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The Irish have a literal tieing of the knot with handfasting... the Bride and Groom have their hands tied together. I have never heard of anything like this in Italian tradition or I would have taken to it like fish to water... I am going to be Irish by Marriage but I am Italian by heart...
I'm Scottish-Irish and my FI is Italian. We're doing a handfasting in our ceremony.
The cord is often used in Fillipino weddings in the same manner, too, as in the Spanish tradition. There's also the handfasting, which has Pagan and Irish roots. There aren't too many specifically Italian wedding rituals (it's mostly just the traditional Catholic ceremony).
I'm Italian and haven't heard of this tradition, sounds really cool though! I especially like the granparents' involvement
Hello Chipmunk,
Yes, it is true that various forms of connections are used in all sorts of religious and cultural traditions at weddings--including Celtic handfasting, the "white cloth" ritual in Arabic weddings, hand binding in Portuguese weddings, and cording ceremonies in Mexican and Filipino ceremonies--just to name a few. So if you like this notion, you could certainly adopt it from a "multi-cultural" perspective.
I was curious about any Italian traditions I might find and noticed a few:
The "Le Buste" (or La Borsa, by one reference) is a silk bag or satin pouch that the bride carries to hold envelopes of monetary gifts (not everyone's cup of tea)
Also, Bags of almonds known as confetti, symbolize the bitterness and sweetness of life, are given to the guests as keepsakes. Apparently the number of almonds should be an odd number (5 or 7) for good luck.
In on of The Knot's guidebooks, they mention that The Tarantella is also a customary dance of the bride and groom at the reception.
Other Italian folklore, I have read, is that the groom should carry iron in his pocket to ward off evil spirits on the wedding day.
On one website, I noticed they said that Southern Italian brides and grooms break a glass at the end of the wedding day. The number of pieces that the glass shatters into represents the number of years the couple will be happily married.
Of course, once I (or you) get going with the line of research.....it can go on forever :) I just noticed a website specializing in "Italian Wedding Favors" with Murano glass bouquet--the glass is made in Venice.
Bottom line, here, is have fun with this and there certainly must be some nod you can make to his Italian heritage! It might be nifty to include references to these special ceremonial flourishes in the program, too.
Thanks so much!! I also believe that in Spanish cultures we have the satin bag for envelopes and such I wouldn't like that..we also do the almonds..which I absolutely love. I definitely will incorporate some of these traditions. I know his older family members would like that, and I would to.
Ms. Chipmunk,
You may recall our exchange about Italian wedding traditions. As a wedding officiant and celebrant, my little minds always racing. After my posting, I did a blog about our exchange. I thought you might be amused---the names were changed to protect the innocent :)
http://sarahritchieweddings.com/2009/11/the-comfort-of-traditions-lost/
Happy Thanksgiving
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I'm not sure where to post this, but if anyone can help thank you!! My SO is Italian and I'm Spanish. In Spanish wedding tradition we have the lasso, which is the literal tying of the knot where the Godparents put a decorative rope around the couple while they are kneeling infront of the priest. Do Italians have this sort of tradition? Does anyone else do this? Just kind of curious.