Patricia and Logi posing in the forest with their handfasting cord.

Our wedding was the inspiration for this blog, and as such, I think a story about this particular adventure is required for the sake of context and curiosity.

My partner and I got together in 2020 and have been living together for a while. As a Christmas present, I gifted him a hand-made hand-fasting chord that took me quite a long while to make (I may make a post about it at some point for those crafty people amongst you!). This was my way of saying “I love you, let’s get handfasted!”.

Green and gold handfasting cord.

From an extract of our own ceremony (written by our dear friend and officiant for the handfasting): “Handfasting is an ancient Celtic tradition pre-dating marriage, that involves a ritual, binding the couple together as a symbol of their commitment to each other. In some cultures, handfasting eas almost like an engagement, as the union would last for one year, after which the couple would return to the officiant and declare their intent to either marry or separate and end their time together”

It felt perfect to be able to celebrate our love together with our closest friends in a beautiful ceremony without involving ourselves in a life-long legal commitment just yet. Two years later, we decided to organise it. We wanted something really small, with our closest ten friends or so. We love nature, so it had to be somewhere we could be in close contact with the flora and fauna, and so we decided a forest would be the perfect location. Lastly, we love food, and so we asked everyone to bring something home-made to share (I made some sweetpea hummus and a vegan carrot cake, yum!).

A friend of ours made the ceremony speech, another took the pictures, everyone contributed to the experience in one way or another.

On that warm and nice June day, we travelled to a forest, which seemed taken out of a fairytale. I was wearing a dress I had bought the previous year for the occasion from Bibian Blue, which was absolutely gorgeous.

A gif of Patricia spinning with her handfasting dress

Once there, we first had our ceremony, which included a meditation and the handfasting ceremony itself made by our friend, in which we called upon the elements and read our vows. Afterwards, we indulged ourselves with an incredible Hobbit feast, took pictures and enjoy that time in nature surrounded by friends.

Although we weren’t set on handfasting exactly a year before actually getting married, it somehow worked out that way. The Summer before the handfasting, my partner and I visited a folk festival, and I was amazed at the amount and quality of the crafts people were selling. I fell in love with a wood-burnt piece that had barely just been started, so you could see all the pencil drawings. I jokingly told my partner that, if he ever wanted to propose to me, he should do it with something like that rather than a ring. And, surprise surprise, about six months later, he arrived home with a 1.80m thing wrapped in plastic, and I couldn’t but wonder what the hell he had bought this time. It was a hundred times more beautiful finished than I ever could have expected when I first saw it, and I obviously said yes.

Patricia laying down on a bed with her new headboard.

And so, we decided to go ahead and plan the wedding. I shyly asked my partner if he would be up for a nerdy wedding, maybe a Hobbit-themed one since we both very much looked and acted like hobbits, and it would tie-in pretty well with our love for food, nature, music, books and friends, and to my delight he went all-in with the theme. The rest, my friends, is history, and you will discover more as I make posts about all the things I crafted during that awesome year.

Handfasting photos by Sam Cox - @existing_in_colour

Patricia posing with a moth dress in the forest.