I'm not getting married anytime soon so this really shouldn't concern me right now, but my boyfriend and I were talking about our hypothetical future wedding and it got me thinking. I want a Pagan wedding, but there aren't any Pagan clergy where I live. I figure that we could just go to a judge or whatever and then I could do something religious later for just the two of us. But I have no idea how go about doing it on my own...everything I've seen is from the standpoint of having a Priest or Priestess perform the ceremony.
Normally you do need some sort of officiant, but if you have already done the justice of the peace, then all you need do is to dedicate your union with your deities and declare it to nature itself. write your own words and do a simple ceremony out in nature. even jump the broom if you like. keep it personal too. Blessings!
You don't need Pagan clergy. Just have a friend that happens to be Pagan do it. They can get legally ordained so that they can perform the service. You can write your own ceremony and have your handfasting how you want. Guys, handfasting is a Pagan wedding. Edit: Okay, then. Yeah, have a justice of the peace do it and then write your own private ceremony. We had a judge marry us and picked out a non-religious ceremony. I think for our tenth anniversary (this August) we may do a handfasting to renew our vows.
sure. i'm Pagan and that i'm a member of a UU church. Ministers are many times keen to artwork with you on your ceremony, purely tell him/her what you want. there is even a Pagan subgroup of UU's: CUUPs (Covenant of the Unitarian Universalist Pagans). If there's a CUUPs crew close to you, you may also be able to encounter an ordained Pagan Priest/ess.
The Priest or Priestess is just the religious leader in the ceremony. I would think that it is not a legal matter and that you and your consort could do it with the witness of friends. It is the promises to each other, made before witness that make you handfasted not the ceremony. It is for a year and a day. Do your own; there are no rules in paganism unless you have problems with control. There are web sites that have handfasting rituals; use these as a guide and make up your own. Blessings,
