How to Have a Traditional Irish Wedding
Traditional Wedding Customs from Ireland Keep Irish Heritage Alive
May 11, 2009
As the worldwide love for Emerald Isle exports from St. Patrick’s Day to a pint of Guinness to the music of U2, shows, everyone feels at least a little bit Irish. So, why not incorporate a touch of Irish tradition into the special day for exchanging vows?
Indeed, the very language people use to describe a wedding in casual terms, “tying the knot,” comes from Irish tradition. It refers to the old Irish custom known as “handfasting,” in which the bride’s and groom’s hands were tied together during the marriage ceremony as a symbol of their commitment to each other.
Read over the Irish wedding customs that follow. Then add to the wedding those that feel right, whatever the heritage of the bride and groom.
Irish Wedding Customs
- Bells. Rung to chase off evil spirits, small bells may be passed out among the congregants at the ceremony for them to sound as the bride walks down the aisle.
- Magic Hanky. The bride carries a special linen handkerchief that, when the moment comes, can be simply transformed with needle and thread into a bonnet for her first baby.
- Horseshoes. Dating back to the ancient belief that there are magical powers present in the iron from which actual horseshoes are forged, this tradition calls for the bride to carry a tiny horseshoe charm in her bouquet or sewn into the hem of her dress as a symbol of good fortune. Bride and groom may also be given an actual horseshoe as a gift, to hang in their home together. Horseshoes are always placed with their open ends facing up so that fortune won’t spill out.
- Handfasting. This ancient Celtic ceremony involved the tying together of a couple’s wrists as a symbol of their unity. Sometimes, handfasting was considered wedding ceremony enough, without need of an attending priest.
- Claddagh Ring. The traditional Irish design symbolically sums up the essence of marriage. Two hands of friendship clasp a heart for love, above which rests a crown symbolizing eternal honor and loyalty.
- Mead. The ancient, potent brew fermented from honey is served to the wedding couple, with the intention of increasing her fertility and his virility.
- Salt and Oatmeal. To begin the wedding banquet, bride and groom together take three bites each of these down-to-earth, hearth-and-home foods to ward off the evil eye.
- Kidnapping the Bride. The wedding party traditionally ends with the groom picking up and carrying off his bride, a playful reference to the ancient practice of mead-intoxicated men kidnapping the women they wanted to make their wives.
Interestingly, that last custom, along with the drinking of mead, is also believed to be the source of the common English-language name for the couple’s post-wedding vacation together: the honeymoon.
Have a glorious married life together! (For more wedding traditions, have a look at How to Have a Traditional Italian Wedding or How to Have a Traditional Greek Wedding. Need advice on the ring? See How to Judge a Diamond’s Quality and Shape.)
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