Celtic Wedding

mikiwolf

I Would love to know some good websites for celtic wedding ideas and traditions. or even hear about difrent things ppl did during there celtic wedding.

handfast4me

Are you interested in a specifc tradition of the Celtic Countries, or sort of a mix, as many of us are Scotts/Irish (not Scotch/Irish, as scotch is a drink).  DH and I are Pagan, solitary practitioners. We had a full-on Pagan Handfasting as our first ceremony, then a legal ceremony a year later.  Handfasting is where the term "tie the knot" comes from--the hands are tied together, with natural (we used silk rattail) cording.  Many Christians incorporate this into their ceremonies now, but it's changed a bit to accomodate that religion. 

We used a quaiche, but that is time consuming if it's a big wedding.

Jumping the broom is a Welsh and Pagan tradition--many pagans do it, and African Americans have adopted the tradition as well, even when they marry in a Christian church. 

If you're Scottish, you can use bagpipes (no, they're not Irish) and a pinning of the tartan.  Many men wear kilt if they're Scottish during their wedding ceremony (ladies wear a kilted skirt, not a kilt)  Scottish Tartans are by family/clan, and so the bride has a sashed pinned to her dress of the man's tartan.  Since I'm the Scott in our marriage, we didn't pin my DH, but he wears US Army tartan, and my family's tartan at some events.  There's an entire protocol that goes along with kilt and tartan, so you'll want to read up on that if you decide to do it. 

Just be very cautious of what you read on the internet.  A lot of traditions that are purported to be Irish are actually Scottish, and many of the religious traditions are Pagan, and not allowed in some Christian churches. 

Let me know if you have specific questions, and I would be happy to answer them. 

waterfly

[QUOTE] If you're Scottish, you can use bagpipes (no, they're not Irish)[/QUOTE]

Uillean pipes are, though, and they're quite closely related.

For OP:
A couple things we're doing:

Incorporating triads into our vows...if you look at Irish prayers and blessings and such, a lot of things come in threes, and three is a sacred number(nope, not just a Christian/Catholic thing).

"adopting" eachother...some texts show that part of old Celtic and Germanic marriage "ceremonies" included the groom's family presenting the bride with a key(representing her new role as household manager) and the groom presenting her with a knife, sword, or other "weapon," effectively adopting her into his family.  FI and I decided to incorporate this aspect by exchanging nice pocket-knives after the wedding, both for the symbolism and for practicality.

I'm also considering attaching a little horseshoe charm to my bouquet, as the horseshoe is something that would traditionally be carried by an Irish bride, for luck.

Additionally, I'm sure you could find a number of traditional Irish blessings out there, and probably some toasts.  Similarly, if you're looking at a specific culture rather than pan-Celtic, you might look into having one or two traditional dishes from that region.  There's also a lot of great Celtic music out there, both traditional and newer.

Hope this helps!