Uniting Two Faiths 8115 West 144th Place Overland Park, Kansas 66223
Call Rabbi Stuart E. Davis: 913-897-6309 or 816-616-4447
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Do you need a colorful groom's glass for your wedding ceremony? We have three styles to choose from.
Rabbi Offers Ideas to Customize Interfaith Jewish Wedding or Mixed Marriage Ceremony
You've Found Some Sample Ceremonies to Use or Embellish
The Rose and Vase Ceremony
This is a day steeped in tradition and we are surrounded by symbols of all kinds: Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. We are comforted and encouraged by the familiarity of such symbols and yet we know that a marriage can not survive if it looks only to the past. Therefore (Name of Groom) and (Name of Bride) have elected today to begin a new tradition, a custom which now becomes their own.
Groom hands rose to bride and says: (Name of Bride), I give you this rose. Because this beautiful flower grew from a tiny seed, it symbolizes the way my love for you has grown. From the first tingling of its inception, it has become stronger and larger until today it blossoms for all to see. Each year on our anniversary, I will give you another rose. In so doing, I will remember this day and the vows we have made. I am confident that each year my flower will be symbolic of ever deeper and stronger feelings of love.
Bride hands the vase to the groom and says: (Name of Groom), I give you this vase of water. Because water is the one element without which we would surely perish, it symbolizes the importance of your love in my life. Water, like love, can take many forms. Sometimes it is steam, sometimes ice, but no matter what happens to it, even if for a time it seems to disappear, it always returns. Each year on our anniversary, I will refill this vase offering it to you as a symbol of my ever renewing feelings of love.
Officiant: On each anniversary, as you re-enact the giving and the receiving of the rose and the water, may you remember with joy this day, when you pledged your love and your lives to each other. May this only be the first of many cherished traditions in a home filled with much happiness.
The Salt Covenant Ceremony
Following is an example of wording for the ceremony. Plan to have soft music playing during this part of the service.
CEREMONY After the officiant reads the statement below, pour two containers of salt into a third, wide-mouthed, container simultaneously: _______________ and ______________, today you join your separate lives together. The two separate bottles of salt symbolize your separate lives, separate families and separate sets of friends. They represent all that you are and all that you’ll ever be as an individual. They also represent your lives before today. As these two containers of salt are poured into the third container, the individual containers of salt will no longer exist, but will be joined together as one. Just as these grains of salt can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage be.
The Sand Ceremony
This SAND CEREMONY between (Name of Bride) and (Name of Groom), you have just sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving of rings. This covenant is a relationship pledge between two people who agree that they will commit themselves to one another throughout their lives. The most beautiful example of this partnership is the marriage relationship. You have committed here today to share the rest of your lives with each other. Today, this relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these two individual containers of sand, one, representing you, (Name of Bride) and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be, and the other representing you, (Name of Groom), and all that you were and all that you are, and all that you will ever be. As these two containers of sand are poured into the third container, the individual containers of sand will no longer exist, but will be joined together as one. Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage be.
The Family Ceremony
Often marriage is viewed as the union of two persons. In reality, marriage is much broader. It is always the joining of two families. We are in fact, all members of one family . . . the family of God. But today, we are more concerned with the new family we are forming in this marriage, the family formed by (Name of Groom) and (Name of Bride) with (Name(s) of Child or Children). As an integral part of this marriage, we recognize (Name(s) of Child or Children) and (his/her or their) importance in this newly formed family. You have chosen each other and a family, today. You are pledging to (Name(s) of Child/Children) your continuing love, even as you surround (him/her or them) with your arms of support. If you (Nameof Groom) and (Name of Bride) agree to this pledge, answer now by saying , “I will” – (minister to wait for an answer from Groom and Bride). We give thanks, God, for the relationship we celebrate here. In your presence, we are humbled by the recognition that today we face a new future; one which love has unfolded and is unfolding before our very eyes. Amen Officiant: It is my pleasure to present to you,(Nameof Groom) and (Name of Bride) in their new relationship as husband and wife and their (Name(s) of Son(s) and/orName(s) or Daughter(s) - THE (LAST NAME) FAMILY).
Breaking Glass Ceremony
At the end of some ceremonies, we hear bells ringing, and of others, the breaking of glass. Among the many interpretations of these two customs, one is that the loud noise of both the bells and the breaking of the glass scares away evil spirits wishing harm to the newly married couple. Breaking a glass summons the notion that sweetness can only exist alongside bitterness—breaking the glass reminds us that although this wedding has provided joy, the world is still in turmoil and requires our care and love. Its breaking is not only a reminder of sorrow, but also an expression of hope for a future free from all violence. Frailty of the glass also suggests the frailty of human relationships. The glass, then, is broken to protect the marriage with an implied prayer, “As this glass shatters, so may your marriage never break”. The tradition of the breaking of the glass is a symbolic prayer and hope that your love for one another will remain until the pieces of this glass come together again. It is also a reminder that in the midst of all our rejoicing we should be mindful of al the want, pain and suffering that exist elsewhere in the world. Let us, with this symbol, be particularly mindful of the needless barriers that people erect between one another, and try to think with the breaking of the glass, of breaking down those barriers and helping to build a world of respect, unity and peace.” And now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His countenance to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace this day and all your days. Amen. Breaking of the Glass: Groom breaks the Glass.
