Handfasting :: A Celtic Wedding Tradition
A wedding is a tradition in and of itself, but within a wedding there are many opportunities for a couple to connect to their history, heritage, family, and values. With this styled shoot from Shannon Leahy Event Design & Planning, we take a look at the tradition of hand fasting.
Photography by Larissa Cleveland.
Handfasting is an ancient tradition – there are records of it appearing in the English language dating back to the year 1200! Originating in Western Europe, in late medieval times it was a common term for marriage in parts of what is now the United Kingdom. Over the centuries it has lost many of its pagan and folklore connotations and become a symbolic, visual way for a couple to literally tie the knot!
Event Planner Shannon Leahy was inspired by her own Celtic roots putting together this ceremony and the entire faux wedding it was a part of.
Find More St Patricks Day Wedding Ideas Right Here!
Did you include any meaningful traditions in your wedding? Send us a photograph and a story to SUBMISSIONS@SNIPPETANDINK.COM
I would like to use some of your photos of the handfasting weddings for marketing my book.
Would that be something I would be able to do? I’m writing the first book, the handfasting is going to be the betrothed between the two and the wedding will be 2 years later. It’s a paranormal suspense genre.
Thank you,
E.J. Douglas