Perfect Irish Celtic weddings begin on Fantasy Ireland

Affordable, Memorable Irish Celtic Weddings Start Right Here

Traditional Irish Celtic Weddings are
perfect for lovers young and old!

First, let me congratulate you on your upcoming wedding! I know, like every bride and groom, you want your wedding day to be unique and memorable.

Not only is your wedding day a time to look forward with blissful anticipation towards the future, it is also a time for paying tribute to your cultural traditions. And there is no better way to achieve this than by honoring your heritage and using all the best elements of traditional Irish Celtic weddings to make your day unforgettable.

Even if you're not Irish, but you find inspiration in Celtic music and folklore, you may want an Irish Celtic wedding to express who you aspire to be. The dress, the rings, the invitations, the vows, the music, the decor, even the honeymoon can all be a testament to your individuality and passion.

Irish wedding tradition is rooted in the sentimental charm and superstitious nature of medieval Irish folklore. And even though Irish wedding customs sometimes seem whimsical, it's easy to adapt many of them to modern times to make your wedding special and ensure that you will make memories that last a lifetime.

Start planning your Irish Celtic wedding today to ensure a memorable day not only for you but all of your friends and family as well.

The Proposal

The gentleman who wants to show his bride-to-be just how special she is should carefully select an Irish engagement ring, perhaps with a claddagh design. Claddagh engagement rings are the hallmark of brides with Irish sensibilities.

By the way...it is good luck for the bride to have her birthstone in her engagement ring, even if the stone is otherwise thought unlucky. If your lady prefers more understated elegance, you may prefer a Celtic engagement ring with the classic beauty of Celtic eternity knot design.

The Planning

Once the proposal is accepted and planning begins, your invited guests will immediately know they are invited to a memorable event when they receive specially-designed Irish Celtic wedding invitations. There are numerous Irish and Celtic symbols that can be incorporated into the design of your wedding invitations.

Just because you don't live in Ireland doesn't mean you can't have an authentic handcrafted Celtic wedding dress. Whether you want to feel like a fairy princess or a country maiden, you can have an Irish wedding gown custom-designed just for you! To really enhance your bridal ensemble, you can feel like a princess when you wear an exquisite Celtic tiara.

Just make sure it still has a few stitches left before the wedding day. The Irish believe that if you wait until the morning of the wedding to do the last stitch on the dress, your marriage will be blessed with good fortune. And if you accidentally tear your dress on your wedding day, don't fret! The Irish believe this is a sign of good fortune too!

There are many online shoppes offering authentic Celtic wedding dresses. Here are a few of my favorites:

Fairy Fashion designs exceptional beautiful medieval to renaissance bridal gowns. All their gowns are custom-made with lots of individual attention.

Kathryn and Alexandra designs and creates custom and historic themed wedding gowns in Medieval, Celtic, Gothic, and many other historical styles.

Lindsay Fleming has stunning hand-made Celtic, Medieval and traditional wedding dresses for the discerning bride. Their unique world-wide mail order service makes it possible for any bride-to-be anywhere in the world to feel like a Celtic princess on her wedding day!

Rivendell Bridal has medieval wedding dresses & Elvish style wedding dresses. The unique range of dresses Rivendell Bridal offers includes medieval, elvish, fairy, gothic & Lord of the Rings inspired wedding dresses all made to measure to your specifications.

The Rings

I know choosing your wedding ring can sometimes be an overwhelming experience. These days, a plain gold band just isn't good enough for the bride and groom who want to express their hearts and souls. There are many gorgeous knotwork designs that make lovely Celtic wedding rings. There is also the legendary claddagh, which is the sentimental favorite for a uniquely Irish wedding ring.

The craftsmanship of all these wedding rings is exquisite. But that level of skill is usually quite expensive. Remember your wedding rings are the one thing you buy for your wedding that stays with you every day for the rest of your life. So it's definitely something special that is worth spending a wee bit more to ensure you get heirloom-quality Irish Celtic wedding rings.

You still need to find the best value for your money, though. After all, you still have the dress and the reception to think about! One of the best places to buy Celtic wedding rings online is My Celtic Jeweler. Not only will you find a unique variety of Celtic wedding rings, including a wide selection of Celtic knotwork and Celtic spiral designs; you'll also find several that are distinctively Irish.

My Celtic Jeweler has several Celtic wedding rings with the Claddagh design. One especially unique Claddagh design has the symbolism of the Claddagh design inscribed in Gaelic, Gra Dilseacht Cairdeas, which means 'Love Loyalty Friendship'. You'll also have a choice of other romantic Irish-Gaelic scripts, like the popular Mo Anam Cara script, meaning 'My Soul Mate' or the more hard-to-find 'Gra Go Deo', which means 'Love Forever'.

The national assay office at Dublin Castle individually tests and hallmarks each piece. This means your rings from Irish Celtic Jewels have been certified as authentic Irish Celtic wedding rings.

