Irish wedding traditions range from subtle touches to traditional dance, and include the Child of Prague, handfasting, ring-warming ceremony, symbols of luck, and magic hanky. Handfasting is one of the oldest known marriage ceremony traditions, with cords wrapped around the couple’s hands to signify union. Today, this custom is being revived by couples keen to add a sense of ancient ritual to their ceremony.
Irish wedding ceremonies are steeped in tradition, combining ancient Celtic customs with symbolic rituals that resonate with the emotions of the occasion. The phrase “tie the knot” originates from the ancient Celtic ceremony of handfasting, where cords were wrapped around the couple’s hands to signify union. Many brides add Irish lace to their dress or veil, hidden symbols of luck like horseshoes and shamrocks, or the color blue.
The traditional Irish wedding cake is a fruit cake, with many couples choosing to have at least one of the layers made in this dense and rich cake as it is another tradition to save a small piece to eat at the wedding. The Claddagh Wedding Ring represents three beacons to marriage: friendship in the shape of hands, loyalty as the symbol of the crown, and love by the heart.
Irish brides once carried a real horseshoe down the aisle, open side up, for more good fortune. Some popular Irish wedding traditions include handfasting, wearing Celtic symbols, wearing a Claddagh Ring, locking the church door, and incorporating Irish music with Uilleann pipes.
📹 Irish Wedding Traditions
Here are my Top 10 Irish Wedding Traditions and the history behind them. Some of these are still practiced today, some of them …
What is the Irish symbol for marriage?
The Trinity Knot symbolizes eternal love. The Trinity Knot is a beautiful symbol of eternity, unity, love, and commitment. It is seen as a symbol of commitment not just in Ireland but worldwide. Many couples have used the Trinity Knot in their wedding rings and ceremonies. Trinity Knots are meaningful and can be interpreted in different ways, making them ideal for weddings. Hand-fasting is an ancient Celtic tradition used to symbolize a betrothal. This is when couples are tied together by a Druid priest. Today, hand-fasting is a popular wedding ritual. It symbolizes a couple joining their lives together. A couple we made Trinity Knot wedding bands for sent us this photo of their hand-fasting ceremony. They wore homemade Trinity Knot charms on their hand-fasting cord and the bride had a Trinity Knot in her nail art. That’s great attention to detail!
What is a tradition at an Irish wedding?
3. Wear a Claddagh ring. Irish couples often wear Claddagh rings at weddings. The Claddagh ring was first made in the 17th century. It is named after the fishing village of Claddagh near Galway. The wedding ring symbolizes friendship, love, and marriage, which is perfect for a wedding. The Claddagh ring is passed down through the female generations of the family. If you are single, wear the ring on the right hand with the point of the heart facing the fingertips. If you’re in a relationship, the ring is worn with the heart pointing towards the wrist. Once engaged, the ring is worn on the left hand with the heart pointing towards the fingertips. Once married, it will be worn on the left hand with the heart pointing towards the wrist. If you don’t have a Claddagh ring, there are other jewelers who sell modern and traditional versions.
What is unique about Irish culture?
Irish culture is rich and diverse. It includes myths, literature, music, dance, art, food, and language. The culture was originally Gaelic, but then it was influenced by the English, Scots, Normans, and Vikings. Northern Ireland was influenced by the Scots. But at its heart, Irish culture has taken these elements and made them part of her strong Gaelic spirit. Fionn mac Cumhaill is the hero of the Fenian Cycle stories. He was a mythical hunter and warrior who built the Giants Causeway to walk to Scotland. He beat a Scottish giant, picked up part of Ireland, and threw it at him. That is how the Isle of Man was made. Other fantastic beings include Brian Boru and the Irish princess Iseult. We know about leprechauns. They’re little people who play tricks, make shoes, love money, and each has a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Lady Gregory collected old Irish stories, and William Butler Yeats wrote the forewords. They liked Celtic women’s stories because of their power and tribal status.
