Ritual or Ceremony

For me I chose something that I had a close relation to; irish wedding ceremonies. These have been passed down over generations. I learned much of what I know from my grandparents and thought that it may be a fun thing to share with the rest of the class. It's a little bit different than what most people may think of when they think of a wedding ceremony or ritual, but historically in the past it has worked and marriages have stayed together for longer. So here it is..

It is becoming more and more popular for couples to draw on their cultural and ethnic backgrounds and to include those traditions and customs into their weddings. This holds true for couples and families of Irish descent, for there is a rich cultural heritage upon which to draw and elements which add color and flavor to a wedding, making it truly a special event.

There are variety of Irish theme elements which can be included in such a wedding. These run the gamut from serving traditional Irish fare (food), to incorporating the color of green (after Ireland's nickname Emerald Isle), to any number of other interesting and unusual Irish flavored ingredients.

Perhaps the best-known symbol of Ireland is the shamrock. Not an easy flora to find "live," you may substitute clover or consider decorating with silk replicas, which today are made so well that it's hard to tell they aren't real. The Irish theme can, of course, begin in a quite obvious way by picking Saint Patrick's Day as the date of your event. The green and shamrock can be extended from centerpieces and decorations to the personal flowers worn and/or carried by the groom, groomsmen (boutonniere), flower girl's basket and the bridesmaids' bouquets. Bells of Ireland may be used as a single theme. They have a fabulous fragrance and are also green.

Incorporating Irish history into a wedding may also mean including Celtic customs. The choices and options are many and it is, of course, totally at the couple's discretion what and how many to use. Inclusion of Celtic symbolism can be as simple as decorating invitations with Celtic knots, or as distinctive as celebrating with a handfasting ceremony. Both Irish and Celtic music are very popular today and widely available, so whether you have an orchestra, bagpipers, or a DJ, music with an ethnic bent can become part of your event.

The groom with a good self-image might even consider wearing a kilt and asking his groomsmen to do likewise. Kilts, because they represent a particular family/ tribe, bring not only a general cultural theme into a wedding, but also a very personal family heritage. A somewhat dying art, there are only about five kilt makers in all of the United States and it takes about ten hours to make a kilt.

There are several Irish customs from which couples may choose. Here are several to get started.

Handfasting is a ceremony that some believe was practiced in remote areas where priests made infrequent circuit visits. There is some debate about whether the handfasting ceremony constituted a "real" and legal marriage, just without the benefit of clergy, or a "pre-marriage," or perhaps a public announcement of betrothal. Still others believe that it was a "trial marriage" that lasted a year and a day, after which time the couple could actually marry or part company. The "year and a day" is a time frame that was popularized in novels and purportedly was the period of time that a couple would have to be "married" before being granted the legal rights of marriage, such as inheriting land. There is little hard and fast resource material to support the "year and a day" concept, but as for handfasting, couples today practice it more as a neo-pagan, nonreligious alternative that an alternative religious ceremony.

The Claddagh Ring has remained very popular as an engagement and/or wedding ring. The symbolism is quite lovely. The heart in the design symbolizes love longed to be shared with one's true love. The crown symbolizes undying loyalty and the hands symbolize friendship, which is, after all, the very foundation of love, with loyalty holding the two hands together. There are many legends about the origin of the Claddagh ring and true or not, the Claddagh has become an everlasting symbol of love and marriage.

The Horseshoe has long been a symbol of good luck in cross-cultures. Irish tradition has it that a horseshoe given as a wedding gift to the bride and groom and kept in their home will bring them good luck. The horseshoe must always be hung like the letter "U," so that the luck doesn't "drip out."

Jumping the Broom is a custom known and practiced widely in the African-American community, where the broom serves as a symbol of hearth and home. The custom is also referenced both in Celtic and Irish wedding traditions and may have its roots in an ancient festival where women would "jump or ride a broom" to ensure the fertility of their crops.

Mead is a wine-like drink that, in its simplest form is made from honey, water and yeast. It was thought that meed could improve virility in men and fertility in women, and so held a significant place at weddings. References suggest that it is from the ingredient in mead (i.e., the honey) that the word honeymoon originated. Irish history documents the custom in which the groom would capture the bride at her home and bring her to the wedding feast, where large quantities of mead were generously passed to all the celebrants. When the festivities were over, the groom would "hide" the bride from her family for a period of a "full moon" of time, in hope that the bride might then be pregnant so that the marriage could not be challenged. One could say that the custom started with honey (mead) and ended with the moon.

Some wine and liquor shops carry an organic mead honey wine, a dry white wine which is made by fermenting honey and is also available in flavors such as elderberry, blackberry and cranberry.

Ethnic wedding traditions are often food-related and the Irish are no exception. At some traditional Irish weddings, the cake may be a fruitcake recipe. Add corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread, mead, and dark beer, and a wedding will have a distinct Irish "taste."

As with most wedding, the cake is a focal point at an Irish weddings. Bakers can stay in theme by decorating cakes with shamrocks and green icing and, should the couple wish, an Irish cream filling (Irish Whiskey, whipped cream and sweetener) can be used.

Father Charles Coen, himself born in Ireland, has been the pastor of St. Christopher's Catholic Church in Red Hook for the last fifteen years. He explained that "there is nothing really to distinguish an Irish wedding from any other Catholic wedding, in so far as the ceremony is concerned, except perhaps, on those rare occasions where a bagpiper or bagpipers are ‘stationed' outside the church doors." He fondly recalled the ten Irish weddings of his nieces and nephews at which he officiated in Ireland. Father Coen explained that "there are differences in the celebration aspect between Irish weddings in Ireland and Irish weddings in this country." In Ireland, the reception is typically followed by an open house, "where everyone is invited." There is music provided by a band. Guests bring their own liquor and sandwiches are served. He added, "That party is usually followed by a disco party for the young people and it's not unusual for it to last into the wee hours of the morning."

