Hi all.
Two years ago I had a Humanist wedding ceremony in Scotland, and incorporated handfasting cords into the day. It was a wonderful experience, although I struggled to find cords I really liked so ended up making my own.
Prior to my man proposing, I'd never heard of handfasting cords. I'd watched Braveheart (more than a few times!) and thought the secret moonlit wedding ceremony scenes were amazing, (the 'I will love you my whole life, you and no other' bit), but didnt really connect it with a real-life wedding. But when he proposed and we talked about the wedding itself, deciding we didnt want a church, and the rules dictated to us by 'authorised locations' here in the UK were a little too stifling, we started looking for alternatives. Eventually we stumbled onto Humanism, and not long after we found out about handfasting cords.
Which brings me back to Braveheart. The moonlit ceremony, where he gives her a piece of clan tartan and she given him the piece of embroidered fabric that he carries with him always, thats handfasting. Its an ancient Celtic tradition where by the hands or wrists of the happy couple are bound together during the ceremony.
Handfasting cords have long been popular with the wiccan community, but there was a rise in its popularity in the 'mainstream' thanks to Mr Gibson, and again theres been a spike in awareness following a variation on handfasting being used in the recent royal wedding between Kate and William. There are now more Humanist weddings in Scotland than there are Catholic, and the same legal status for humaist weddings is about to be given to ceremonies performed in Ireland. Officiants of Humanist ceremonies that I've spoken to tell me that more often than not, handfasting cords are used in their ceremonies.
At Binding Ties, I look to create personalised, custom made handfasting cords for the modern couple. I love to use luxury materials, lots of satins and velvets, lace and ornate trims and so on. The ends of the cords are often decorated with handmade embellishments incorporating things like swarovski crystals, glass pearls, wire wrapped gems and so on.
I'm a great believer that a wedding ceremony should be about the two people getting married, and should be as personal to them as possible. Handfasting cords not only inject something a little different into the day, they also provide something tangible to hold onto afterwards. After the cords have been tied during the ceremony, the custom is for them to stay tied together forever, hopefully just as the couple will. Many people hang the cords up in their home, an extra item on top of the photos to remind them of the amazing day they will have had.
If you have any questions, please give me a shout. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the concept, as well as receive feedback on the cords themselves. This is a new enterprise for me and all comments are gratefully received.
Thanks very much :-)
