Home
>
Marriage & Wedding
>
Celtic Wedding Rituals -- Tying the knot

Celtic Wedding Rituals -- Tying the knot

One of the most elegant rituals you can choose for a wedding is the traditional Celtic hand fasting. After the vows, the bride and groom's wrists are bound together with five colored ribbons, each symbolizing an aspect of marriage and their shared commitment. It is a long standing Celtic tradition that is still quite popular, and happens to be the origin of the expression "tying the knot" which has grown to mean getting married. Though this tradition is a lovely and meaningful tradition, many other Celtic wedding traditions have not aged as gracefully.

All marriages start with a proposal. Proposals such as "Live in my heart and pay no rent" or "Would you like to hang your washing next to mine" might have been uttered to a would be fianc?.

As beautiful as the ceremony was, after the ceremony wasn't so sweet. The bride and groom might eat three handfuls of salt and oatmeal as protection against evil spirits, which probably wasn't as tasty as cake and champagne.

If the wife wanted good relations with her new mother-in-law, she'd have hoped that the groom's mother would break a cake over her head as she entered the marriage home. If she was so lucky, superstition said the two would remain friends for life, though she quite a mess to clean up after.

If the mother-in-law breaking cake wasn't bad enough, try all the guests. Unmarried youths would wait anxiously for wedding guests to break short bread over the heads of the bride and groom, at which time they would scramble to collect a bit of it from the ground to eat, thereby insuring a good match when it was their time to marry.

Celtic wedding nights were not free of traditions either. On the wedding night the bride's girlfriends would dress her for her special night and put her in bed, then leave her waiting for her groom. But before the groom was allowed to enter, all the male guests would drop by to kiss her goodnight while she blushed in her night clothes.

Once the groom was with his bride for the night the couple could expect no peace either. By custom, the guests were expected to drink and harass the newlyweds until dawn. It could be as simple as peeking in the windows or as bold as kidnapping the bride or groom. Perhaps this is why honeymoons became popular, getting far away was the only way to find peace on the couple's first night as man and wife.

The groom had another strange tradition as well. When the couple was ready to seal their union, the groom might crouch on the floor and leap into bed imitating a salmon. This "salmon leap" was symbolic of a salmon swimming up stream to spawn. Hopefully the new couple had a strong enough bed for this strange play.

Cultural theme weddings are a popular trend for modern couples, bringing charm and uniqueness to an already special occasion. But, in regards to the Celtic theme wedding, time has proven itself an able filter of tradition, leaving some of the more humorous and messy traditions in the past where they belong.

Andrea Britt is owner of charmingweddings.com where you can find elegant, charmingweddings.com and charmingweddings.com for your wedding reception and bridal shower.

home cleaning services Glencoe ..

In The News:

The Fox News AI Newsletter brings you the latest news on AI technology advancements and the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Texas family reunites with missing 11-year-old cat Grayson after 103 days using Petco Love Lost's AI photo matching technology and community help.

Tired of AI customer service loops? These insider tricks help you escape "frustration AI" and get real human help when you need it most for urgent issues.

Unlock richer audio from your streaming apps with simple tweaks to volume normalization, equalizer settings, and quality preferences for cleaner sound.

Scammers are sending fake Facebook settlement payout emails that mimic legitimate notices from the privacy settlement administrator to deceive users.

Holiday shopping scams surge as fake refund emails target distracted consumers during Black Friday and holiday seasons, costing Americans billions annually.

The AI-powered IRMO M1 exoskeleton features four modes, including turbo, eco, training and rest for hiking, running, cycling and sports with eight-hour battery life.

OpenAI announced upgrades for its ChatGPT Images platform on Tuesday, saying the program can now make more precise edits and produce images more quickly.

Chrome for Android now turns web articles into AI-powered podcast conversations. Get hands-free browsing with Google Gemini's natural audio summaries.

LastPass faces $1.6 million fine from U.K. regulators after 2022 data breach exposed 1.6 million users. Password manager failed proper security controls.

Petco disclosed a data breach exposing customer Social Security numbers, financial account details, and driver's license information due to a software error.

Baseball teams can now analyze complete swing mechanics in normal training environments using Theia's markerless AI system that processes standard high-speed footage.

Smart home hacking fears overblown? Expert reveals real cybersecurity risks and simple protection tips to keep your connected devices safe from hackers.

MIT develops needle-free glucose monitor using light technology. Revolutionary device could replace painful finger pricks for diabetes management.

The ClickFix campaign disguises malware as legitimate Windows updates, using steganography to hide shellcode in PNG files and bypass security detection systems.

Researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University designed a 21-foot dome that combines aquaculture and hydroponics to create a self-sustaining urban food system.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

ChatGPT data breach exposes personal info of users through partner Mixpanel. OpenAI confirms names, emails compromised in security incident.

Android rolls out Emergency Live Video for 911 calls, letting dispatchers see real-time scenes during emergencies. Great for holiday travel safety.

Malicious Chrome and Edge extensions collected browsing history, keystrokes and personal data from millions of users before Google and Microsoft removed them.

Google's new Call Reason feature lets Android users mark calls as urgent before dialing, displaying an urgent label to recipients using Phone by Google app.

Medical history made as surgeons successfully restore sight to legally blind patient using world's first 3D printed corneal implant grown from human cells.

Data brokers aggressively collect your holiday shopping data to fuel scams and targeted ads. Learn how to delete your digital profile before 2025 starts.

Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Celtic Wedding Rituals -- Tying the knot

Marriage & Wedding