Weddingbee boards

I am super stoked! I just ordered the tartan that we will be using for our hand-fasting ceremony!! Mr. Moon and I decided to be wed on the very same beach where he proposed. He is Catholic, I am not. But we could not think of a more perfect place in front of  our family and all of God's creation to be united. We will be doing our version of a hand fasting ceremony as a nod to our combine heritage, in addition to exchanging rings. I say our version because we are using a tartan instead of cords and we are writing our own ceremony. I'm interested to know:  Has anyone else incorporated Hand-fasting? Or have you tweaked tradition to fit your style? 

Sample of our tartan:

@bamm: I love the idea of "welcoming" your future husband into your clan! That is part of the reason we chose to use a tartan. I am of English heritage- first generation American actually, and Mr. Moon is second generation (his heritage is Irish/English) so it seemed natural to us to include this ceremony.  Mr. Moon is an officer with the local police, who just happen to have a pipes and drums band with their own tartan- score! We are using their tartan in our handfasting. Before we learned that we could purchase said tartan, we had considered finding a lovely piece of fabric with a pattern we both liked and making it our tartan, might that be an option for you?

@Miss Burgundy: I attended a wedding some years ago where there was a handfasting, and my MOH said at her episcopal wedding the priest wrapped the end of his stole around their wrists. I did a few lengthy internet searches to get an idea and just tweeked it to suit us. It's not a big deal to our officiant, since we are writing our own ceremony, she's actually really excited about it. Best of luck planning!

Just an update for you Bees out there considering a handfasting. Ours went beautifully. We had our best man and matron of honor do the "fastening" as they are both married (not to eachother) and hope to emulate their strong relationship traits. We wrote the ceremony ourselves, so we included elements that were important to us- like the mention of children, and our christian faith. It was a very intimate, reflective point in the ceremony- highlighted by the harpist playing the Lord's pray and a moment of reflection and blessing. Good luck to you gals planning your own handfastings!