On Saturday 27th July at 3pm I was honoured to be the celebrant of a Handfasting Ceremony at Castlerigg Stone Circle.

This magnificent backdrop helped create a truly magical wedding for all of us present, some 150 guests and about 50 curious tourists.
A Handfasting Ceremony is a Pagan wedding feast, where the couple have their hands bound, or loosely tied together with silk whilst they make their vows to each other.

Originally a couple would have been bound to each other for a year and a day, after which they decided whether to remain together or separate! However the couple married at Castlerigg on Saturday made their vows for life, and as they did so, the sun burst through the clouds and illumined the sacred circle.

We were blessed with warm, dry weather, women singers from Kendal, maids with flower garlands in their hair, a fiddler and drummer, and an unexpected visit from the Green Man himself, emerging from the woods clad only in oak leaves and with green face and hair!
To see 15 children skipping around the circle behind the Green Man was a truly magical moment.

Today there are many people who want to marry and include their spirituality who do not want to marry in church. The laws in England are changing at the moment but at present it is necessary to have a separate Registry Office ceremony to make your union legal. After that you may choose any venue you wish and create the day you have dreamed about.

It is my pleasure to help the couple design and create the ceremony of their choice. Couples may choose to have relatives read favourite poems or blessings, friends to sing or play musical instruments, a time of silence, a dance or whatever they would like to include in their special day.

As an Interfaith Minister and celebrant I am able to offer a service that honours your belief systems. It is my aim to create a sacred space where the couple may commit to each other blessed by the gods, goddesses, God, Spirit, the Buddha or whoever represents the source of Love for you.

The loving energy I felt at Castlerigg on Saturday was wonderful, as everyone present was invited to hold the couple in their hearts and send them love and support. I think many people will remember their wedding for a long time.