Irish wedding traditions worth keeping

Some of these are ancient, some are Victorian inventions, and a couple were made up by hotels. All of them work if they mean something to you.

Handfasting

Your hands are bound with ribbon or cord during the ceremony. The origin of "tying the knot". It slots neatly into a humanist or civil ceremony and photographs beautifully. Often the cloth uses family tartan or a grandmother's lace.

The Claddagh ring

Hands for friendship, heart for love, crown for loyalty. Worn with the heart facing inward once married. Made in Galway since the 1700s and still the most quietly Irish thing you can put on a hand.

The magic hanky

A linen handkerchief carried by the bride, later stitched into a christening bonnet for a future child, and unpicked back into a handkerchief for that child's own wedding. One of the loveliest traditions still in circulation.

The horseshoe

Carried by the bride for luck, open end upward so the luck does not run out. Now usually fabric or silver rather than iron, for obvious reasons.

Bells

Ringing bells at the ceremony was said to ward off bad spirits. Small bells as favours, or a bell for guests to ring as you leave, is a nice touch that costs almost nothing.

The Irish wedding blessing

May the road rise up to meet you. Read at more Irish weddings than any other text, and none the worse for it.

The grand march

A led procession around the dance floor, everyone paired off and weaving. Older guests will know exactly what to do. Ask the band whether they call it. The good ones do.

Quietly retired

• Locking the couple in a room before the ceremony
• Not letting the bride's feet touch the ground outside the church
• Wedding on a Saturday being unlucky, an entire industry now depends on it

Pick two or three that genuinely mean something. A ceremony stuffed with traditions you do not care about reads as a checklist.