Weddingbee Blog

In less than 2 weeks!

Ok, back to the blog post. I told y’all a long time ago that I wanted to add some Celtic traditions into our wedding. But I’ve been struggling with how to do it exactly.

Then I stumbled upon Mrs. Cherry Pie’s ceremony and more specifically, her handfasting ceremony. Handfasting is a Celtic wedding unity ceremony that symbolizes the coming together and remaining together of the couple.

Source

Once we decided we wanted to include this tradition, we had to decide what material we wanted to use to bind our hands together.

Cords…

Source

Ribbons…

Source

Oh ribbon. Confession time: I’ve probably spent more money on ribbon than anything else (craft-wise) for this wedding. It’s ridiculous how many spools of ribbon I’ve gone through in the last year while creating my wedding look.

I only got as far as ribbons for options and it was decided. Ribbons! After Googling handfasting ribbons I found out even more about the tradition. Apparently each ribbon color represents something about the marriage.

• Red: passion, strength, lust, fertility
• Orange: encouragement, attraction, kindness, plenty
• Yellow: charm, confidence, joy, balance
• Green: finances, fertility, charity, prosperity, health
• Blue: tranquility, patience, devotion, sincerity
• Purple: Power, piety, sanctity, sentimentality
• Black: strength, wisdom, vision, success
• White: purity, concentration, meditation, peace
• Gray: neutrality, canceling, balance
• Pink: unity, honor, truth, romance, happiness
• Brown: earth, grounding, talent, telepathy, home
• Silver: treasure, values, creativity, inspiration
• Gold: energy, wealth, intelligence, longevity

Source

I do love me some color so of course I had to buy all of the colors. I just couldn’t leave anything out. So I was off to Jo-Ann’s once again in search of ribbon.

I started by cutting the same length of ribbon in each color. But because I got such thin ribbon, I noticed the ribbon was getting all tangled up. So I grabbed a piece of fabric and sewed the center of each ribbon to the fabric. This way the ribbons are way more manageable.

What type of unity ceremony are you including in your wedding day? Are you planning on incorporating any ethnic rituals in your day?