Rose Ceremony?

[royalwedding]

I am getting married on the Liberty of the Seas (Royal Caribbeab)and I was just wondering what is involved in a hand ceremony and what is involved in a rose ceremony? or if anyone suggests any of the other ceremonies offered?

I was also wondering If my guests who are sailing will be allowed to get ready in their rooms or if they have to come ready? and is there a courtesy room available to those not sailing?

[dcdiva]

Here are some examples of things that can be added to almost any wedding to make a bit more personal. I think the Unity Candle Ceremony is by far the most popular, but these are some alternatives. In our case, we were married onboard ship and candles are always and issue because of the fire hazard. So we opted for the Wine Ceremony. If you like any of these, I am sure can find different wording or variations.

 

Hand Blessing Ceremony Bride], please hold [Groom's] hands palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you. These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and vibrant with love, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as he promises to passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness. These are the hands that will work along side yours, as together you build your future, as you laugh and cry, as you share your innermost secrets and dreams. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes: tears of sorrow and tears of joy.

These are the hands that will comfort you in illness, and hold you when fear or grief engulfs your heart. These are the hands that when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

These are the hands that will tenderly lift your chin and brush your cheek as they raise your face to look into his eyes: eyes that are filled completely with his overwhelming love and desire for you.

 

[Groom], please hold [bride's] hands palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you. These are the hands of your best friend, smooth, young and carefree, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as she promises to passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness. These are the hands that will massage tension from you neck and back in the evenings after you’ve both had a long hard day. These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times. These are the hands that will comfort you when you are sick, or console you when you are grieving. These are the hands that when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch. These are the hands that will give you support as she encourages you to chase down your dreams. Together as a team, everything you wish for can be realized.

 

God, bless these hands that you see before you this day. May they always be held by one another. Give them the strength to hold on during the storms of stress and the dark of disillusionment. Keep them tender and gentle as they nurture each other in their wondrous love. Help these hands to continue building a relationship founded in your grace, rich in caring, and devoted in reaching for your perfection. May [Groom] and [bride] see their four hands as healer, protector, shelter and guide. We ask this in Your/Jesus name, Amen.

 

The Red Rose Exchange The Bride & Groom give each other a red Rose as their first gift as husband & wife. Two roses are all that is necessary.

______ and ______ your gift to each other for your wedding today has been your wedding rings - which shall always be an outward demonstration of your vows of love and respect; and a public showing of your commitment to each other. You now have the most honorable title that may exist between a man and a woman - the title of "husband" and "wife." In the elegant language of flowers, red roses are a symbol of love; the giving of a single red rose is a clear and unmistakable way of saying the words "I love you." For this reason it is fitting that the first gift you exchange as husband and wife would be the gift of a single red rose. Please exchange your first gift as husband and wife. You both have given and received one of the most valuable and precious gifts of life - one I hope you always remember - the gift of true and abiding love within the devotion of marriage. In every marriage there are times when it is difficult to find the right words, and the ones we love the most are the ones we can most easily hurt. There are times when it may be difficult to say "I'm sorry" or "I forgive you" or "I need you" or "I'm hurting." ______ and ______I would ask that wherever you may make your home, that you choose a special location. And at those times when words fail, that you leave a red rose at that spot you have both selected -- a rose that will say what matters more than all other words..."I still love you; The other should accept this rose for the words that cannot be found, and remember the love and hope that you both have shared today. White Rose Ceremony (May be used as exchange of vows) Groom (as he hands his bride a long-stemmed white rose): "_____, take this rose as a symbol of my love. It began as a tiny bud and blossomed, just as my love has grown and blossomed for you" Bride (as she places the rose into a bud vase filled with water): "I take this rose, as a symbol of your love, and I place it into water, a symbol of life. For, just as this rose cannot survive without water, I cannot survive without you." Groom: "In remembrance of this day, I will give you a white rose each year on our anniversary, as a reaffirmation of my love and the vows spoken here today" Bride: "And I will refill this vase with water each year, ready to receive your gift, in reaffirmation of the new life you have given me and the vows spoken here today". Groom (as he and his bride join hands around the rose-filled vase): "And so, this rose will be a symbolic memory of my commitment to you this hour; I vow to be a faithful husband to you, to comfort you, honor you, and respect you and cherish you all the days of my life." Bride (as they continue to hold the vase together): "And I commit myself to you, to be a faithful wife, to comfort you, honor you, respect you, and cherish you all the days of my life". [/url]Wine Ceremony Officiant pours wine into goblet and holds it up and says. The years of life are as a cup of wine poured out for you to drink. This “Cup of Life” contains within it a wine with certain properties that are sweet and symbolic of happiness, joy, hope, peace, love and delight. This same wine also holds some bitter properties that are symbolic of disappointment, sorrow, grief, despair, and life’s trials and tribulations. Together the sweet and the bitter represent “Life’s Journey” and all of the experiences that are a natural part of it. Those who drink deeply from the “Cup of Life” with an open heart and willing spirit, invite the full range of challenges and experiences into their being.

