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More Celtic Wedding Traditions
Celtic wedding traditions have a long and rich history as old as Ireland itself. Traditions for the ceremony and other wedding customs are steeped in symbolism and are meant to portend a long and happy marriage.
If you want to explore your Irish heritage in your wedding, or you just enjoy the culture and want to adapt some of its customs, here are some of the top Celtic wedding traditions that you could consider incorporating into your own celebration:
Locking the Door
Grooms are known for getting cold feet. To prevent the groom from letting his nerves get the best of him, friends and family would lock the door of the church to prevent him from running out. We're thinking that if you have to lock the door to keep the groom inside, the wedding might be facing bigger problems.
Irish Wedding Toast
There is a special toast that is shared at many traditional Irish weddings. It requires that all the guests gather around the married couple, and then the couple says "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 would then 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."
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The Month of Honey
The first month after the wedding is known as "the month of honey," and it is celebrated by drinking mead (or wine in the modern day). The couples are given enough of the honey drink to enjoy until the first new moon after their wedding, coining the term "honeymoon." The practice was meant to get the marriage off to a good start and to promote virility and fertility.
There are many more superstitions and traditions in Celtic weddings. These are some of the most often celebrated, and some of these have made their way into mainstream culture (or remnants of these traditions have).
Did you include any of these Celtic traditions into your wedding ceremony? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Kim Willington is a freelance researcher for Helpdesksoftware.org, where she has recently been researching ticketing software. In her spare time, she enjoys antiquing and taking long walks with her retriever, Spencer.
You'll find my own personal favorite wedding traditions, along with Celtic toasts, poems, and lore in the book that accompanies my CD "Haste to the Wedding" (but this book only accompanies the physical CD--the info isn't contained in downloads). Buy this CD at my website, on amazon.com, and CDBaby.com.
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