As Irish born, I add a deep Irish flavor to your ceremony to reflect your
heritage! Claddagh Wedding Candle
Perfect
as a Unity candle, it features the following inscription:
On Our Wedding
Day
These Hands symbolize our friendship
This Heart symbolizes our eternal
love
And the Crown, our loyalty and
commitment to each other
Blessing for the New
Couple
May this new life bring
The warmth of home and hearth to you.
The cheer and goodwill of friends to you,
The hope of a childlike heart to you.
The joy of a thousand angels to you,
The love of the Son and God's peace to you.
Here's to
your roof,
may it be well thatched
And here's to all
under it -
May they be
well matched.
Irish Toast
The magic
hanky has become a very popular shower or
wedding gift.We gave one to our daughter right before her wedding day.
Since then, we have been blessed with a beautiful granddaughter - Caity.
Bridget isn't very adept at sewing, but call it Irish luck, Caity's
paternal grandmother is. We all shared in the joy when Caity wore her
very special bonnet on her christening day.
"I am a linen hanky, as beautiful as can be,
And with a tack, a stitch or two,
A bonnet you made from me,
To wear home from the hospital
or on the Christening Day,
And then I will be tucked away
to await the Wedding Day.
Then on her Wedding Day
a hanky I will be,
For every bride needs something old
that something will be me,
And if the baby is a boy
and someday he should marry
He can give his lovely bride
a hanky she can carry."
An Irish Wedding Custom
St. Bridget's Cross St. Bridget was known as the Celtic saint of well-being with this cross being her
symbol. The orginal equal-armed cross was woven with rushes from the
river Shannon. Her feast day is February 1st although some celebrate her holiday, Candlemas, on February 2nd. It is tradition in Ireland to hang a St. Bridget's cross over your door to ensure good health throughout the year.  The
Old
Celtic Tradition of Handfastening from
where we get the phrase |
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An Old Irish Proverb
"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me
and just be my friend." Luck Money The custom of the Groom presenting his Bride with a coin is said to date back to the time when the Groom paid luck money to the family of the Bride, in order to bring happiness and blessings upon them. After the exchange of wedding rings, the coin would be presented to the Bride as a symbol of worldly goods. There is a contemporary custom where the Bride and Groom exchange coins, and it is said that, if the coins clink as they are exchanged, the couple will be blessed with children. After the wedding, the gift is often preserved as a family heirloom, and is passed from mother to eldest son on his wedding day. May your troubles be less, Your blessings be more, And nothing but happiness Come through your door.
Irish Humor! Did
he just propose - or, perhaps in these modern times, did she? These two
old Irish wedding proposals indicate that gender might not have been a
factor when a suitor in the old days popped the question:
"Would
you like to be buried with my people" or...
STRAWBOYS |
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| Everyone's in good humour, sipping their drinks, chatting, and listening to the jigs and reels, when suddenly the door bursts open and the room is invaded by a group of people wearing bizarre costumes. Their faces are disguised in various ways, some are brandishing sticks, and their colourful clothes are adorned with straw. |  |
| The new arrivals take over the floor and some of them start dancing a set, the traditional form of social dancing in County Clare. One of them seeks out the bride and pulls her into the set. Another one dances with the groom. There's a lot of good humoured bantering between the party-goers and the "strangers", some of whom have been recognised in spite of their disguises. |  |
| It's
obvious that the appearance of the strawboys hasn't been
totally
unexpected as several people, including myself, produce
cameras or
video cameras with which they record the event. When they have finished their dance the invaders disappear as suddenly as they arrived, leaving behind a floor littered with fallen straw. |
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| Some
of them , probably all of them, it's hard to tell, come
back later
to join the party, but this time they come in quietly,
individually, and wearing normal clothes. I overhear a
discussion
about how one of them could be recognised by her shoes. Later in the evening a second group of strawboys makes an entrance, performs, then departs, in a similar manner to the first group. |
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