 

This “Cup of Life” is symbolic of the pledges you have made to one another to share together the fullness of life. As you drink from this cup, you acknowledge to one another that your lives, until this moment separate, have become one. Drink now, and may the cup of your lives be sweet and full to running over."

 

Officiant hands glass to groom, who drinks, then hands it to bride, who drinks, who passes it back to officiant.

 

Officiant: As you have shared this cup of wine, so may you share your lives. May all the sweetness that it holds for you be the sweeter because you taste it together. May you find life’s joys heightened, it’s bitterness sweetened, and all of life enriched by God’s blessings upon you. Hand-Fasting Ceremony (May be used as a substitute for the Declaration of Intent) _____ and _____ have chosen to incorporate the ancient Celtic ritual of Hand-fasting into their wedding ceremony today. Hand-fasting is a wedding ritual in which the couples' hands are tied together with a ceremonial cloth or cord. Hand-fasting is a declaration of intent, where the bride and groom clearly state that they are marrying of their own free will. _____ and _____ know now before you go further, that since your lives have crossed in this life, you have formed eternal and sacred bonds. As you seek to enter this state of matrimony you should strive to make real the ideals that give meaning to this ceremony and to the institution of marriage. With full awareness, know that within this circle you are not only declaring your intent to be hand-fasted before your friends and family, but you speak that intent also to God. The promises made today and the ties that are bound here greatly strengthen your union and will cross the years and lives of each soul's growth.

 

Do you still seek to enter this ceremony? (Yes)

 

_____ and _____, I please look into each others eyes. (Hold hands – Bride’s left hand, Groom’s right hand)

 

Will you honor and respect one another, and seek to never break that honor? (We will)

The first cord is draped over the couples' hands.

 

Will you share each other's pain and seek to ease it? (We will)

Second cord is draped over the hands.

 

Will you share the burdens of each so that your spirits may grow in this union? (We will) Third cord is draped over the couples' hands.

 

Will you share each other's laughter, and look for the brightness in life and the positive in each other? (We will)

Fourth cord is draped over the couples' hands. [Tie cords together]

 

_____ and _____, as your hands are bound together now, so your lives and spirits are joined in a union of love and trust. The knots of this binding are not formed by these cords but, rather by the vows you have made. For always you hold in your own hands the fate of this union. Above you are the stars and below you is the earth. Like the stars your love should be a constant source of light, and like the earth, a firm foundation from which to grow.

 

God, bless these hands that you see before you this day. May they always be held by one another. Give them the strength to hold on during the storms of stress and the dark of disillusionment. Keep them tender and gentle as they nurture each other in their wondrous love. Help these hands to continue building a relationship founded in your grace, rich in caring, and devoted in reaching for your perfection. May [Groom] and [bride] see their hands as healer, protector, shelter and guide. We ask this in Your name, Jesus, Amen.

 

[J's Gal]

This is the sand ceremony wording provided by Carnival:

 

________ and ________ may your love always be as constant as the never-ending waves, flowing endlessly from the depths of the sea. Just as the waters touch and nourish the many shores of the earth, may your love be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Just as there will never be a morning without the ocean’s flow, there will never be a day without your love for each other.

 

You have just sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving of rings. This beautiful union is symbolized through the combining of these two individual containers of sand. The first container represents you (Groom) in all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be, and the other container represents you (Bride) in all that you were, all that you are and all that you will ever be.

 

Each one holds its own unique beauty, strength, and character. They can stand on their own and be whole, without need of anything else. However, when these two are blended together they create an entirely new and extraordinarily more intricate entity. Each grain of sand brings to the mixture a lasting beauty that forever enriched the combination. Please pour the sand into this common container to symbolize the union of your two lives. Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage be a molding of two individual personalities, bonded together forming one heart, one love. The life that each of you experienced now, individually, will hereafter be inseparably united, for the two shall become one.

[royalwedding]

DC Diva -

 

Is that hand blessing the exact one they do on the cruise, I mean if I check if off on our sheet that we want the hand blessing ceremony is that what we'll get? I think it's really pretty. Or do I need to print that out and give it to them?

[tameka94]

Thanks DCDIVA and J's Gal. The info is really helpful.