What is a handfasting ceremony?

Handfasting is a type of wedding ceremony prominent in pagan worship and increasingly popular for humanist ceremonies.

If you’re looking for a general description of a handfasting, rather than the details of a handfasting ceremony, then please head over to my blog where I answer the question: What is a handfasting?

Religious and non-religious handfastings

There are many ways you can style your handfasting ceremony. The main difference being: do you want a religious or a humanist handfasting?

In this blog, I will describe what is included in a typical pagan handfasting ceremony.

So what does pagan mean?

The definition of paganism that you will find on the Pagan Federation UK website states that paganism is a polytheistic or pantheistic, nature-worshipping religion.

As you might guess, this includes a lot of different spiritual paths.

So what I will describe here is just one possible example of a pagan handfasting ceremony. One that I am familiar with from my own path. Yours may differ.

If you’re looking to have a humanist handfasting ceremony, you can drop the religious parts of the ceremony that I describe and replace them with something meaningful to you. Or you can mix and match: use just what feels right for you!

A pagan handfasting ceremony

Your celebrant will be able to help you design the handfasting ceremony that is right for you. Which of course leads us to the question: how do I find the right hand fasting celebrant or celebrants? I will talk about that in another blog very soon.

In this blog, I will refer to a single celebrant, however, some pagan paths require a high priest as well as a high priestess to hold a handfasting ceremony. This does not impact the sequence or content of the ceremony.

With pagan paths being nature worshipping, a pagan handfasting typically takes place in the open air. Somewhere like a field or woodland, a stone circle or some other ancient monument or holy place or just somewhere outdoors that holds meaning to you.

How to decide on and find your handfasting location, is covered in my blog: How to find your perfect handfasting venue.

Let the handfasting ceremony begin!

A handfasting ceremony begins like most pagan ceremonies: with the celebrant drawing the circle.

The celebrant walks a circle in clockwise direction with their athame, wand, or staff held in the air to mark the outline of the sacred space and consecrates it with the elements.

Whether you are already inside the circle or whether you are walking into it after the celebrant has drawn it depends on your path.

The celebrant then calls the quarters and evokes the spirits of the place starting with East, going clockwise finishing in the North.

There will be carefully chosen readings and blessings before you get to the vows.

If a hand fasting is a legally binding marriage ceremony then there might be certain words you have to say. Otherwise, you can write your own vows.

If you exchange rings, you do this after the handfasting vows and (for obvious reason) before the tying of the ribbon.

Next, the celebrant will bind your hands with your handfasting ribbon or handfasting cord.

If you thought you are now married, nope! We pagans like to make a good party last!

You still got to jump the broom. With your hands still tied, of course. After you have jumped the broom, the celebrant will pronounce you handfast.

They will then proceed to unbind your hands saying something along the lines of “I am might be unbinding your hands, but may you remain bound in the non-physical world.”

Your handfasting ceremony ends with the closing of the circle by the celebrant. They will be going in counter-clockwise direction from North to East and thanking the spirits of the place.

Congratulations! You’re now handfast. Time to party!

You’re handfast. Time to party!

​If you have any questions or if you are worried your wedding photographer might miss key photos or commit a spiritual faux-pas mid ceremony, get in touch via my contact form.

As the Specialist Handfasting Photographer UK and EU, I understand the importance of your rituals and know the highlights of a handfasting.
I can cover your handfasting ceremony throughout the UK and most of the rest of Europe.

Bright blessings,

Specialist Handfasting & Pagan Wedding Photographer UK & EU