Handfastings

A Handfasting Ceremony is one which incorporates Pagan or Wiccan beliefs and rituals. Those rituals have ancient origins, and involve respect for the earth and the environment, and for each other. In an ancient handfasting, a couple's hands were bound together as part of the ceremony. If, the couple still chose to be together after a year and a day, they were accepted as man and wife. The handfasting ritual may also be found in Celtic Ceremonies.

Today's ceremonies may involve a legal marriage, but not necessarily. Beltane, 31 October in the Southern Hemisphere, is a popular date on which a couple might choose to be handfasted. Some couples undergo the legal component of their commitment in another ceremony held a year later.

Couples may choose the handfasting ritual to be incorporated within a more traditional ceremony, signifying their decision to be bound to each other.