Honor Your Heritage with Irish Traditions at Your Wedding
You might not live in Ireland, and perhaps you've never even been there, but that shouldn't stop you from incorporating Irish traditions into your wedding ceremony or celebration to honor your Irish heritage.
If you want to invite a wee bit of luck to your wedding ceremony in Irish style, have the bride carry a real horseshoe for good luck! The lucky horseshoe should be pointing up, with the opening at the top, so the luck won't run out. Seem like one of the sillier Irish traditions? People really believed this helped and Irish brides today use porcelain horseshoes (a bit more attractive than the original shoe from a horse) to honor this tradition. Some wear horseshoes made of fabric on their wrists.
There's a little bit of magic in many Irish traditions and the magic hanky is no exception. Irish brides often carry a hanky that will eventually become a christening bonnet for their very first baby. Generations have passed these hankies to one another and many female babies have grown up to carry their christening bonnets at their own weddings.
If you favor your Irish heritage and want to incorporate Irish traditions into your wedding ceremony, use make-up bells. The Irish believe the beautiful chime of make-up bells helps keep evil spirits away. These bells are hung in the couple's home to remind them of their marriage vows in times of strife or to restore harmony to a home wrought with dissention. Many people give bells as a reminder of this one of many Irish traditions. If you give a wedding bell for a gift, be sure to include an explanation and the Irish beliefs you are trying to encourage.
Music is an important part of most weddings and Irish traditions surrounded by music are very common. Before your ceremony and wedding celebration, listen to loads of Irish Music
and you will be filled with the spirit of Ireland! Select special pieces to play on a stereo system or hire a group specializing in Irish music to play at your wedding celebration.
Irish brides often wore wreaths of wildflowers in their hair and in bouquets. Bells of Ireland are beautiful and will help tie together your theme of Irish traditions.
Many Irish, in keeping with true Irish traditions, believe it is unlucky to marry on Saturday. They also considered it very bad luck to meet a funeral procession on a wedding day. There are many, many Irish traditions and beliefs associated with marriage and you might thoroughly enjoy finding interesting ways to incorporate and traditions into your own wedding.
