Yes, that' right folks, not everyone wants to wear white on their wedding day.  This is an ode to the red dress.  The color red invokes warmth, passion, energy and adventure.  What bride isn't up for that?  The color red governs the lowermost chakra situated at the base of the spine.  The red chakra beckons vitality, courage and self-confidence.

A red dress may not be for everyone, but being adorned with this sultry color on your wedding day makes for a fantastic entrance (and exit). 

If your wedding is in the fall, a red dress fits right in with the season.

While in countries like Ireland and India, red wedding gowns are just as (or even more) popular as white, in the U.S., it's becoming less taboo to wear any color other than the traditional white wedding dress.  Chalk it up to the U.S.' puritanical origins.

What does the color red mean to you?  If you've already gotten married in a red wedding dress, Handfastings Magazine would love to hear from you (and see pics, too!).  So let's cut to the chase:  here is some eye candy for your viewing pleasure. 

Put a little magic into your wedding ceremony with apples!

Apples are arguably the most storied of fruits.  The flower of the welcoming apple tree, this sweet crop has had an illustrious history, inspiring fairy tales, legends, biblical script and magical lore.  

With its windy limbs growing low to the ground, the apple tree reaches out to welcome us, inviting people to climb its short trunk and pick its fruit.  We empathize with its approachable stature and share our excitement with it as we take a bite from its crisp, satisfying gift.  Like its tree, the apple holds an emotional component.  We round up the family to go apple picking and the fruit becomes a part of our day and our memories.  We share the fruit with our teachers as apples are a symbol of knowledge.  We use the fruit to celebrate our varied customs and ceremonies.  Apples also have a long history of use in divination, especially to foretell the future in matters of love and prosperity.

Apples are enchanting - it is the fruit that holds charming powers to anyone who receives it as a gift from a loved one.  The apple is actually a part of the rose family and carries similar symbolism.  During a handfasting, the bride and groom may hand each other a red apple as a symbol of the giving and receiving of their love for each other throughout their entire married life.  Like the rose ceremony at a wedding, the exchanging of the apples (instead of roses) can symbolize the "love" in "I Love You."  Handing an apple to your soon-to-be-spouse is appropriate as your first gift to one another: the gift of love - and highly appropriate if the wedding falls around the Autumnal Equinox.

Autumnal Equinox is Approaching...

Mabon, the Sabbat (hallowed cross quarter) of the Autumnal Equinox, is the second harvest of three (Lugnassad, Mabon, Samhain) in Pagan traditions.  It is celebrated toward the end of the month of September, after the shift is made from Virgo to Libra.  The equinox is a time of balance; the light and darkness of Mabon's day and night are equal. 

Mabon embodies the earth's waning life - leaves begin to fall and plants are ready to be harvested.  The full moon closest to the Autumn Equinox is appropriately named the Harvest Moon (or sometimes the Barley Moon) and farmers would harvest their crops by moonlight as a part of the second harvest celebration.  Mabon is a great time to perform kitchen magick: apples are picked, fruits and vegetables are canned, and breads are baked as we prepare for the cold months ahead.   Food is prepared with care while being imbued with harvest spells and good blessings to carry us through the winter.

The air becomes crisp as we begin spending more time at home with family, and we are thankful for this year's bountiful harvest.  We are entering the waning time of the year when we begin to look inward and reflect upon our lives.  Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort the God as he prepares for death and re-birth.

Happy Mabon from Handfastings Magazine!