Does anyone recall using a sword in a wedding ceremony other than the "arch of sabers" you see in military rites? I'm officiating for a friend's wedding and plan to hold a sword when I ask if anyone has any reason why they should not be married. I then will lay the hopefully unused blade before the lucky couple and have them jump over it at the end.
They are both sword nuts and I think this will be a memorable addition to their wedding.
I'll post pictures later. W

I wore a saber at my wedding as part of my military uniform (Corps of Cadets, Texas A&M). We used the saber to cut the cake.

We had a Wilkinson spadroon type thingy (not a proper sword but more an SLO) at a friends wedding where it was used to cut the cake.

My girlfriend's sister got married a few years ago, and they used a rapier to cut the cake:

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look for information about jumping the broomstick as well as celtic wedding practices, I have been to several weddings that the married couple jumped a broomstick, the preamble to this was the male holding a broadsword and the female a broom, both items were crossed on the ground at the end of the service and the couple stepped over them into their marriage, I believe it had something to do with the husbands promise to protect home and hearth, not my religious belief system so I am not as familiar with it as someone who follows that system.

A good source maybe to contact your local chapter of the SCA or call the home offices of any of the larger renaissance festivals around the country and ask for the contact information of whomever handles the pagan weddings.

I hope that helps.

I remember hearing about traditions where a couple jump over a sword together. Search on handfasting ceremonies -
Here is a blurb stolen from somewhere online

Once the couple have "tied the knot" and their words of love and commitment are made then the couple will usually jump over a sword and broom while still holding hands. The sword is meant to symbolize the idea that you are cutting away the ties that are part of your old life, before the couples were together. The broom represents the remnants of the past life being swept away.

One of my best friends lent us a (Victorian?) antique rapier to cut our cake with.

Whatever you do decide upon for your friend's ceremony, please let us know what it was, and how it was received by the party!

In Heinlein's Glory Road the hero and heroin jump over Lady Vivamus in there own private ceremony...[ Linked Image ]

This one's from Albion, but there are a few others out there.

As long as you don´t use it for a divorce i seems to be okay ;)

I've seen pagan handfastings where they used a sword nstead of a broom....My wife and I used my fyrdman spear(a sca fighting rank in calontir...ks, mo, nebraskaand parts of iowa)

The ceremony went very well. Unseasonably cool weather combined with a break in saturday's showers made for a pleasant afternoon. I carried an Albion Prince which conveyed an air of authority without being so showy as to upstage the bride. I felt a little trepidation when the photographer chose a small island in the ornamental pond that was set in front of the gazebo picked for the site, as I recall that in viking times when men "went out to the island" with a sword only one came back. ( I'm a bit smaller than the groom and for that matter the bride ). But , as I was the clergy and the only one carrying a sword , I went. The sword proved to be a favorite of the photographer and the audience as well. The father of the bride turns out to be a history buff , and afterwards told me I had missed a chance to educate the group in pre-christian or at least pre-church wedding traditions. The sword was actually unsheathed and held only for the "if anyone can show just cause why these two should not" etc. portion and then laid (unused) at the couples feet. After vows and rings and a binding of hands, I bid the couple to jump over it and afterward declared them married. The married couple and the crowd were all quite happy with the ceremony. W