The couple have chosen to build upon the ancient tradition of handfasting. To tie the knot, did not start out as an abstract term. It is a phrase that grew from the act of unions being made by the joining of hands over a village anvil, in the fields, or a group of trees prior to marriage being sanctified in the church. The knot that binds the hands together symbolizes the bonding of two hearts as on.
Woven into this cord are the hopes and wishes of all friends and family as well as the Bride and Grooms’s own for their new life together. With the fashioning of this knot I will tie all the desires, dreams, love and happiness wished here. I ask now that you join hands and look into one another’s eyes.
Will you share each other’s pain and seek to ease it?
Will you both look for the brightness in life and positivity in one another?
Will you share the burden of each other so your spirits may grow?
Will you dream together, to create new realities and hopes?
Will you endeavor to maintain the purity and sacredness of this union?
The true knots of this binding are not formed by the cord, but by the vows you have spoken. Either of you may drop the cord, as you hold in your hands, the making or breaking of this marriage. These are the hands that will love and cherish you through the years, that will wipe tears of sorrow and of joy from your eyes. These hands will comfort you in illness and hold you tight through difficult times. May this knot remain tied as long as love shall last.
Here’s a good link with information on the actual tying of the cord: