Wishing Stone Ceremony Wedding Ritual (or Blessing Stones as they are sometimes called) is a wonderful way to include everyone in the wedding by way of offering blessings and good wishes to the newly weds. It also is a good way to ensure that everyone will make contact with the marrying couple at some point during the day. This ritual may be performed within the actual ceremony if there are only a small number of guests (before the Marriage Blessing) or at the conclusion of the service in a receiving line manner.
When the guests arrive at the ceremony, they are given a Blessing Stone along with a note card with words printed on it such as: My wish for you is, or May you be blessed with, or May God bless you with, to name a few, together with a pen or pencil and during the ceremony the celebrant will explain the significance of the Blessing Stone and how to share their wishes for the newly married couple.
Steeped in Scottish roots, the Wishing Stone Ceremony Wedding Ritual, came from a time before wedding rings could be forged from metal, when couples entering marriage wanted to have a deeply symbolic way to show their commitment to each other. Well, this is where the Wishing or Blessing Stone Ritual comes in. If you think about it, a stone is very symbolic in itself. It’s part of the earth, ancient in age and a strong symbol of life. You often here people say ‘you are my rock,’ and maybe this is where that expression comes from. A rock or stone is a sign of strength and endurance, so you can see why it would be so symbolic being used in a wedding ceremony where a couple are pledging strength and endurance to each other.
The most common way of carrying out the Wishing or Blessing Stone Ritual, is that, before you say your vows, the stone is passed among your friends and family in order for them to hold onto it and to pass on the best wishes, love and good vibes. The stone is then passed back to you and you then hold on to the stone whilst your vows are said. You can either hold on to the stone together or one by one, depending on what type of vows you will do and how big the stone is, of course! Saying your vows whilst holding on to a stone is like you are literally casting your vows into stone.
Once the stone has been passed around your guests and then is back in your possession, you can then say your vows whilst holding on to it. This way it makes the act of holding on to the stone more symbolic.