Ceremony Elements 7: Handfasting

When couples ask about weaving traditions into their ceremony, they'll often be told about hand-fasting. This Celtic ritual has become quite a feature of modern, celebrant weddings as it's such a visual representation of a couple's love for each other. Of course, the phrase "tying the knot" actually comes from this tradition.

In its simplest form, hand-fasting involves binding your joined hands with ribbons or cords. What can make this ceremony truly special is how personal we can make it. You can select ribbons that mean something to you - colours which represent different aspects of your promises to each other, fabrics from family heirlooms like a grandmother's wedding dress or materials which are relevant to your identities. Below are the most frequently used colours and what they can represent.

Red: passion, love, lust

Orange: encouragement, attraction, kindness

Yellow: charm, confidence, balance

Green: fertility, prosperity, nurturing

Blue: tranquillity, patience, devotion,

Purple: strength, healing, health

Black: wisdom, vision, success

White: purity, concentration, peace

Grey: neutrality, balance

Pink: unity, truth, romance,

Brown: grounding, talent, home

Silver: protection, creativity, inspiration

Gold: wealth, intelligence, longevity

Some couples choose to use just one ribbon, while others opt for six or more - each representing different vows or aspects of their relationship. The number of ribbons you use can impact the number of people you involve in your ceremony. Some couples have family members or friends contribute ribbons, weaving their blessing into the ceremony quite literally.

The bindings can be simple or elaborate - I've heard of couples where the bride had crocheted their hand-fasting cord herself and even of a couple who used industrial wire.

All of these ceremony elements can be beautifully woven into a wedding day, and as your celebrant, I'm here to help you choose and personalise the ones that best reflect your relationship. You can check out my previous posts on ceremony elements below or email me at nick.wells@thismoment.org.uk if you’d like to talk about how we could work together.

I’d love to hear from you.

You can check out the full collection of ceremony element posts here.