The guide to the perfect Celtic wedding

DRINK

Bunratty Meade, a honey wine drank in courts in ancient Ireland. The wine is said to bring virility and fertility, and it was a custom for the bride and groom to drink it for one full moon after their wedding - hence the term "honeymoon." Your wedding guests can toast you with a glass of meade as you depart the ceremony for your honeymoon.

TOAST

The person who introduced you. This is done to honor Ireland's matchmaking tradition.

GIVE

Harvest knots as favors. To signify devotion, young people in Ireland would give harvest knots made of straw to their love interest, worn on a man's lapel or in a woman's hair. Tie harvest knots out of straw (here's a step-by-step guide: http://www.mrsmurphys.com/Irish%20Wedding%20Traditions.htm) and decorate them with small flowers or bells to give to guests as favors. Attach a scroll explaining the significance.

INVITE

The "strawboys" to your wedding reception. A peculiar Irish wedding tradition was for youths wearing cone-shaped straw hats and masks to arrive at the wedding dance where the leader claimed the right to dance with the bride. They wore straw suits resembling many-layered hula skirts, or white shirts and petticoats decorated with colored ribbons. At the party's end, the strawboys burned their costumes in a huge bonfire. Reenact this scene for a truly traditional Irish wedding.

RECEIVE

Traditional Irish gifts. On your registry, be sure to ask for the following: salt and pepper shakers, so your home will never be without food, wine glasses or tall toasting flutes, so your home will never be without plenty to drink and a candlestick holder, so your home will always have light.

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Nster.com