Celebrating Your Irish Wedding!

The Irish are known for their spirit and the way they embrace life.  Whether it is a wedding or other social celebration; the Irish have unique traditions that they incorporate into their lives and their events.  With emerald being the 2013 Color of the Year, I thought it would be appropriate as we approach St. Patrick’s Day, to discuss some of the traditions of Irish weddings.  Additionally,  I chose to blog this week about this subject in honor of my Irish heritage!

Before I start with the traditions, as in most wedding planning, I thought we could look at a gown that have incorporate the beautiful emerald green!  I love this look!

Now, let’s talk about rings.  The Claddagh rings are an Irish tradition originally based from a town in Galway, Ireland in the 17^th Century.  It can be in gold or silver and features two hands clasping a crowned heart.  It is often a love token passed from mother to daughter as well as a wedding or engagement ring.  Upon engagement, the crown faces the heart and upon marriage, it is worn facing the opposite direction.  Here is a photo of one that I thought had lovely features.

Many years ago, Irish brides would wear a wreath of wildflowers in their hair, and sometimes in their bouquets as well.  Most traditional Irish weddings would not feature some of the more contemporary or structured bouquets that are more common for today’s bride!  Some brides love incorporating Bells of Ireland into their bouquets.  This is a tricky flower, and in this image, you can see why!

Another interesting tidbit about Irish lore in floral was the incorporation of live myrtle into the bouquet.  Sometimes a bride would put it in her bridesmaid’s bouquets and encourage them to plant it at home.  Legend has that if it grew, the bridesmaid would be married within a year.  Interesting…..

Other traditions or superstitions:

• Some say that if a glass were broken at a wedding, it was bad luck.  I hope this isn’t true because I have seen a lot of broken glasses at weddings!
• It may be unlucky to get married on a Saturday!

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I read that if a mother-in-law breaks a piece of wedding cake on the bride’s head that they will be friends for life.  Now, I don’t know about you, but my brides would not take to this concept very well.  I often tell my clients when they cut the cake, not

• to get carried away with feeding each other.  I call throwing cake or aggressively smashing it into the others face “the kiss of death”.  Keep that in mind!

A very common wedding beverage for the Irish is Mead.  Mead is also referred to as honey wine.

Irish lace is a beautiful touch to a dress or a veil.  Lace is very popular in the designs of today.  If I have a bride who wants to carry this tradition but doesn’t want it on her dress or her veil, she can incorporate it into her bouquet, garter or can simply carry a handkerchief, preferably a family heirloom!

In terms of music, who doesn’t love bagpipes!  We have used these very often in our events.  And, most of the clients are Irish!  It is fun to surprise your guests by hiding the bagpiper until just the right moment!  We did a wedding at a vineyard a few years ago.  We began the procession by having the bagpiper approach the ceremony site through the vineyard itself.  The guests could hear him getting closer and closer, as he was also walking towards them.  So it became a celebration of sound and sight!  As he arrived at the ceremony site, we began the procession!  We have also used them many times to lead the procession and/or the recessional.

I hope you have enjoyed some of this!  There is so much more!  Thank you for allowing me to celebrate my Irish heritage with you!  I leave you with this lovely table setting! I found this photo on Pinterest.

If you are looking for more inspiration, just type in emerald green wedding inspirations and enjoy the journey!  You won’t find yourself in the Emerald City, but the photos are definitely inspirational!

Author Mary Litzsinger, Creative Director for VP Events, is one of southern California’s most prestigious event professionals.  Her award winning parties have been featured in numerous magazines including OK!, Los Angeles Weddings, People, and Inside Weddings as well as on television shows such as Access Hollywood, E!, ABC and KNBC.     

Have you been to an Irish Wedding?  Let us know in your comments.

Would you like to have your wedding featured?  Use the Contact Form, we would love to feature you!

Categories: Plan Your Theme Wedding, Wedding Trends

Tagged: Emerald Green 2013, Emerald Green Weddings, Irish Wedding Inspirations, pantone color of the year, Wedding Décor, wedmepretty.com

Date: March 17, 2013

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