It is becoming more and more popular for couples to draw on their cultural and ethnic backgrounds and to include those traditions and customs into their weddings. This holds true for couples and families of Irish descent, for there is a rich cultural heritage upon which to draw and elements which add color and flavor to a wedding, making it truly a special event.

There are variety of Irish theme elements which can be included in such a wedding. These run the gamut from serving traditional Irish fare (food), to incorporating the color of green (after Ireland's nickname Emerald Isle), to any number of other interesting and unusual Irish flavored ingredients.

Perhaps the best-known symbol of Ireland is the shamrock. Not an easy flora to find "live," you may substitute clover or consider decorating with silk replicas, which today are made so well that it's hard to tell they aren't real. The Irish theme can, of course, begin in a quite obvious way by picking Saint Patrick's Day as the date of your event. The green and shamrock can be extended from centerpieces and decorations to the personal flowers worn and/or carried by the groom, groomsmen (boutonniere), flower girl's basket and the bridesmaids' bouquets. Bells of Ireland may be used as a single theme. They have a fabulous fragrance and are also green.

Incorporating Irish history into a wedding may also mean including Celtic customs. The choices and options are many and it is, of course, totally at the couple's discretion what and how many to use. Inclusion of Celtic symbolism can be as simple as decorating invitations with Celtic knots, or as distinctive as celebrating with a handfasting ceremony. Both Irish and Celtic music are very popular today and widely available, so whether you have an orchestra, bagpipers, or a DJ, music with an ethnic bent can become part of your event.

The groom with a good self-image might even consider wearing a kilt and asking his groomsmen to do likewise. Kilts, because they represent a particular family/ tribe, bring not only a general cultural theme into a wedding, but also a very personal family heritage. A somewhat dying art, there are only about five kilt makers in all of the United States and it takes about ten hours to make a kilt.

There are several Irish customs from which couples may choose. Here are several to get started.

Handfasting is a ceremony that some believe was practiced in remote areas where priests made infrequent circuit visits. There is some debate about whether the handfasting ceremony constituted a "real" and legal marriage, just without the benefit of clergy, or a "pre-marriage," or perhaps a public announcement of betrothal. Still others believe that it was a "trial marriage" that lasted a year and a day, after which time the couple could actually marry or part company. The "year and a day" is a time frame that was popularized in novels and purportedly was the period of time that a couple would have to be "married" before being granted the legal rights of marriage, such as inheriting land. There is little hard and fast resource material to support the "year and a day" concept, but as for handfasting, couples today practice it more as a neo-pagan, nonreligious alternative that an alternative religious ceremony.

The Claddagh Ring has remained very popular as an engagement and/or wedding ring. The symbolism is quite lovely. The heart in the design symbolizes love longed to be shared with one's true love. The crown symbolizes undying loyalty and the hands symbolize friendship, which is, after all, the very foundation of love, with loyalty holding the two hands together. There are many legends about the origin of the Claddagh ring and true or not, the Claddagh has become an everlasting symbol of love and marriage.

The Horseshoe has long been a symbol of good luck in cross-cultures. Irish tradition has it that a horseshoe given as a wedding gift to the bride and groom and kept in their home will bring them good luck. The horseshoe must always be hung like the letter "U," so that the luck doesn't "drip out."

Jumping the Broom is a custom known and practiced widely in the African-American community, where the broom serves as a symbol of hearth and home. The custom is also referenced both in Celtic and Irish wedding traditions and may have its roots in an ancient festival where women would "jump or ride a broom" to ensure the fertility of their crops.

Mead is a wine-like drink that, in its simplest form is made from honey, water and yeast. It was thought that meed could improve virility in men and fertility in women, and so held a significant place at weddings. References suggest that it is from the ingredient in mead (i.e., the honey) that the word honeymoon originated. Irish history documents the custom in which the groom would capture the bride at her home and bring her to the wedding feast, where large quantities of mead were generously passed to all the celebrants. When the festivities were over, the groom would "hide" the bride from her family for a period of a "full moon" of time, in hope that the bride might then be pregnant so that the marriage could not be challenged. One could say that the custom started with honey (mead) and ended with the moon.

Some wine and liquor shops carry an organic mead honey wine, a dry white wine which is made by fermenting honey and is also available in flavors such as elderberry, blackberry and cranberry.

Ethnic wedding traditions are often food-related and the Irish are no exception. At some traditional Irish weddings, the cake may be a fruitcake recipe. Add corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread, mead, and dark beer, and a wedding will have a distinct Irish "taste."

As with most wedding, the cake is a focal point at an Irish weddings. Bakers can stay in theme by decorating cakes with shamrocks and green icing and, should the couple wish, an Irish cream filling (Irish Whiskey, whipped cream and sweetener) can be used.

Father Charles Coen, himself born in Ireland, has been the pastor of St. Christopher's Catholic Church in Red Hook for the last fifteen years. He explained that "there is nothing really to distinguish an Irish wedding from any other Catholic wedding, in so far as the ceremony is concerned, except perhaps, on those rare occasions where a bagpiper or bagpipers are ‘stationed' outside the church doors." He fondly recalled the ten Irish weddings of his nieces and nephews at which he officiated in Ireland. Father Coen explained that "there are differences in the celebration aspect between Irish weddings in Ireland and Irish weddings in this country." In Ireland, the reception is typically followed by an open house, "where everyone is invited." There is music provided by a band. Guests bring their own liquor and sandwiches are served. He added, "That party is usually followed by a disco party for the young people and it's not unusual for it to last into the wee hours of the morning."

There are many ways to incorporate Irish music into a theme wedding, because there are many Irish songs, with a variety of flavors. "The Irish Wedding Song," for example, is a slow waltz-tempo song which is a lovely way to kick off the dancing. Starting alone on the dance floor, the bride and groom are joined by their guests. There are many sweet Irish ballads, such as "Black Velvet Band," which refers to the band in a lassie's hair, sing-along tunes like "When Irish Eyes are Smiling," and songs by Irish singing groups like the Irish Rovers, not to mention Irish drinking songs and Irish reels, a folk dance of Irish origin. Music can play a significant role in creating the mood for any ethnic wedding, with new popular songs and old favorites.

Whichever Irish traditions or customs a couple chooses to incorporate into their wedding, such "rituals" add a lovely twist to an event, bringing the "old" into a mix with the new and melding the two into an exceptional event filled with special memories.