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Celtic Handfasting / Tying the Knot

harringtone1harringtone1
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in Wedding Customs & Traditions Forum
Hi all - I was wondering if anyone knew anything about handfasting or did this at their wedding? 

My fiance and I are both Irish, and because we're not having a religious ceremony we love the idea of incorporating a unique, special tradition into our day. I've been reading a bit about old Celtic handfasting (literally "tying the knot") and was wondering if any of you had ever done this or seen it done? I'd love to know more about the actual logistics of how it works (i.e., if your hands are tied, how do you exchange rings? silly things like that). It seems really unique and cute, but I'm having a hard time really envisioning how the whole thing works.

Thanks!!
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Re: Celtic Handfasting / Tying the Knot

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    handfast4mehandfast4me member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    Ok, a few things.  First, handfasting is religious, it's just not Christian. It was seen as a trilal marriage of a year and one day, and then the couple could choose to remain together at that time.  

    DH and I are Pagan, and this is the Pagan marriage ceremony.  Although it's of Celtic origin, it is significant to those of us who are Pagans, so you may want to consider that before you decide to incorporate this into your ceremony.  If you're getting married in a Christian church (which I doubt, as you said you're not having a religious ceremony) some Christians won't allow it to be done in their churches. 

    Just google handfasting, and TONS of Pagan ceremonies will come up, including casting a circle, etc.   You'll have to decide how you're going to do it if you decide to go ahead with it.  In Pagan tradition, the couple join hands right to right, left to left, so that from above,  you look like the infinity symbol.  But most Christian churches only join right hands, which is sacred masculine (left is sacred feminine, which is why the Christian churches don't use the left hand--there can be a good bit of misogony in Christianity).   Many Pagan couples just drap the cord over their hands--but others actuallly tie a knot.   We made our cord, and each color that we used has a significance in Pagan tradition.  Scottish couples sometimes use a ribbon of their tartan, because Scottish tartans are by family; while Irish tartans are usually be county--so no familial tie.  No pun intended. :-)

    Think about how you'll end this part of your ceremony.  In Pagan tradition, the High Priestess dictates to the couple how long they will remain knotted.  Whether that's 20 minutes (as in our ceremony) 20 hours, or a full day.  It's to make the couple really get to know one another.  

    If you have particular questions, PM me. 
    image Don't mess with the old dogs; age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill! BS and brilliance only come with age and experience.
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    kristakay4102kristakay4102 member
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    harringtone1 I PM you some information that we are using. It was really long to post here. Let me know if you have any other questions.
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    harringtone1harringtone1
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    Thanks so much guys! Very helpful!
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    erindesireeerindesiree member
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    Can someone send me some of the info on the hand-fasting as well. I am also considering. thanks!
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    crissyjo729crissyjo729 member
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    i also want to do handfasting, i have 11 months to go and i cant figure out how to incorparate this into my ceremony,my fiance is irish and my family is mixed so we are definetly trying to add celtic traditions, any suggestions on what part of te ceremony this should be done?
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    Andrea&DanielAndrea&Daniel
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    My Fiance and I are doing a modified hand fasting at our ceremony. We are having the ribbons embordied with marriage advace from our parents and grandparents and they will each tie that ribbon around our hands.
    The only thing I am concerned about is how to gracefully take the ribbons off so we can carry on with the rest of the ceremony. Any suggestions would be helpful.
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    kelcrenee87kelcrenee87
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    Glad I am not the only one doing a Handfasting!!!!
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    Binding TiesBinding Ties member
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    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_celtic-handfasting-tying-the-knot?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:36Discussion:274edb5f-34f3-4710-9c23-66d074f7cedbPost:c521b657-ee1c-4bb7-befd-f018d84a02fa">Re: Celtic Handfasting / Tying the Knot</a>:
    [QUOTE]My Fiance and I are doing a modified hand fasting at our ceremony. We are having the ribbons embordied with marriage advace from our parents and grandparents and they will each tie that ribbon around our hands. The only thing I am concerned about is how to gracefully take the ribbons off so we can carry on with the rest of the ceremony. Any suggestions would be helpful.
    Posted by Andrea&Daniel[/QUOTE]
    The easiest way would be to split the ribbons into two groups, one for you to hold, and one for your OH. As long as you each hold tight onto one end of your ribbon group, you can still have them bound around your wrists, whoever is doing the ceremony can tie the loose ends together, then when your finished, your ribbons really have 'tied the knot' rather than getting unwrapped completely :-)
    <a href="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/7/1/57494ef7-2535-4f85-b112-7de71af6dd72.large.jpg" title="Click to view a larger photo" class="PhotoLink"> <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/7/1/57494ef7-2535-4f85-b112-7de71af6dd72.medium.jpg" alt="" /></a> Its a little tricky to see, but my right hand is holding into the end of a cord, as well as holding the OH's left arm. His left hand held onto one end of his cord and my arm, and our celebrant did the tying while our other hands stayed palm to palm through the vows.

    Hope that helps a bit :-)
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