Whatever your spiritual or religious background or current practices (or none at all), including the Spiritual in your wedding ceremony is a wonderful way to honor that this relationship, this marriage, is a part of something greater.
Including the ritual of Spirit invites that power into your wedding ceremony and your marriage: it invites the support, the resources, the teachings to move you forward as a couple.
How would you like to honor, represent, invoke, or hope for that?
If you follow a particular religion or faith, there are many established rituals you can include in the wedding ceremony to give reference to that faith.
If you do not belong to a church, temple or any other religious institution, you can still honor your own spiritual beliefs. As it takes a village to support a marriage – from family, friends, community, teachers, and mentors – you might imagine your marriage as being Divinely guided as well.
Are you combining your spiritual or religious practices? Will you be creating new ones together? Really be present to the experience of what you are creating.
You can even write your own thoughts on the matter, to be read by your officiant at the beginning or completion of the ceremony.
Or it might be a ritual that represents those feelings for you.
Some brides and grooms prescribe to the practice of Yoga as their spiritual 
grounding force. Not that you need to drop into downward dog after your vows, but perhaps you have a favorite yoga mantra you can include in your wedding ceremony.
Or perhaps the teachings of Rumi speak to you – he was a Sufi, quoted from the Qur’an, but his poetry and teachings were considered interdenominational:
(excerpt)
When the veils are burned away,
the heart will understand completely
Ancient Love will unfold ever-fresh forms
In the heart of the Spirit, in the core of the heart.
Are you intrigued by Buddhism? What rituals can you weave into the ceremony to bless your union?
A Christian blessing might speak to you as well. Here are some lovely options to consider:
The Prayer of Saint Francis (excerpt)
O Divine, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned
Irish Blessing (excerpt)
May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.
May the light of friendship guide your paths together.
May the laughter of children grace the halls of your home.
May the joy of living for one another trip a smile from your lips, a twinkle from your eye.
The point of these rituals or blessings is to create a meaningful and visceral experience to help you take note of this moment of your wedding ceremony, this relationship, your place in the world, this transition in your life.
Things to consider when including the Spiritual in your wedding ceremony:
It can be a feeling of nostalgia: honoring your past, childhood, family tradition
It can be a hope for the future, a symbol of the people and partners you want to become, the relationship you want to create.
It can be an anchor, from which to take your first steps in this new journey together.
Photo credit: Brant Bender Photography
There is no need to re-create the wheel. If a ritual or tradition speaks to you, then explore all the ways you might want to include it for all its traditional implications as well as your personal perspective of it.
As an Ordained Minister I believe in the Divine: the gel of Love and Synchronicity and Harmony that holds everything together and moves Life forward.
The “nondenominational” means I do not insist on prescribing to a specific religious tenet to express that belief. I am open to facilitating ceremonies for all faiths in whatever way helps you connect with the Divine as you experience it.
And that is what religious and spiritual rituals are all about: helping you connect with the Divine. Gaining a closer understanding of how the Divine acts and is expressed in your life, and every important transition in your life, including your wedding ceremony.
It doesn’t need to be elaborate, just meaningful. When it comes to the Spirit, keep it simple.
Read more about Navigating the G-word in your Wedding Ceremony.
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