Your Ceremony
A legal Wedding in the Goddess Temple is a unique Handfasting. It is an ancient Pagan sacred ceremony which takes the couple on a journey around the four elements of Air, Fire, Water and Earth. Here you will receive elemental rituals and we will hear your sacred words of why you love one another.
The Air ritual represents the beginning of your relationship. The Priestess Celebrant smudges you with incense, hand-blended by you both in a private ceremony with your Priestess beforehand. Here you will be energetically cleansed, clearing old energies and welcoming in the new.
At Fire the ritual we bless your union with the sacred temple flame, the Flame of Avalon. Fire represents passion and the fire of love in your relationship. During the ritual you are both invited to light your own candle from the temple flame and so keep it as a perpetual flame to love with the deep connection to the Goddess Temple wherein you speak your words of truth and love.
For the Water ritual we have the Temple chalice, which holds the waters of the red and white springs, collected ceremonially by Priestesses the evening before your Marriage. The element of water represents the emotions and flowing freely with the Ocean of your love as you take your vows and say the legal words.
At Earth we have the handfasting ritual, which is the deepening of the sacred marriage. In Avalon we favour the hoop and wand method. The groom creates his wand from a fallen branch that is a gift from Mother Earth on the forest floor or even driftwood from the seashore. This represents the sacred masculine and is prepared by the husband-to-be. The hoop is traditionally made by the bride from withies, flexible lengths of willow wood, and decorated with silk flowers, ribbons and crystals. The hoop represents the divine feminine. Together the couple’s ring hands are bound with red and white ribbons to the hoop and wand (white for the father line and red for the mother line). The guests attending are then invited to come forward to tie their ribbons onto the hoop and wand and to offer their personal blessings and good wishes. The ribbons containing the energies and love of everyone attending!
Sacred Incense Blending For Beloveds
Before your Wedding day you are invited to come to blend your own ceremonial incense which will be used for the Air ritual for your Wedding ceremony. All ingredients are provided, organic resins, herbs and woods and prepared by your Priestesses for you both to mix your very own blend with loving intention. This is a deeply energetic connection to the rituals that will follow for your Wedding.
The Cake and Mead Ceremony
After the traditional ‘Jumping over the Besom Broom’, the Cake and Mead ceremony is prepared for you to honour the Elements, Ancestors, Goddesses and Gods.
All is made ready by your devoted team of Wedding Melissas in the Glastonbury Experience Courtyard, or if inclement weather the ceremony is easily held in the Temple. We will supply delicious Mead, Chalice Well Apple Juice, and a platter of bite size pieces of scrumptious locally made apple cake. As the newly married Sacred Couple you will each offer the Mead and the cake as a blessing for your wedding party.
Each of your guests are invited to sip the Mead, with the words ‘’May you never go thirsty,” then offered the cake with the blessing, ‘’May you never go hungry.’’
(Gluten free and vegan cakes provided on request.)