Be sure to read my article about Celtic wedding rings to get the best quality and value!

Little Things Mean Alot...

OK, now you've covered the big things. But, we've all heard that old saying, "little things mean alot". Here are just a few ideas to help you bring the spirit of Irish Celtic weddings into every part of your special day.

When choosing the music for your wedding, select a few Irish wedding songs for guests to enjoy before and after the ceremony.

Another lovely way to have Irish music as part of your wedding is to hire someone to play the Celtic Harp or Uillean Pipes during the processional and recessional. It would also be wonderful background music as people arrive at the reception.

My favorite is DruidStone's "The Vow: An Irish Wedding Celebration". Unfortunately, it is only available in limited quantities. So it may not be available when you need it. If it is, consider yourself lucky and snatch it up quickly!

One excellent alternatives that is widely available is The Chieftains' Celtic Wedding: Music of Brittany.

Another good choice is Brobdingnagian Bards' A Celtic Renaissance Wedding.

Regardless of which one you choose, there is no better way to set the mood for your Irish Celtic wedding than by having the peaceful, soulful sounds of Celtic wedding music playing for all to enjoy. By having Celtic wedding music on CD's, you will not only have the most beautiful, romantic Irish Celtic wedding music available on CD long after the wedding is over, but you'll also probably get much better music than if you had hired local musicians for much more money!

More little ways to add Irish spirit to your wedding...

Ask the best man to recite a traditional Irish wedding blessing during the ceremony. Or perhaps you'd prefer your maid-of-honor to read one of the many Irish wedding poems loved over the years.

Irish wedding vows can offer you a way to depart from the standard vows used in most ceremonies. Those couples who are not devout Catholics, but definitely want their vows to have deep spiritual meaning, may prefer choosing ancient Celtic wedding vows.

Give your guests Irish wedding favors as a special memento of their part in this unique wedding-of-a-lifetime.

Giving Irish wedding gifts, as with so many wedding customs in Ireland, is steeped in magical folklore and old-fashioned Irish superstition. Some Irish wedding gifts can be good luck charms for the Bride and Groom.

Click here to learn about the folklore behind seven traditional Irish wedding gifts.

One way to honor your Irish heritage at the reception is by treating your guests to some traditional Irish food. What makes traditional Irish food special is that it's fresh, simple, and hearty! Save time and money with some of my easy Irish recipes! Treat your guests to Ireland's best entrees, breads, and desserts.

It is customary for the top tier of the wedding cake to be an Irish Whiskey Cake, which the bride saves for celebrating her firstborn's christening. Find the perfect Irish Whiskey Cake in my Irish dessert recipe collection!

The best man and the father-of-the-bride who wish to honor the Irish Celtic wedding theme will want to choose a couple of Irish wedding toasts to launch the festivities at the reception.

To top it all off, why not steal away in a horse-drawn carriage on your way to the Emerald Isle. A honeymoon in Ireland is the perfect end to an Irish Celtic wedding! You deserve a Fantasy Ireland Honeymoon.

Fantasy Ireland features only the best of Ireland's hotel castles such as Adare Manor, Ashford Castle, Dromoland Castle, Waterford Castle, and many more.

There's no better way to make your Ireland Honeymoon a fairytale come true than to live like royalty for a few days in a luxury Ireland hotel castle. And speaking of fairy tales, there I discovered a magical site where all of your wedding fantasies can come true. The Fairytale Wedding Shop has enchanting favors, decorations and ideas for a variety of fairy tale themed receptions, showers and events.

Click here to return to the TOP of this page

I have read several books about Irish wedding customs. But Irish Wedding Traditions, by Shannon McMahon Lichte, is my personal favorite. I read it cover to cover in less than one day!

It's a lovely, gift-quality keepsake book, yet very handy and practical for learning all about how you can use old Irish wedding customs to make your special day a modern-day fairy-tale wedding. This book is filled with long-forgotten historical and contemporary Irish wedding customs - from vows and rituals to symbolic flowers, food, spirits and song. Included in the chapters are Irish inspired ideas for dressing for the occasion, decorating the ceremony and reception with an Irish touch, designing the perfect Irish wedding invitation, as well as suggestions for registering for Irish gifts.

Another helpful resource for planning Irish Celtic weddings is Bridget Haggerty's The Traditional Irish Wedding. To get an overview of her book, click here and read her article about Irish wedding tradition.

Do you have any Irish Celtic wedding stories or advice you'd like to share with the world?

If you've got some Irish Celtic wedding stories or advice to share with the world, we'd love to hear from you! We are extending an open invitation to all you Irish-Celtic enthusiasts to be featured writers on Fantasy-Ireland!

Not only will you be taking part in our growth, your article will be permanently featured on Fantasy-Ireland with your name and a link to your site. So everyone wins! If this sounds appealing to you, just click here to submit your article.