationship.

Liz, Maia is a gift to you. You are asked to love her, and that through your love she may find herself as she truly is—patient, understanding, supportive and beautiful. May she know that there is one whose love and protection she can depend on forever.
And likewise, Maia, Liz is a gift to you. In your love may Liz glow from the depths of her own true self—a passionate, intelligent, fun-loving and adventurous Spirit. May she always feel unconditionally loved and comforted through your selfless giving.

May this day be an open door through with you will go forth to build the dearest of all relationships, a happy, harmonious marriage. May the years deal gently with you. May you find far more in life walking together than you would have found alone.

Exchange of Vows - English and Irish Gaelic

Maia and Liz, whatever it is that you desire to share and accomplish with each other, know that love is always with you. Place love in your hearts first, and your success is assured.
Couples turn to face each other and hold hands.

Maia Marie
Everything I vow to you here today you already have, you already know.
It is my wish to tell you again in this lifetime in front of our loved ones.
I promise you my love, my respect, my honor, my loyalty and my support.
I offer you my heart, my soul and my body, to share with you as long as we both take breath.
D’i gonai
My love,
There is so much about us that makes us the couple that we are

Our past, our present and our future are all together in this one moment.
So, in this moment I promise to respect you, as I have in the past I will continue to do.
I will never make light of your opinions or feelings.
I promise to accept you for the individual and adult that you are.
You will find no judgment in my eyes or heart, only the freedom to be.
I promise to support you in whatever the Universe brings our direction.
Whether it be glory or trials, I will be by your side.
And encompassed in all of this, I promise to love you

With my heart, my soul and my body.
As I have in the past, I will do in the future.
I promise. D’i gonai
Toimid le ceile anois
Beimid le ceile igcomnuide
Slointe is goch beonuochz libh
Toi gradh agam as mo crioide duit
Deo ort egcomnuide

Lighting of the Unity Candle

Now Maia and Liz unite the candles representing their lives up to this moment, into one candle, symbolic of their new life together.
Deora Ar Mo Chroi – Enya
Drinking from Horn – Celtic Pagan: Symbolizing shared life/nourishment
Exchange of Rings

And so we come, Maia and Liz, to the presentation of rings by which you symbolize and bind your love. The unbroken circle of your rings symbolizes a commitment of love that is never ending. May your rings be a constant reminder of the connection and love you have found with one another.

Maia, this ring is a symbol of my unconditional love and my faithful commitment to our married life together.

Liz, this ring is a symbol of my unconditional love and my faithful commitment to our married life together.

Kiss

You may seal your vows with a kiss (Bell rings three times)
Jumping the Broom--Celtic Pagan: Symbolizing the beginning of a new life together
Recessional
This Will Be – Natalie Cole

Maia discusses her ceremony

Below is Maia’s description of what went into planning her wedding ceremony to Liz.

My Grandfather was a full-blood Cherokee Medicine Man. Liz is Irish/Scottish. We are both practicing pagans/wiccans. This is how we created the ceremony. I walked down aisle to bagpipes. The whole ceremony was designed around our heritage and beliefs.

Our colors were royals, Emerald, Sapphire, Ruby and Amethyst. Our daughter Sarra was my Maid of Honor. She wore the Sapphire. My Matron of Honor wore the Ruby and our granddaughter (the Flower Girl) wore the Amethyst. To tie this in to the reception, each table was set with a different set of colors, one color per table.

We designed our own ceremony, which we gave to our officite. I HIGHLY recommend that couples be extremely careful with their officiate in making sure s/he completely understand everything. Our lovely lady called portions of our ceremony "seltic padgen" as opposed to "keltik pagan." We also found out during the ceremony that she had no idea how to do a smudging and she almost set me on fire. Both issues were moments of comic relief but I suggest that couples be very clear with their officiate.

Our vows: Liz wrote hers about a week before the wedding, I wrote mine the night before. The last ones are in Irish Gaelic and we did not share the meaning of these with anyone, but you could easily have it translated.

I made our program a tri-fold on antiqued papers, and the ushers handed them out as guests entered. It was a very formal, black tie event. We chose the chapel for a couple of reasons: 1) it only holds 160 and we were expecting about 100 so this made it an intimate ceremony, and 2) the stained glass windows are of Knights, not Saints, so it appeased our pagan ceremony desires. It also had a bell that could be rung. We had our ushers coordinate so that the bell rang 3 times (the pagan rule of 3) while we breathed each other in and kissed.

For the reception: I printed out photos and histories of various Irish castles and we put 1 on each table in acrylic frames. We then seated people to a castle that we felt was appropriate to their personality. The seating cards were skeleton keys. Each guest got a key with their name and on the back was the name of "their" castle. At the table, each place was marked with a bag of chocolate rocks which had their names attached.

I have since become a certified wedding planner specializing in gay/lesbian ceremonies. I did this because I found no resources as I was planning my own (an 18 month process!) and became frustrated. If it would help, let people know that I would love to help them plan their dream ceremony - completely working within their budget. I managed to have a $50,000 wedding for less than $20,000 but it takes time and planning. Some people want simplicity, others want fairy tales. It's all good. :)

Liz and Maia just got back from a two day cruise from SF to Vancouver, two days in Vancouver and Amtrak back to Oakland on the Gay/Lesbian oriented WanderLust Travel based in Oakland—which they highly recommend.