Wiccan Writes: Castle Wedding

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Castle Wedding--Part 2

Firstly, apologies for the quality of the photos in Part 1. My camera is not well and some photos suffer from the Gray Line disease. Most frustrating. But there will be photos from the professional photographer that I will be able to show soon. Hopefully a brand new and better camera is in my near future!

Kim of the blog A Wiccan Life, asked a question in her comment as to whether the wedding ceremony was a true handfasting since we had a pagan officiant. Mary Hudson, the pagan chaplain at Syracuse University, worked with the wedding couple to create a ceremony that blended elements of a pagan handfasting with those from a traditional mainstream ceremony. The handfasting part did include the tying of 6 ribbons around the couples hands, binding them. Each ribbon represented a commitment, each to the other. Mary explained that this old Celtic tradition is the source of the expression, "tying the knot".

Now, onto some more photos!

Just minutes before the walk down the aisle

First Dance (Dancing to a song by Blackmore's Knight)

The wedding couple at their table

Father Daughter Dance (dancing to "I'll Remember")

Parents of the Bride

Planter from the Wedding Garden

Hanging Cone from the Wedding Garden

At breakfast the next day, happy couple displaying their wedding bands

Monday, August 15, 2011

Wedding Bliss--Castle Wedding, Part 1

Beautiful, enchanting, lovely, moving. From beginning to end. All the hard work, planning, and a bit of anxiety paid off. From the first harp string, to the vows, the champagne toast, the incredible dinner, dancing, cutting the cake, throwing the bouquet, launching 30 chinese lanterns lit with tiny candles into the night sky with a full moon gazing down. Everything was stupendous and wonderful. I really cannot convey my feelings. I will let photos do the telling. I didn't really take a lot of photos as I was so busy experiencing the moment. Some of these photos were taken by family members. Thank you for all your wonderful comments before the wedding. My daughter is a married woman now!!!! Her husband is a wonderful son-in-law. Life is good!!
(Click on photos for a better view.)