Handfasting is an old Irish ceremony of commitment. The ceremony formalized a relationship, whether an engagement, a permanent marriage, or a marriage over several lifetimes. This Celtic ceremony of unity represents the intention of a man and a woman to make their lives together and ideally to love and cherish one another. The Celtic harvest festival of Lughnasaon, on August 1st, was greatly anticipated, not only because of gratitude for the harvest, but because by the end of it, many couples had formed, were handfasted, and went off for a year of marriage. They would renew their vows the following year, a year-and-a-day later. Handfasting goes back to ancient times in Ireland, as do the Irish Brehon laws, which are the oldest, most original and most extensive of medieval European legal systems. When marriages were not always what we today think of as traditional, it was practiced even in Christian Ireland. There were not always priests around to perform the wedding ceremony and it was not even a requirement that the marriage be witnessed for it to be legally binding once the couple had performed the ceremony. In handfasting, the wrists of the couple are bound together with a ribbon or cord. Each party holds the hands of the other, right hand to right hand, left hand to left, their wrists crossed. The ribbon is wound around the wrists, over the top of one and under and around the other, creating the infinity symbol. It is said that this practice is the origin of the term ‘tying the knot ’. The vows were spoken and the celebration commenced. Under Brehon law, there was an understanding that marriages didn't always work out, and incompatible couples needn’t stay together, but the care of children, division of property, and inheritances were serious matters, and provisions were made under these sophisticated laws. Today, the laws of the Catholic Church, however, do not go for this ideology. In a Celtic ceremony, everything has meaning, including the music, the flowers, the braids in the bride's hair, the rings and even the use of evergreen garland around the doorways. Here are some interesting ancient Irish wedding traditions. The groom’s proposal may not be “Will you marry me?”, but something more like “Would you like to be buried with my people?” or “Would you like to hang your washing next to mine?”. The bride would follow ancient Irish traditions of her own, which mostly consisted of things to avoid bad luck.
It's good luck if it rains on your wedding. That's true, but in Ireland, it would be a rare day when a little rain didn’t fall. A man should be the first to congratulate the bride because it is bad luck if a woman gets there first. It's good luck to rise to the song of birds on your wedding day. It’s bad luck to put on your own veil; have a well-married woman do the honors. A bride who can sing well is expected to sing at the wedding. An Irish bride uses a different road home than she took to the church. This may have been started to discourage merrymakers’ attempts on delaying the honeymoon, but it is also a symbol of her new life that begins with her marriage. Your wedding earrings will always bring you luck when you wear them. Many Irish brides prefer wildflower wreaths over elaborate veils and carry wildflower bouquets of which lavender is a favorite. An Irish bride would braid her hair. Braiding of all kinds is traditional, including braided trim on clothes, braided hair or braided wreaths. I have never heard the last part of this custom: ‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and an Irish penny for her shoe’. The wedding celebration was generally celebrated at the home of the bride and the wedding party would always take the longest road home from the church. The wedding guests gather around the bride and groom, with their glasses filled with mead (or champagne), and the newly wedded couple recites an Irish toast: “Friends and relatives, so fond and dear, ’tis our greatest pleasure to have you here. When many years this day has passed, fondest memories will always last. So we drink a cup of Irish mead and ask God's blessing in your hour of need”. The guests respond: “On this special day, our wish to you, the goodness of the old, the best of the new. God bless you both who drink this mead, may it always fill your every need”. The traditional Irish wedding cake is often a rich fruitcake, iced in white, though other cakes are also used. The top tier of the wedding cake should be an Irish whiskey cake, which is saved for the christening of the first baby. A slice of the cake is saved to be eaten on the first anniversary. The Irish wedding cake may sound difficult; however, it is deceptively easy but time consuming. I will be making one of these cakes in the upcoming months, and I will follow the recipe I found to the letter.
The Irish translation for honeymoon is ‘mi na meala’, or the month of honey. An old Irish custom was for the newlyweds to spend a month together drinking honey wine and, at the end of the month, the bride was usually expecting. Honey wine, known as mead, was consumed at weddings because it was thought that it promoted virility. And, of course, the toast “Sláinte”, pronounced SLAWN-cha, means ‘Cheers’ or ‘To good health’. Some of the traditional gifts at Irish weddings are bells (to remind the couple of their wedding vows), salt & pepper shakers, and toasting flutes because they are considered lucky. Some of the must have gifts are Waterford Crystal and some Belleek Parian China. It is inconceivable to start out married life without them and also a bit of Irish lace, along with some fine linen tablecloths. All of these things represent solid commitments. Many of the ancient Irish wedding customs are still followed in modern Ireland. Tradition is very important to the Irish and will undoubtedly be for many generations to come.
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