Irish Wedding Blessings
One of the most popular blessings used for marriage services is "May The Road Rise Up To Meet You". You'll find this prayer lower down on this page, together with a well known variation of the blessing. There's also a song version here with a video that can be played in a wedding ceremony.
Also featured here are two other popular traditional Irish blessings - "Happy is the bride that rain falls on" and "I wish you not a path devoid of clouds" (youtube film) - the last one could also be used as a video to show in a marriage ceremony.
Irish blessings are often associated with early Irish Christianity. A number of famous gaelic prayers are thought to have their origins in the founding fathers of the Celtic Christians. For example, "I arise today" is commonly attributed to St Patrick, a fifth century missionary who is credited with establishing the church in Ireland. Most Irish blessings have their origins in the Gaelic language, which gives them a beautiful and individual feel.
resources on this page
"May there always be work" blessing
Happy is the bride that rain falls on
May The Road Rise Up To Meet You
This musical version of the Irish blessing "May The Road Rise Up To Meet You" could be used as a wedding ceremony song for playing to the bride and groom, or as bridal entry music (or even for leaving the church marriage as a wedding recessional song). The track is available as an mp3 download from here, with the score and words also downloadable in pdf form for playing live:-
Dance as though no one is watching you. Love as though you have never been hurt before. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though heaven is on earth.
(Souza)
May The Road Rise Up To Meet You
A Traditional Irish Blessing
In English:-
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
the rain fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
And in Irish Gaelic:-
Go n-éirí an bóthar leat.
Go raibh cóir na gaoithe i gcónaí leat.
Go dtaitní an ghrian go bog bláth ar do chlár éadain,
go dtite an bháisteach go bog mín ar do ghoirt.
Agus go gcasfar le chéile sinn arís,
go gcoinní Dia i mbois a láimhe thú.
Several variations and extensions exist to this prayer blessing. Here is one of the most popular ones:-
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May God be with you and bless you;
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.
Happy Is The Bride That Rain Falls On
(A traditional Irish Blessing)
Happy is the bride that rain falls on
May your mornings bring joy and your evenings bring peace.
May your troubles grow few as your blessings increase.
May the saddest day of your future
Be no worse than the happiest day of your past.
May your hands be forever clasped in friendship
And your hearts joined forever in love.
Your lives are very special,
God has touched you in many ways.
May his blessings rest upon you
And fill all your coming days.
We swear by peace and love to stand,
Heart to heart and hand to hand.
Hark, O Spirit, and hear us now,
Confirming this our Sacred Vow.
Irish Prayer
(suitable as a wedding blessing)May joy and peace surround you both,
Contentment latch your door,
And happiness be with you now,
And love be cherished evermore
Take a moment to hear from God...
here are links to some wonderfully inspired prayers to aid your journey