Your Celtic Wedding Journey
The Celtic Wedding Ceremony today tends to have much common from one Celtic nation to another. These include the bride’s white dress, rings, wedding cake, flowers and attendants, the feast, even pranks played on the couple as they make their final exit. Some basics will be determined by Church and State. Yet weddings are also a time when all who gather to witness the event will look back at their roots and dream about their future. Families and friends welcome you into the community as a couple. Incorporating our Celtic heritage into the ceremony brings beauty, grace, meaning and laughter.
We offer these articles as a place to weave the new threads, honoring our ancestors by bringing their culture and traditions into who we are now.
The Final Word on Celtic Wedding Cakes
Traditions
Celtic Wedding traditions are as varied as there are variety of Celt. In the Seven remaining Celtic nations, most wedding traditions have become more or less homogenized and there are various local variations and colorful twists.
Many and in fact, most of the traditions we are familiar today come from the Celtic world. Here are a few examples of the many and where they are thought to come from:
Below are some additional articles related to various Celtic Traditions surrounding the Wedding Day, both modern and ancient:
A Brief History of Handfasting
Some Ancient Celtic Wedding Traditions
.
The Wedding Ring and The Celtic World
Wedding Rings date back to the time of the Egyptians, perhaps even further back. Originally, they were made of woven plant fiber such as papyrus or certain grasses. These were later replaced by sturdier materials, leather, bone, and eventually iron by the time of the Romans. Though gold rings did exist, they were less commonly used up to this point in history for betrothal and weddings.
In the Celtic world, wedding rings were made more popular through the influence of the Romans. The historical record does not seem to show wedding rings or indeed rings being very popular for Celtic people until after the influence of Rome.
Often in Rome, the ring also symbolized the joining of a man and a women and often the woman was considered as part of the man’s property legally except in some cases involving nobles. In Celtic culture the perspective was very different. Marriage was treated more like a contract between equals. Each contributed an equal amount of wealth to the marriage. If one survived the other, they would inherit all.
Wedding rings came into more common use after the onset of Christianity and this greatly influenced Celtic culture as the Celts endured the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages and so on. By this time, rings had become the staple, even mandatory and it was not uncommon for a poor person to ‘rent’ a wedding ring for a ceremony and then have to return it to the merchant afterwards.By this time gold had become the staple for most wedding rings.
In many parts of the Celtic world the custom of Handfasting was also predominant during this time. A couple would have a trial period, usually of “One Year and a Day” where they would co-habitate and live as man and wife in the same household. If this was successful, there would be a follow up ceremony to ‘cement’ the marriage. Often during this time a betrothal ring would be worn by the woman which would be replaced by a wedding ring later. The man was not required to wear a betrothal ring.
In Ireland, the now popular ‘Claddagh’ ring gained popularity as a wedding ring, in the 17th century. Though a recent design, (only 300+ years or so old), it originally was a ring to show fealty to one’s lord, who were often English and usually absent from the day to day running of their various estates. Later it became a betrothal ring complete with it’s own set of meaning for how it was worn. Originally inspired from the Galway area of Ireland, it enjoys wide appeal in the UK as well as America and Canada.
Below are some articles related to the Wedding Ring and it’s continued relationship to the Celtic World:
Interpreting The Celtic Knots In Your Wedding Ring
More Meanings for Celtic Ring Designs
Superstitions and The Celtic Wedding
The Celts historically have always been a superstitious lot, and the primary source of their worries is the Faery People, sometimes referred to as ‘sidhe’ (pronounced ‘shee’), though this particular name refers to a particular group of faery folk who generaly reside within the mountains or under Earth mounds, underground. Members of the Tuatha De Danaan, (see the ‘The Book of the Dun Cow’ and the ‘Book of Leinster’ for more info) these ‘little folk’ as they popularly became known could cause havoc for a bride and groom wishing to get married. Often considered jealous and capricious if not well honored, they were known to curse and even spirit away brides before and even on their wedding day.
Often pains would be taken to appease these little blighters either by gifting, picking one’s day and time carefully and even adding things to ward them away or that they do not like in order for them to stay away.
Irish Superstitions
Scottish Superstition
Creating an Alternative or Green Wedding Ceremony
Creating a custom and alternative wedding for your special day is fun and rewarding! Why have an ordinary wedding? It is your special day, a day of celebration and remembrances. If you want to honor your Celtic heritage you can incorporate many things that you can find here. Finding a wedding planner with experience in Celtic and Alternative style weddings is also a plus. Celtic music, perhaps even a live Celtic band, a Scots Piper or even an Irish Uilleann Piper can lend a special something to your glorious day, perhaps even inspiring a new or reviving an old family tradition.
Below are articles giving suggestions on how to make your special day more fun…..and more special….and maybe even a wee more Celtic!
