Celtic Wedding Traditions

Celtic Pebble Toss

Couples in ancient times were often married near some sort of water source such as a lake, river or holy well, believed to be favored by the Celtic gods. Wedding guest were given small stones to cast into the water while making a wish for the couple’s future happiness.

Hand-fasting

This type of Celtic wedding ceremony, the couple stands together with wedding guest forming a circle around them. No clergy was needed, the couple simply pledged themselves and had their hands gently bound together with a cord or strip of cloth or tartan. The expression “tying the knot” may have come from their hand-fasting ceremony. Hand fasting was originally a trial marriage contract that lasted for a year and a day, if it didn’t work out the couple went their separate ways. Nowadays handfasting can be incorporated into a Christian or civil ceremony as a part of a connection to our Celtic Culture.