- Amanda Snaychuk
Styled Pagan Bridal | Wetaskiwin Wedding Photographer
Updated: May 13
Regardless of being a styled shoot or not, love is love and here at Veronica Vintage Portraiture Studios, we love love. No matter your religion or sexuality, we want to shoot your wedding!
Here we have a great example of a same-sex handfasting ceremony. In the pagan tradition, the joining of two people is done via handfasting, which is where we get the term “tying the knot”. This tradition was started by the Celts (most likely in Scotland) and was used when an officiant was unable to attend to “officially” marry the couple.
In the past, it was mostly ceremony, and once handfasted, the couple had to wait a year and a day to be married, and would only be married if they were as in love at the time of the handfasting. Pretty cool history! Nowadays, many people, regardless of religion use handfasting to literally tie the knot as a part of their ceremony. Once tied, the knots cannot be untied. If the knots are untied, it symbolizes the dissolution of the marriage itself.
With the handfasting cord itself, it is usually handmade to suit the couple. Some people choose to use their wedding colours, and others select the colours of the ribbons to symbolize values that they wish to bring into their married life.
The handfasting cord, made by our very own Renee Mutch, was carefully designed to honor three very important components of any union: passion, fidelity, and purity (dark red, navy, & white, respectively) with special charms added in. See after the gallery of images for more information on each symbol and their meanings.
Our models, the stunning Leya Stankovich and Tayy Miller are really what sold this amazing shoot. Stunning in white with beautiful bouquets, each woman really did look like beautiful brides. Despite Google Maps sending them on a wild goose chase, they arrived with plenty of sunshine left for our session.
Thank you so much to all those involved in helping to make this shoot a reality!
Symbolism time!
Along with the colours of the cord, the charms on the end of each ribbon also have meanings.
There are four mini-bottles: one with rosemary, one with cinnamon, one with poppy seeds, and one with salt. Rosemary is said to have been worn by medieval brides and carried by wedding guests as a token of love and virtue. Cinnamon is to draw in love, happiness, and money, and to ignite passion, and poppyseeds are to keep the peace and to symbolize the poppy flower, which the Persians considered to be the flower of love.
Along with these bottles are small charms, used to represent different aspects of the couple’s pagan path. In this case, we added a Sun to represent the divine masculine, and a Crescent Moon to represent the divine feminine. The Tree of Life symbolizes a fresh start on life - very fitting for a wedding - as well as a symbol of good health. The Triquetra in the heart was added to signify a blessing of the union.
Models - Leya Stankovich, Tayy Miller
Hair & Makeup - Aiyie Lim-Valdez
Dresses - Prom Project Alberta
Second shooter - Samuel Thompson
Handfasting cord: Renee Mutch
Blog Co-Authored by Renee Mutch and Amanda Snaychuk
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