Welcome to Gaia! ::

I don't see why you can't add your own sort of "til death do us part" clause into the handfasting. It's not like there's one standard across-the-board format for handfastings that one must adhere to in order for it to be a "real" handfasting.

And of course you can have a Christian marriage while practicing witchcraft. There are Christian witches and none of them are really excluded from the faith. Or are you using Wicca and witchcraft interchangeably? Because the two are most certainly different, seperate things.

Thank you, Sanguina. I was about to say that handfastings are not something you renew every year. The first one is for at least a year and a day (it can vary to a few years or months depending on the couple's choice, but a year seems to be the most recomended). The first time it's "for as long as we shall love" and then the second time it's "for as long as we shall live" and then, as was said earlier, you can take a third handfasting (or do it on the second)--sort of like renewing your vows--and say "past the veil of death."

Thanks for starting this post as I kind of was hoping someone here would give me an answer to a similar question...

I'm a pagan and my OH is kind of...well he's not christian. We would have liked a wedding like a christian wedding but they don't do them for people like us do they?
I guess we could do the registry office thing but we wanted a ceremony so we could be spiritually binded.

Any one got any ideas?

well what i was thinking for mine was to get the certificate from justice of the peace and then do the ceremony ourselves.

Huh. That seems a bit out of character for the C of E.

In all honesty, I don't want people to know I'm pagan and family and friends are going to come. It's not that I'm not proud of my faith but I want people to see me for who I am and not a stereotype they might place on me.

For this reason, and the reason that my OH is not pagan, I would not want a handfasting or to have the wedding officiated by a pagan authority. The Goddess and God know of my committment and love to them but its not a day for them. Its for me and my future husband hehe. Thats not to say they won't be gladly welcomed to the festivities though.

Perhaps the registry office is just the best place for it and then a nice party afterwards. If we choose we might do a sort of solitary, private handfasting with just the two of us but I don't see why we would lol

Lol Of course you would, darling, and I have to agree with him. Small and simple handfastings/weddings aren't nearly as overwhelmingly stressful or budget-consuming than godly affairs that take up an entire plain. I can also understand your reasoning with the stereotyping. Personally, though, I'm so far out of the closet I may as well be in the spotlight (more by process of elimination, seeing as how there are little to no "out in public" witches around here).