Wedding ceremony: tie the knot - literally

Do You know the origins of the expression “tie the knot”? Did you know that it comes from ancient Irish (Celtic) traditions?

In our writing now we introduce how this wedding ceremony is conducted and what are the meanings of the different colours of the ribbons.

So, if You are searching for something meaningful old tradition for your wedding ceremony, then this might be yours!

Photo credit: Gergely Botond Pal

As You might suppose, the symbolism of tying the knot - literally with colourful ribbons - on the wrists of the married couple is to show that they belong to each other for ever. This ceremony can be found also in Roman Catholic wedding ceremony, however You can read about this in ancient Celtic sources.

This nice tradition can be involved in symbolic or even official civil wedding ceremonies easily. Here You can find how it is conducted and what are the meanings of the different colours.

Tie the knot ceremony symbolism:

The couple provides ribbons of different colours: yellow, green, white, red, blue. Each ribbon has its meaning:

• the colour Green symbolises earth, representing the physical and material;

• the colour Yellow symbolises air, representing all that is intellectual and mental;

• the colour Red symbolises fire, representing the power and passion in your relationship;

• the colour Blue symbolises water, representing the emotional and love;

• and finally the colour White symbolises Spirit, representing the spiritual and philosophical in life.
  

Tie the knot ceremony description:

The celebrant displays the ribbons of 5 colours and introduces the vows made by the couple. After that he/she introduces each ribbon and its meaning and asks the couple to tie it on each other’s wrist. The couple repeats the following (or similar) sentences after tying each ribbons:

“With this Green ribbon I promise to live with you always, to share all in the material world I have with you. We are partners in life and love, and we will always work together for the best of our lives together.”

“With this Yellow ribbon I promise to communicate as clearly as I am able, to share my thoughts with you, to share my hopes and dreams, as well as my fears and insecurities. I promise to be open to hear you whether the words be good news or bad. I promise to always look for the good in your words.”

“With this Red ribbon I promise to always feed the fire of our physical passion, to never take you for granted and to always remember who you are, to treat you as my lover, to always be open to your expression of your love, and to share myself totally with you.”

“With this Blue ribbon I promise my heart will always be open to you, to love and respect you, to always put you first in my life, to always consider your feelings when making decisions and to put our relationship as the first priority before all else.”

After the white ribbon they say:

“As everything in life is a circle, so is our love. There is no beginning and no end. We have been here before, and someday we will return. We are two, and we are the same. Today and forever, with this White ribbon I promise this will never change.”

And all after these, the couple can tell their own vows and/or the celebrant talks about marriage, love and common life.