This is my favourite symbolic marital ritual to include in the ceremonies I conduct, it has a long history of celtic connections and is a beautiful special element you can include in your wedding ceremony. You may have already seen handfasting taking place on films like Braveheart and more recently in the series Outlander or in the footage of Prince William's wedding!

The couples hands are bound together during the ceremony with ribbons, or a piece of sentimental material or rope,( in Braveheart Bruce Willis used a strip from his kilt!). The colours used in the handfasting can be coordinated with the wedding decor too. The binding of the hands symbolises the coming together and commitment of two people and their lives becoming entwined.

The great thing about handfasting is that you can include family members, guests or your children, they can be the ones to carry out the fasting. Whilst this is being done, you can recite vows of commitment or I or a guest can read them out or state what for example the colours of the ribbons symbolise.

In this beautiful ritual two family members can light a candle or 2 individual candles to symbolise you both moving on from the two individual families onto forming your own family together, but also to symbolise the joining together of the two families. Alternatively you and your partner can light a candle together in your ceremony to symbolise your new union as a married couple. Unity candle rituals have long been used in faith ceremonies and pagan ceremonies, however it has a universal meaning of uniting two people and as a celebrant it is one I love, particularly in bilingual ceremonies here in Spain where it really helps both families feel included.

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Wedding ceremonies fly by so quickly especially for the bride and groom, so it's lovely to pause for a minute and take in the lovely surroundings, grounding yourselves before exchanging your vows. I've guided many couples and their guests in short meditations and they have commented after how much it helped them to enjoy the moment and feel more relaxed and present.

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This is a great way to include between 2 to 4 family members of good friends in your wedding ceremony. At the end of your ceremony each of your chosen witnesses take turns to sign a keepsake parchment which is then presented to you and your partner to be treasured. It's a nice element for couples who are looking for more traditional elements to add to their ceremony.

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A ring warming ceremony is a tradition that involves passing around the wedding rings to guests or just the wedding party. Upon receiving the rings, guests “warm” them up with a prayer, good wishes, or positive vibes for the couple's future together.

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