Many of my couples who are getting married in the summer and fall of 2013 have requested handfasting as an alternative to a more traditional wedding.

If you’re not familiar with handfasting – it’s quite literally, “tying the knot.” Though “handfasting” is often used in Pagan circles as the term for the entire wedding ceremony, the handfasting I’m referring to is a unity ritual, often going after the ring vows and before the closing of the ceremony. The couple takes hands (like they’re shaking hands – right into right and left into left), and then their hands are then wrapped with a cord, symbolizing the joining of their lives and hearts. Each wrap represents a step towards complete commitment to each other. At the end, the couple remains there, for a moment, and then the cord is removed before the end of the ceremony. Some couples choose to take vows as their hands are wrapped – this is an option as well.


 
 
  What could I do but quote the wedding planner? Everything was going wrong with my destination wedding. The beach was now, thankfully, tranquil and calm but it was still awful looking. The tropical storm that blew through last night had really littered the shore with debris.

“What more could go wrong?” I wondered.