There are many ways to incorporate Irish music into a theme wedding, because there are many Irish songs, with a variety of flavors. "The Irish Wedding Song," for example, is a slow waltz-tempo song which is a lovely way to kick off the dancing. Starting alone on the dance floor, the bride and groom are joined by their guests. There are many sweet Irish ballads, such as "Black Velvet Band," which refers to the band in a lassie's hair, sing-along tunes like "When Irish Eyes are Smiling," and songs by Irish singing groups like the Irish Rovers, not to mention Irish drinking songs and Irish reels, a folk dance of Irish origin. Music can play a significant role in creating the mood for any ethnic wedding, with new popular songs and old favorites.

And a couple other interesting things

Irish Superstitions

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Irish believed that if the sun shone on the bride, it would bring good luck to the couple.
It was also lucky to hear a cuckoo on the wedding morning or to see three magpies.
After the wedding ceremony, it was important that a man and not a woman be the first to wish joy to the new bride.
Some other Irish superstitions and customs are:

It's good luck to have your birthstone in your engagement ring, even if that stone is otherwise thought to be an unlucky gem.
The earrings you wear on your wedding day will bring you luck & happiness ever after.
It's lucky to tear your wedding dress accidentally on your wedding day.
It's good luck if a happily married woman puts the veil on you, but bad luck to put it on yourself.
It's lucky to be awakened by birds singing on your wedding morning.
If you look at the sun when you leave for your wedding, your children will be beautiful.

Selecting the Date

In Ireland the last day of the old year is thought specially lucky for weddings. Childermas Day or Holy Innocents is, on the contrary, a very unlucky one.
An old superstition holds that May is an unlucky wedding month, because of its association with the Virgin Mary, yet it is one of the most popular months for weddings, both in America and Ireland.
A sunny day is lucky, and a rainy one, unlucky. Christmas & New Year's Eve are lucky times to get married.
You Marry on Monday for wealth, Tuesday for health, Wednesday the best day of all, Thursday for crosses, Friday for losses and Saturday no day at all.

Throwing the Bouquet

The custom of the bride tossing the bouquet to the unmarried guests dates from the 14th century and probably originated in France.
The woman who catches the flowers is supposedly the next to marry.
The same is supposedly true when the bride tosses her garter to the unmarried men.

Something old, new, borrowed and blue

The full wording of this popular bridal attire rhyme, which dates back to the Victorian times is 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue and a silver sixpence in your shoe'.

Something old refers to wearing something that represents a link with the bride's family and her old life.
Usually, the bride wears a piece of family jewelry or maybe her mother's or grandmother's wedding dress.
Wearing something new represents good fortune and success in the bride's new life.
The bride's wedding dress is usually chosen, if purchased new, but it can be any other new item of the bride's wedding attire.
Wearing something borrowed, which has already been worn by a happy bride at her wedding, is meant to bring good luck to the marriage.
Something borrowed could be an item of bridal clothing, a handkerchief or an item of jewellery.
Wearing something blue dates back to biblical times when the colour blue was considered to represent purity and fidelity.
Over time this has evolved from wearing blue clothing to wearing a blue band around the bottom of the bride's dress and to modern times where the bride wears a blue or blue-trimmed garter.

Honking Horns

Another ancient practice in some parts of Ireland is that of firing rifles and other weaponry into the air as the couple pass to salute the bride; of course over the past centuries this has occasionally been observed with devastating results.
Honking the horns of the cars in the procession from the church replaces the firing of guns.

Carrying the Bride over the Threshold

There seems to be two explanations for this tradition where the groom carries his bride over the threshold when entering their home as a married couple for the first time.
The first is to protect the bride from evil spirits that were thought to be lying in wait under the threshold.
The second explanation relates to Roman times when it was believed that if the bride stumbled when entering the newlywed's home for the first time, it would bring bad luck and harm to their marriage.
So carrying the bride across the threshold would prevent this from happening, though no reference can be found of what happens if the groom stumbles or falls while carrying the bride.

And a silver sixpence in your shoe

Placing a silver sixpence in the bride's left shoe is a symbol of wealth. This is not just to bring the bride financial wealth but also a wealth of happiness and joy throughout her married life.
In the past, an Irish 5 pence coin could be worn in place of the sixpence in the shoe.

Wedding Gowns

The bride's white gown has become so traditional that many cannot imagine anything else but this is relatively recent development in the Celtic lands.
Anne of Brittany made the white wedding dress popular in 1499. In the 19th century colored bridal dresses were quite common at country weddings.
Before that, a woman just wore her best dress. In biblical days, blue (not white) represented purity (as mentioned above), and the bride and groom would wear a blue band around the bottom of their wedding attire.

The Wedding Veil

The origin of the wedding veil is unclear but it is thought that it predates the wedding dress by centuries.
One tradition comes from the days when a groom would throw a blanket over the head of the woman of his choice when he captured her and carted her off.
Another is that during the times of arranged marriages, the bride's face was covered until the groom was committed to her at the ceremony so he could not refuse to marry her if he didn't like her looks.
Therefore, the father of the bride gave the bride away to the groom, who then lifted the veil to see her for the first time.
It is also thought that the veil was worn to protect the bride from evil spirits that would be floating around on her wedding day.
These various origins have all evolved into the tradition that the veil covers the bride's face throughout the ceremony until the minister pronounces the couple man and wife and the groom then lifts the veil to kiss his new wife.