{"id":45082,"date":"2016-04-29T12:05:56","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T16:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.topweddingsites.com\/wedding-blog\/?p=45082"},"modified":"2017-08-06T12:08:56","modified_gmt":"2017-08-06T16:08:56","slug":"traditional-irish-wedding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.topweddingsites.com\/wedding-blog\/multicultural-themes\/traditional-irish-wedding","title":{"rendered":"The Traditional Irish Wedding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Irish Wedding Traditions<\/h1>\n

There\u2019s one Irish wedding tradition<\/a> that states: \u2018Marry in May and Rue The Day,\u2019 while another states: \u2018Marry in\u00a0April if you can, joy for maiden and for man\u2019.<\/p>\n

When I told my daughter about this Irish superstition, she changed\u00a0her wedding date so that she\u2019d be married in April!<\/p>\n

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What began as a search for Irish traditions and customs that she\u00a0could incorporate into her celebration ended up as an incredible\u00a0pile of notes that eventually took on a life of its own. Long after\u00a0her wedding, I was still obsessed with delving into history and\u00a0folklore, looking for everything I could find on how weddings were\u00a0celebrated in Ireland long ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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I\u2019m convinced that if couples make the effort, they can have a\u00a0totally Irish celebration from beginning to end \u2013 even to the pre-wedding\u00a0parties. There\u2019s one quaint custom where the groom was invited to\u00a0the bride\u2019s house right before the wedding and they cooked a goose\u00a0in his honor. It was called Aitin\u2019 the gander \u2014 it has to\u00a0be where we get the expression \u2018his goose is cooked!\u2019 We threw one of these dinner parties for my daughter and everyone had a great\u00a0time. (The apple-potato stuffing has become a family favorite!).<\/p>\n

There are so many other traditions, customs and just an incredible\u00a0amount of folklore to draw upon, that it would be remiss to be of\u00a0Irish descent and not take advantage of all the possibilities. Here\u00a0are just a few ideas culled from what eventually has become a 200-plus\u00a0page book called \u2018The Traditional Irish Wedding\u2019 and it is now available\u00a0in the United States and will be released in Ireland this spring.\u00a0As complete as I could make it, the book covers attire, decor, menus,\u00a0recipes, music, toasts, vows, and perhaps of most value, a resource\u00a0listing that will help you find everything from Irish wedding gowns\u00a0and tiaras to sheet music for a Celtic Mass.<\/p>\n

Some More Authentically Irish Traditions<\/h2>\n

Honey wine.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Bunratty Meade is a honey wine that\u2019s served at the Bunratty\u00a0Castle medieval banquet. It\u2019s from a recipe based on the oldest\u00a0drink in Ireland and if you\u2019ve never tasted it, it\u2019s well worth\u00a0trying. In the old days, it was consumed at weddings because it\u00a0was thought that it promoted virility. (If a baby was born nine\u00a0months after the wedding, it was attributed to the mead!) Couples also drank it from special goblets for a full month following the\u00a0wedding, which is supposedly where we get the word honeymoon. This\u00a0was to protect the couple from the fairies coming to spirit the\u00a0bride away.<\/p>\n

Lucky horseshoe.\u00a0<\/strong>Irish brides used to carry a real horseshoe for good luck. (Turned up so the luck won\u2019t run out). You can get porcelain horseshoes which most Irish brides carry these days, or one made of fabric which is worn on the wrist.<\/p>\n

Irish Dancers.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Consider hiring a group of Irish dancers to hand out your\u00a0programs before the ceremony. Dressed in their full regalia, it\u00a0would add a wonderful touch of of pageantry and color. They could\u00a0also dance at the reception later. We did this at my daughter\u2019s\u00a0reception and it was a major hit.<\/p>\n

Music.<\/strong><\/span> There\u2019s\u00a0so much wonderful Irish music available, you\u2019ll have no problems\u00a0in finding appropriate selections for both the ceremony and the\u00a0reception. The difficulty will be in deciding which pieces to play!<\/p>\n

Readings.<\/strong><\/span> My daughter\u00a0had the following Irish wedding vow on the front of her program:<\/p>\n

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By the power that Christ brought from heaven, mayst thou
\nlove me. As the sun follows its course, mayst thou follow me.
\nAs light to the eye, as bread to the hungry, as joy to the heart,
\nmay thy presence be with me, oh one that I love, \u2019til death comes
\nto part us asunder.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On the back of the program, she had this old Irish proverb:<\/p>\n

\n

Don\u2019t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don\u2019t walk behind
\nme, I may not lead. Walk beside me and just be my friend.<\/p>\n

Find Irish Favor Sayings<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Irish Wedding Song. <\/strong><\/span>Very popular at\u00a0contemporary Irish weddings. We had two friends sing this at my\u00a0daughter\u2019s reception while the newlyweds cut the cake. (Afterwards\u00a0I thought we should have had the lyrics typed up and placed on the\u00a0tables so that everyone could join in).<\/p>\n

Flowers.<\/strong><\/span> In\u00a0the old days, many Irish brides wore a wreath of wildflowers in\u00a0their hair; they also carried them in bouquets. For my daughter\u2019s
\nwedding, our florist designed gorgeous bouquets that included a\u00a0flower called Bells of Ireland. In Wales, brides carried live myrtle\u00a0and gave a sprig to each bridesmaid which they planted. If it grew,\u00a0the bridesmaid would marry within the year. If you\u2019re planning a\u00a0more general Celtic celebration, this might be worth considering.<\/p>\n

Ancient customs.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>In the old days, couples ate salt and oatmeal at the beginning of\u00a0their reception: Each of them took three mouthfuls as a protection
\nagainst the power of the evil eye. Also, when a couple is dancing,\u00a0the bride can\u2019t take both feet off the floor because the fairies\u00a0will get the upper hand. Fairies love beautiful things and one of\u00a0their favorites is a bride. There\u2019s many an Irish legend about brides\u00a0being spirited away by the little people! For the same reason, it\u2019s\u00a0bad luck for a bride to wear green. I\u2019ve also heard that it\u2019s bad\u00a0luck for anyone to wear green at an Irish wedding \u2013 but I think
\nit really only applies to the bride. It\u2019s also bad luck for a bride\u00a0or the groom to sing at their own wedding.<\/p>\n

MORE: Find Nautical Themed Favors<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Best Places to Buy Wedding Favors Online<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Traditional Irish Portents and Omens<\/h2>\n

A fine day meant good luck, especially if the sun shone on the\u00a0bride. If you\u2019re a Roman Catholic, one way to make certain that\u00a0it won\u2019t rain is to put a statue of the Infant of Prague outside\u00a0the church before your ceremony.<\/p>\n