“If a man can find a suitable and understanding wife and a woman can find a suitable and understanding husband, both are fortunate indeed.” – The Buddha, according to Access to Insight

I’ve been doing some research to find out of there are any Buddhist traditions that we might want to incorporate into the ceremony – which will be original and agnostic. It turns out there is no such thing as an explicitly Buddhist wedding.

Whereas in many religions (both Asian and western), marriage is a sacrament and an essential aspect of religious duty, marriage in Buddhism is purely a secular affair. A Buddhist’s decision to wed is not affected by or intertwined with a desire to continue the Buddhist faith. Marriage is considered a personal concern; there are no religious directions on whether or not one should marry or remain unwed. There is also no formal wedding service.
- Aryabhatt Matrimony

That said, here are some nice examples:

• Guri & Nipun’s wedding vows
• dharma talk at Katya & Doug’s wedding

And here’s something I’m sure we won’t do, but is interesting:

“In five ways should a wife, as Western quarter, be ministered to by her husband: by respect, by courtesy, by faithfulness, by handing over authority to her, by providing her with ornaments. In these five ways does the wife minister to by her husband as the Western quarter, love him: her duties are well-performed by hospitality to kin of both, by faithfulness, by watching over the goods he brings and by skill and industry in discharging all business.”
- Aryabhatt Matrimony

And here are more examples (from Asian cultures): UrbanDharma.org newsletter on “Buddhist Weddings ]]> http://www.brianandruby.org/2006/04/buddhist-weddings/feed/ 0