What are wedding rituals?
What is the significance of honey?
What one would you use?
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Most weddings are steeped in customs and tradition – the beauty of a humanist wedding whereby whatever you wish, within reason, can easily be introduced into your ceremony.
Rituals vary widely around the world but also have cultural significance. I will be marrying a couple soon and the bride is Scottish, and the Groom, Iranian. They have decided to perform a ritual involving honey.
This is a very sweet tradition and is representative of fertility, love and happiness. It can also suggest the idea of working on relationships like the hard working bees who toil non-stop to produce the sweet nectar.
Honey is also used as an aphrodisiac but I’m sure most couples, especially these two beauties, only need to use symbolically.
The Honey used in Iranian-Persian ceremonies is sometimes infused with saffron which is also associated with happiness and can alter a mood which is negative.
I would suggest, for this wedding, the honey could be placed in a ‘Quaich’ or cuach – Gaelic word for cup. It has two handles and is known as a vessel for incorporating trust on the part of the giver and the receiver.
Drinking from the Quaich is a ritual often used in Scottish ceremonies and sometimes the couple’s favourite tipple is used and drunk by both of them.
Bearing in mind tea is a very important and daily ritual for both Scots and Irianians they could drink black tea with the same honey and – BOOM – three in one!
Using both traditions together would be a beautiful way to cement the couple’s traditional beliefs, love, trust and respect for both family and cultural traditions.
If you’re getting married and want to discus your ceremony, get in touch with me at Margaret.Mazzone@CHA.scot
MM The Celebrant 