Wine Ceremony
The Wine Ceremony symbolizes the blending of two lives into one.
By blending sweet and dry wines together, or red and white wines together, it can be used to symbolize the marriage bond that persists in times and joy and in sorrow and two becoming one.
The Wine ceremony usually takes place after the ring exchange. Music during the wine ceremony can add a nice touch, but is always optional.
Two small carafes (one with white wine, and one with red) are placed next to a larger empty carafe with a wineglass on a small table off to the side of the ceremony. It can be the same table that will be used to sign the licence. Alternatively, you can use two carafes and one empty wine glass.
The Wine Ceremony can be divided into two parts.
During the Wedding Processional, one of the attendants from each side carries the red or white carafe and places it on the table. Or, the parents of the couples come forward with bottles of wine and fill the smaller carafes already on the table just before they are seated and then the wedding processional starts.
Following the exchange of vows, the couple each takes a small carafe and together they pour their wine into the larger carafe or directly into the wine glass. The couple then sips the combined wine from the same glass.
The following are samples of a Wine Ceremony:
Officiant: "To symbolize and celebrate the blending of your two lives into one, I invite you to perform the Wine Ceremony".
(The couple proceeds to the table and each takes an individual carafe and pours some wine into the larger carafe. One party then takes the larger filled carafe with the combined wine and pours some in a glass for the Other. The groom/bride may now toast his/her partner by saying "Now our lives are one" or "To our lives together" or "To us" !
The couple then drinks from the glass. This is a great place to add some special words to each other.
They place the wine glasses back on the table and return back to the officiant).
“This ceremony represents your two individual lives, combined like the two wines into one single life. The drinking of the combined wine signifies the commitment you now make to live your lives as one. Remember this day of commitment, the day you toasted with the blended wine, joining your lives as one."
Officiant: “This wine, produced from the grapes in this vineyard on which we stand, symbolizes the journey of your new life together. These grapes, which have grown from this ground, have been tended to with love and care. Sometimes strong as in the autumn harvest time, and sometimes tender, tentative, and fragile as the springtime shoots that brave the frost, they continue to grow, as will your love for each other.
This glass of wine symbolizes the sum of your life experiences. It contains within it the sweet flavours of love, joy, wonder and contentment. This same cup, at times, holds the bitter taste of sadness, pain, and despair. When you drink deeply of this cup of life, you invite the full spectrum of experiences into your life. As you drink from this cup, you accept the commitment to draw from your marriage all that you need to wash away the bitter flavours of life and to savour the sweet you may encounter as you grow older together.”