Handfasting wedding ceremony

Vintage wedding down at the homestead

…and here comes the beautiful and totally happy bride, Jessica, to her wedding ceremony.  The story continues.

Jess and Joel are a relaxed couple who planned their DIY wedding at Kenilworth Homestead on the Mary River.  There was plenty of space down on the farm to feel like the rest of the world had melted away.    The homestead grounds could accommodate the entire guest list, with onsite cabins, cottages and a long river flat for tents if necessary.  But the centre piece for this wedding was the old rustic barn, with weathered boards, old farm features, transformed by this creative couple into a vintage paradise for an evening of fun, games and rock’n’rollin.

Arriving at the wedding

But I digress, first the ceremony.

Under the huge tree they met to wed.

Jessica arrived on the arms of a proud Mum and Dad.  She needed them there so she wouldn’t bolt too fast to her darling Joel.  The guests watched with glee as she strolled across from the cottages to the altar under the tree

Another name for tie the knot

Jess and Joel had told me that they have a very tight knit group of friends, and that family is really important to them.  They describe family as a mixture of unconditional acceptance, lots and lots of love and happy chaos; a delightful combination!

So their wedding was planned as a retreat for everyone, not simply a honeymoon for two, although I’m sure they’ll find time for that too!

Since ancient times couples have stood together in a ceremony of marriage. For Jess and Joel’s ceremony they also decided to embrace an age old tradition, with a rope! I rewrote what is sometimes called a handfasting ceremony, in which a cord is tied about a couple’s  hands as they take their vows.  It is from this tradition that we know of the expression to “tie the knot”.  Making it  uniquely their own handfasting, we played with words, and wove their vow sentiments into the handfasting format.

Handfasting

During the ceremony under the large tree, I wound the cord slowly about their hands as they made their promises to each other.   For each line a binding, for each binding a promise, and as the hands were bound together, a set of promises bound their lives and their futures.  But once done, the bindings can be unwound for the promises they have made will keep them together, no rope is needed!

Photos by Brisbane & Melbourne based photographer, Elleni Toumpas and a couple by myself!

If you enjoyed this story, you may like the first chapter of Jess and Joel’s DIY vintage themed wedding, down on the farm, by the Mary River.