What is the Irish symbol for weddings?
The Celtic Knot. Another lucky symbol in Irish weddings is the Celtic knot. The Celtic knot symbolizes love and life. The Celtic knot is often used in Irish weddings, on wedding bands, invitations, decorations, and favors. The Irish shamrock is another popular symbol used in Irish weddings. The shamrock is a symbol of good luck and brings the couple happiness. Brides often wear a small piece of shamrock in their hair or on their bouquet. Some grooms wear them on their lapels.
Horseshoe. Another lucky symbol in Irish weddings is the horseshoe. The horseshoe is said to bring good luck to the couple. It’s traditional to hang a horseshoe over the couple’s bed or in their doorway to bring them luck.
The Celtic Cross. The Celtic cross is a popular lucky symbol in Irish weddings. It is often seen on wedding day decorations. The Celtic cross symbolizes faith and spiritual connection. It is often seen on wedding bands, in wedding ceremonies, and in wedding reception decorations.
What is the superstition for Irish weddings?
At a wedding, people hope the couple will live happily ever after. You might see shamrocks or horseshoes at the wedding. Irish brides used to carry a horseshoe down the aisle to bring them luck. The bride should walk down the aisle with a sixpence coin in her right shoe for good luck. The Scottish like the Highland bagpipes, while the Irish play the Irish uilleann pipes. The smaller pipes are used inside the church because bagpipes are very loud. Dressed in kilts and full regalia, they look dashing at an Irish wedding. The piper may play before the ceremony and before the bride arrives at the church. The piper also leads the couple out together during the recessional. Another option is to have a harpist play the Celtic harp, which is known for its beautiful sound. The Celtic harp is the national symbol of Ireland and is on everything from government documents to Guinness bottles. Handfasting is an ancient Celtic tradition that dates back 2,000 years. The ceremony was an engagement ritual that let the couple live together for a year to see if they were compatible. If they weren’t, they could just separate. Today, many couples choose to have a handfasting instead of lighting a unity candle or saying vows. The officiant puts a ribbon or cord around the couple’s hands while they say promises and commitments aloud. All four hands are tied together. Or, the newlyweds’ right hands are tied together.
Who pays for Irish wedding?
In Ireland, who pays for the wedding is a long-standing tradition. In the past, the bride’s family paid. Nowadays, both families usually share the cost. Some couples pay for everything themselves to have the final say on the details. Read on to learn about the financial etiquette of an Irish wedding. Who pays for the wedding in Irish culture? Ireland has a long history, and every tradition has its own story. This is true of wedding finances too. In the past, the bride’s family paid for the wedding. This showed that her parents welcomed the groom and his family. The bride’s family paid for the wedding venue, catering, flowers, decorations, wedding attire, transportation, and honeymoon. This shows how much her family wanted her wedding to be special.
What is the most famous Irish tradition?
St. Patrick’s Day is a celebration of Irish culture. It originally honored Christianity in Ireland, but it has become a global celebration of Irishness. In Ireland, the day features music, dancing, and parades.
What is a traditional Irish wedding feast?
