Herbs and flowers have been included in weddings around the world for centuries, bring brides luck, fidelity and fertility.  Long ago Roman couples wore garlands of herbs and garlic to ward off any evil that might affect their marriage in the future. The Celts carried  bouquets of ivy, thistle and heather.  Traditionally in India, brothers of the groom would shower the bride in rose petals to ward off evil.   In Sweden, the groom once carried thyme in his pocket to ward off trolls. 

 Whether you are doing a traditional wedding, an all-out Pagan handfasting, or a combination of the two, one way to bring your Pagan beliefs into your special day is by including herbs and/or flowers with special meanings.  Besides the traditional addition to the bouquet, you can also incorporate herbs and dried flower petals in several other ways: sew them into a hem on your dress, create a circlet  to wear in your hair, stuff them into the pillow the rings set on, hand them out to guests in bags to throw as you walk down the isle as a committed couple, or string a few "kissing knots"  around the reception room by tying rosemary and roses together and hanging them from a string to bring love and luck to anyone who wonders under them.

Here is a list of various herbs, plants and flowers that could be included in your wedding or handfasting, and the traditional meaning behind them for weddings:

• Rosemary for remembrance
• Sage for domestic virtue
• Lavender for luck, devotion and making wishes come true
• Red roses or petals for love, lust and respect
• Dill for lust
• Rue for protection
• Myrtle (a flower of Venus) for love and fertility
• Marjoram for wedded bliss
• Wheat for prosperity
• Sunflowers for adoration, devotion, and faithfulness
• Lemon verbena means "you have bewitched me"
• Apple blossoms are for good fortune and mean "you are my perfect choice"
• Fern is for magic and confidence
• Flax represents domesticity 
• Holly brings domestic happiness
• Ivy brings wedded love, friendship and fidelity
• Mugwort for happiness

There are also herbs and flowers that are sacred to various Gods and Goddesses.  If you and your partner feel a special connection to a particular deity, find what plant is sacred to them, and bring it into your ceremony somehow.  Whatever your choices, knowing that these herbs and flowers are bringing their specific vibrations to your commitment ritual can bring a Pagan element to the day - no matter how non-Pagan it might seem to those not in the know!

Sources:  
The Knot Book of Wedding Flowers by Carley Roney
The Ultimate Wedding Ceremony Book by Bill Cox and Janie Franz
Handfasting: A Pagan Guide to Commitment Rituals by Kendra Vaughan Hovey

This article originated on, and is copyright to Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom