Site:
To be determined. Outside.
The wedding prayer:
Cherokee Prayer
"God in heaven above please protect the ones we love.
We honor all you created as we pledge our hearts and lives together.
We honor Mother Earth and ask for our marriage to be abundant
and grow stronger through the seasons.
We honor fire - and ask that our union be warm and glowing with love in our hearts.
We honor wind - and ask we sail through life safe and calm as in our father's arms.
We honor water - to clean and soothe our marriage– that it may never thirst for love.
All the forces of the universe you created, we pray for harmony and true happiness,
as we forever grow young together. Amen."
Possible Wedding Vows (Will change a little):
GROOM STEP 1: O’ my beloved, our love has become firm by your walking one with me. Together we will share the responsibilities of the lodge, food and children. May the Creator bless noble children to share. May they live long.
BRIDE STEP 1: This is my commitment to you, my husband. Together we will share the responsibility of the home, food and children. I promise that I shall discharge all my share of the responsibilities for the welfare of the family and the children.
GROOM STEP 2: O’ my beloved, now you have walked with me the second step. May the Creator bless you. I will love you and you alone as my wife. I will fill your heart with strength and courage: this is my commitment and my pledge to you. May God protect the lodge and children.
BRIDE STEP 2: My husband, at all times I shall fill your heart with courage and strength. In your happiness I shall rejoice. May God bless you and our honorable lodge.
GROOM STEP 3: O my beloved, now since you have walked three steps with me, our wealth and prosperity will grow. May God bless us. May we educate our children and may they live long.
BRIDE STEP 3: My husband, I love you with single-minded devotion as my husband. I will treat all other men as my brothers. My devotion to you is pure and you are my joy. This is my commitment and pledge to you.
GROOM STEP 4: O’ my beloved, it is a great blessing that you have now walked four steps with me. May the Creator bless you. You have brought favor and sacredness in my life.
BRIDE STEP 4: O my husband, in all acts of righteousness, in material prosperity, in every form of enjoyment, and in those divine acts such as fire sacrifice, worship and charity, I promise you that I shall participate and I will always be with you.
GROOM STEP 5: O’ my beloved, now you have walked five steps with me. May the Creator make us prosperous. May the Creator bless us.
BRIDE STEP 5: O my husband, I will share both in your joys and sorrows. Your love will make me very happy.
GROOM STEP 6: O’ my beloved, by walking six steps with me, you have filled my heart with happiness. May I fill your heart with great joy and peace, time and time again. May the Creator bless you.
BRIDE STEP 6: My husband, the Creator blesses you. May I fill your heart with great joy and peace. I promise that I will always be with you.
GROOM STEP 7: O’ my beloved goddess, as you have walked the seven steps with me, our love and friendship have become inseparable and firm. We have experienced spiritual union in God. Now you have become completely mine. I offer my total self to you. May our marriage last forever.
BRIDE STEP 7: My husband, by the law of the Creator, and the spirits of our honorable ancestors, I have become your wife. Whatever promises I gave you I have spoken them with a pure heart. All the spirits are witnesses to this fact. I shall never deceive you, nor will I let you down. I shall love you forever.
BLANKET CEREMONY:
Two blue blankets used in the ceremony each represent the couple's past lives that may have been filled with loneliness, weakness, failures, sorrow and spiritual depression.
The couple are wrapped in the blue blankets and their relatives follow them to the sacred fire circle. After the spiritual leader blesses the union, the couple then shed the blue blankets and are enveloped by relatives in a single white blanket representing their new ways of happiness, fulfillment and peace.
Under the white blanket, the couple then embraced and kissed.
The white blanket is kept by the couple and often displayed in their home.
RING CEREMONY:
These rings are a symbol of the unbroken circle of love.
Love freely given has no beginning and no end, no one giver and no one receiver for each is the giver and each is a receiver. May these rings always remind you of the vows you have made.
FIRE CEREMONY:
The Fire Ceremony is symbolic of the separate lives of the couple and the union of One accomplished by this beautiful and exciting ceremony.
A fire circle is built with high sides made of stones. Seven types of wood are specially cut from specific types of trees. The wood and fire circle are blessed with prayer and song ceremonies.
Three separate fires are prepared in the sacred fire circle. One large fire prepared in the center of the Circle represents the Creator and the holy union of two people. Two smaller fires are prepared, one in the north and one in the south that represents the bride and groom who have individual lives before the wedding ceremonies. Tobacco, sage, sweet grass and corn are sprinkled on the respective fires by the spiritual leader, bride and groom as prayers are given and songs are sung.
The bride and groom each offer a prayer (aloud or silently) as the two small fires are lit. After both fires burn for a few moments, the bride and groom gently push their two small fires into the large stack of wood in the center which catches fire. All sing praises to the Creator as the two lives are merged into one holy union.