Irish wedding food: potatoes and meat. Meats included pork, venison, boar, mutton, and salted beef. Traditional potato dishes included colcannon and boxty. Irish weddings used to be in the family barn. Today, Irish couples celebrate with friends and family in hotels, restaurants, or outdoors. Photo by Alasdair Elmes on Unsplash. Irish wedding feasts start with food, then toasts and blessings, then dancing. Mead and whiskey were served all evening. An Irish wedding feast is a great source of inspiration for modern wedding receptions. Irish wedding food. Irish wedding feasts lasted two or three days. Potatoes and meat were common. Meats included pork, venison, roasted boar, mutton, and salted beef. Traditional potato dishes included colcannon and boxty. Warm stews and meat pies, corned beef and cabbage, salmon and prawns, soda bread, and other sweet and savory breads were also served. The bride and groom ate oatmeal and salt before eating anything else to ward off evil spirits. Irish weddings wouldn’t be complete without a wedding cake. The local baker made a two- or three-layer fruit cake with cherries, almonds, raisins, and spices. He put almond paste between each layer. He added bourbon and whiskey, especially to the top layer. During the feast, everyone gathered around for the cake cutting. First, they took the whiskey-soaked top layer to the freezer. It would be served at the christening.They cut the cake into slices for their guests. Everyone gets a piece of cake. Most ate it right away. Some unmarried women might put the slice of cake under their pillow that night. This way, they might dream of their future husbands. The baker might put charms in the cake, like coins, rings, thimbles, buttons, or even peas. As the guests ate, they looked for the special mementos that would remind them of the celebration in the future. Irish Drink & Toasting. An Irish wedding feast includes lots of drinking and toasting. The toasts start when dinner ends. Mead is the traditional drink for Irish wedding toasts. It is a fermented alcohol drink made with white wine, honey, and herbs. When mead wasn’t available, couples served poteen, a strong whiskey made with potatoes. No matter what drink they served, the traditional wedding toasts began when the bride and groom raised their glasses and said:
How long is a typical Irish wedding?
You’re getting married in the chapel, but what does a traditional Irish wedding day involve? Weddings in Ireland last all day and into the night. Sometimes they go on into the next day. Here’s a typical Irish wedding day timeline to help you make the most of every minute. 6:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.: Wake up! Many brides get up early on their wedding day to enjoy some peace before the busy day begins. Eat breakfast. It’s a busy day.
8:00am – 11:00am: Get ready! Bridal beauty squads usually come to your venue on the wedding morning. If you want to go to a local salon, factor in travel time.
What is the Celtic tradition for weddings?
Handfasting. In a hand-fasting wedding, the couple and guests form a circle. No clergy was needed during the traditional ceremony. The couple pledged themselves and had their hands bound together. The word “tying the knot” may have come from this hand-fasting ceremony. It was a trial marriage that lasted a year. If it didn’t work out, the couple went their separate ways. Today, hand-fasting can be part of a Christian or civil ceremony to connect with Celtic culture.
Lighting a unity candle. The unity candle ceremony is when two families light candles together. The outside candles represent the bride and groom’s families, while the center candle represents the new family formed by the marriage.
Cup. This cup was used at weddings to symbolize sharing between the newlyweds. The recipient must receive it with both hands. The quaich still unites friends and families at Celtic weddings and receptions.
📹 Discover the Untold Secrets of Irish Wedding Traditions
“Join us on a captivating journey into the heartwarming traditions of Irish weddings! In this video, we unravel the timeless customs …
What I find interesting is looking at these traditions in comparison to similar ones that were brought to America, when my relatives immigrated from Ireland. We were told that, if the horseshoe is hung on a wall or interior door, it must be open end up, to catch blessings, but if it is over a front door, it must be open end down, so as to pour blessings of protection out on those who are leaving the home. The sixpence one was changed to a penny in her shoe. We were also told about bells scaring away evil, so the bride and groom would be chased around until midnight after the wedding, with bells, by friends and family, if the friends and family could find the couple (like a wedding hide and seek). And, because we were historically Orthodox and not Catholic, hand fasting was not a family tradition, but instead unity candles were, which I understand also originated in Ireland.
In chatolic churches our priests in Croatia actualy wrap their stola around the brides and grooms hands and is blessing them. They have to give hands to each other and then the priest wraps stola around their conected hands and then he blesses them. Stola is a narow thing that is just hanging from priests shoulders like a scarf and has little cross inbroidered on it.
