Getting Handfasted/Married on Beltane

Hey all. Tim and I will be Handfasting/Marrying on Beltane this Sunday and I was wondering if anyone would like to throw out any neat ideas I might incorporate into our ceremony. It will just be a private ceremony between the two of us. While I've written most of it so far and we are doing our own vows, I'd be interested in little other things to do as well. So throw some ideas at me please and we'll see if anything sticks. We are already going to do a hand binding and exchanging rings as well. I'm considering something to do with candles but not sure yet. I've got ideas, but just want some more to choose from.

Draka, congrats!

Congratulations!!

Congrats! Putting flowers into a running stream together is always good. Lighting a candle and blowing it out together is good as well.

I had to look this up ~ it sounds very cool. Congratulations and have fun!

I'm going to be doing a Handfasting Basket. Decorated with red and white ribbons wrapped around the handle like a May Pole. It is to be filled with things from the ceremony and kept as one might keep a wedding album or collage. This will also be used again when the Handfasting vows are up for renewal in 9 years. It will keep our original Ribbon, copies of our vows, maybe even wax drippings from candles used during the ceremony, pictures and so on. Anything significant from the ceremony/day will either be in the basket or a portion of something significant will be in the basket.

I'm still trying to decide upon anything to do specifically with candles or flowers. vine and flower crowns would be nice, but as I'm not that crafty, making them might be out of the question.

How long have you guys been together?

It'll be 6 years this July. At least that's the date I go by because it's the first time we met in person. We'd been talking for months via YM and the phone before that.

Congratulations! I am fresh out of ideas for a handfasting, sorry! I do wish you the best though.

I wish I had seen this earlier! D'oh...

Well, you could toss/burn rosemary, lavender, and thyme. If you can do the rit outside, you can throw seeds to symbolize the beginning of a new journey or you can plant a tree before or after rit.

You can also make some jewelry to go with the rings, like stone bead necklaces. If his hair is long enough, you can braid each other's hair and/or add a strain of each other's hair into the braid. You can also preform your own version of the Great Rite and consecrate your handfasting in front of the Gods.

I would probably each get a candle (other than white) that each of you like or that you identify with, and as you are saying your vows to one another you can either drip your colored candles on a larger white candle and keep it for the renewal ritual, or if you two write down your vows, you can drip your candle wax to close up his vows and him to with yours, and you both keep the papers somewhere sacred, or you can do both.

Congrats on your handfasting, and I hope that you two live a happy and long life. Blessings, sister.

Draka said:

It'll be 6 years this July. At least that's the date I go by because it's the first time we met in person. We'd been talking for months via YM and the phone before that.

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Congrats...If I come up with something interesting I will let you know.

We already did it yesterday. Beltane. I did decorate a basket. The written out ritual, the vows, the ribbon, bits of wax and what was left of the incense are now kept in it and it is put up nicely for display in our home.

Congratulations Draka!

Random question to go with this: I don't suppose it's a legally binding marriage as well? (I'm assuming you two weren't already married, but I know what happens when you do that...)

We could have done a handfasting ceremony and had it be a legal marriage as well. All we would have needed was my best friend to officiate and a couple witnesses. As is, it was just something we did as a personal marriage commitment to each other. It was just the two of us and the gods and the elementals as witnesses.

Gotcha.

And as an interesting coincidence: I was just talking with another pagan friend of mine and it turned out she had attended a different handfasting ceremony on Beltane. What're the odds?

silvermoon383 said:

Gotcha.

And as an interesting coincidence: I was just talking with another pagan friend of mine and it turned out she had attended a different handfasting ceremony on Beltane. What're the odds?

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Quite high actually. Beltane is a traditional day for handfasting. Some couples renew their vows yearly on Beltane. Some have their weddings as a handfasting ceremony on that day. Since it is the day commonly held to be the day of joining/marriage of the Lady and Her Lord, it is held as a perfect day to have a union.

Congratulations!
Sorry I got here a bit late with that though to help with suggestions.

One I was fortunate enough to attend years ago had part of a wedding knife ritual.
The question was asked what further gifts (other than the rings) did they have to give to one another.
The groom offers the bride a dagger that he carries during the first part of the wedding saying something like:
I give to my blade. May I, like it, serve you and protect you all your days. If I ever fail in my duties as your husband; may you return it to me. (point first was what was implied)
The bride took the dagger and knelt down, took off a necklace with a ruby on it she had been wearing and said:
I give to you my jewel. A symbol of my love and devotion for you and if you should ever find either of those lacking you may give it away. (to another women)
The deal is that after the wedding they take the dagger and wrap the necklace around it and either mounted the dagger at the fireplace or hung it on the wall, so that anyone who comes into their house can see them both together and know that everything was alright with the marriage/household. (or something along those lines)

I'm sorry I missed it!

Congratulations! I hope you have either one awesome year together or many (depending on how you did it )!!

:hug:

Congrats Draka

Gentoo said:

I'm sorry I missed it!

Congratulations! I hope you have either one awesome year together or many (depending on how you did it )!!

:hug:

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Thanks. We went by a Celtic tradition of 9 years. Seemed a good number to us. There are many different types of Handfasting traditions. There is probably the most commonly known of a year and a day to be either renewed annually or confirmed into actual lifetime commitment marriage at that time. There are also ones that go for a certain number of years to be renewed at those times. We chose 9 years. 3 times 3 and all.