Thank you so much for your clear and cheerful explications of irishness! As an non-native resident ( who loves the whole Irish culture), I wish I had known these things years ago. Btw, I have a grandchild Oisin and a Blanaid-my dear dog was also called Daire. Please do a few more of these things-we need more! Much appreciated!x
My grandparents both came from the same parish in Cork but met and married in Boston after emigrating. The tribes their families came from have been intermarrying, which strict rules about avoiding too close a relationship between the couple’s ancestors, for about 2,000 years. My grandmother was living, with some other Cork girls her age, in a house owned by an older Cork woman who was supposedly a friend of her parents. She stood in for my great grandparents at the wedding (of course they were back in Ireland). She enforced a rule on the wedding night that the bride and groom must sleep apart until she was escorted to her new home the next day. My grandfather would have none of this so he and his brothers, my granduncles, kidnapped Grandma, with her consent of course, and took her home (since they all lived in one tenement apartment). I’ve heard of ritual bridal kidnapping in other countries, especially in the Near and Middle East, but I’m curious if anyone else knows of it in Ireland. My clan is very ancient and there are some other practices which, as a child I thought everybody did, almost nobody else has ever heard of or think were only done in ancient times.
I’m American, but very Irish. My family practices quite a few traditions and I’m trying to get more in touch and would love to do some of these. I’m just scared of being ridiculed for trying too hard or something because I’m American and my heritage isn’t pure Irish and my upbringing is only what’s lasted in a few generations.
I carried my late grandmother’s lace handkerchief, woven herself, as my “something blue” (“forget-me-nots” were woven, into the lace). I’ve NEVER seen a “claddagh” used as an engagement or wedding ring anymore (although I do own one myself but rarely wear it). We have TWO “make-up bells” but never needed them in thirty-three years of marriage, as my husband has never raised his hand, never mind his voice to me although he was kind enough to say I never gave him reason & looked appalled on the couple of occasions I pointed it out. In Ireland & most of Europe, bridesmaids do NOT buy their own dresses (I think it’s vulgar to ask someone you’re so close to for the “honour” of being in the bridal party, then ask them to pay for their own outfits. Same goes for the groom. He pays for all suit rentals & boutonnieres. In fact, anything that isn’t “ultra-modern” has strict rules about who pays for what. I think the Irish have set, “the gold standard” when it comes to pranking the happily married couple, especially if they’re staying in the same location as the reception. Whether you’re staying in the same location, to try & throw the guests off, as to where you’ll be spending your wedding night (not that it matters to most nowadays) & save their sanity & achieve a bit of privacy, at last, in Ireland, we make a big deal out of “driving away on honeymoon” after the reception. We walked out to see our car full of newsprint (unused) & the car covered in balloons & cans tied to the back bumper.
That was really good! One thing that might be fun for you to do is there is a famous movie in America, called “The Quiet Man” that has a huge following amongst the Irish desporia here in the US. It starred, John Wayne, famous American actor, and Maureen O’Hara, also a famous American/Irish actress. It might be fun for you to watch the movie and comment on things that are real or not. Just an idea.
Terrific old tales but don’t expect to see them commonly used in Northern Ireland Hand fasting is not that at all common. Only seen it once and that was at a beautiful gay humanist wedding. Handkerchief- never heard of it Child of Prague- more a granny thing than younger Catholic generation. But we do love the child of Prague Honeymoon – great tale Horse shoe ✔️✔️ ✔️ – presentation gifts Cladagh ring-✔️✔️✔️Catholic not as common and not at all common to other faiths Six pence – never heard of this and finding one would be something special Last 3 are lovely old traditions but not common in NI My wedding ring was engraved by the jeweller inside with the words be happy which after 47 years is still very special
“9000 years ago!!!” And where is this documented, as we are only a literate society for less than 1500 years? I like your articles but you’re wrecking my head with fake history that only the most naieve tourist would swallow. We have so many truly interesting historical traditions, let’s stick to the reality. I recently heard a guide tell an American group that Glin Castle was “the oldest castle in Ireland – one million years old, we believe” – and doubtless it was built by Darby O’Gill and his friends. Slán.