Priodas Coes Ysgub: brooms but make it Cymraeg 🏴
Every wedding teaches me something new about how far Welsh folklore stretches - and how much fun it is to give it a modern spin!
This was one of those “challenge accepted” moments - I was super excited that one of my couples wanted not only a traditional Celtic handfasting (more on that another time!) - but also the perhaps lesser known ritual “jumping the broom”.
May I present - yr ysgub!
What is priodas coes ysgub?
In Welsh folk tradition, there's an old recorded custom known as priodas coes ysgub — which roughly translates to "broomstick wedding." Very witchy, I know. You might know it better as broom or besom jumping, a ritual that shows up in different forms all over the world.
At its heart, it's about sweeping a new path toward a joint future and symbolising a union. As with a lot of folklore - there’s no one version of this ritual - lost in the mystery of time, but doesn’t that make it all the more interesting?!
I got into a proper bunny warren in my research of this old tradition which goes back centuries. In one version of the tradition, a broom was laid across the ground or a doorway, and the couple would jump over it together. If they landed successfully (without knocking the broom!), they were considered married - a symbolic crossing of the threshold from one life into a shared one.
In other versions of priodas coes ysgub - it was taken to mean eloping or running away to get married. It also appears to have roots with newly wed Romany couples in Wales who would leap over a “flowering broom” as a fertility rite. It’s a custom that has spread and versions of it exist across the world.
Giving it a Welsh spin
When I looked to develop this ritual for a modern, Welsh wedding - I knew I wanted the ritual to feel rooted in place as well as tradition - but also in keeping with the vibes my couple wanted! They had a particularly international guest list and wanted them to have the “full Welsh experience” - say no more!
So I appointed a "keeper of the broom” - a guest whose job was to sweep a clear path down the aisle, to the couple’s symbolic future, before the couple's big moment.
The broom was also decorated with a traditional burgundy Celtic handfasting cord.
And because I always promise my couples they'll always leave knowing a bit of Welsh, we counted them into their jump yn Gymraeg - un, dau, tri, nawr!
With the whole room counting them in - they took the leap over the broom side by side, together into married life and to rapturous applause.
Why I love offering this
Finding rituals that have almost been forgotten and giving them a special place in a ceremony is so special - and this was an especially high energy finale to the ceremony too!
Jumping the broom - priodas coes ysgub - is playful, visual, and gives guests something to join in with, which is exactly what makes a ceremony memorable rather than just watched.
If you’ve got the germ of an idea for your ceremony too - I’d love to help you bring it life!
June - Mehefin ☀️
Penblwydd hapus i fi! Elin, Pride 2026 🌈
Daw hyfryd fis Mehefin cyn bo hir…!
What a month. A month with a big barometer of heat overseeing the proceedings - welcome to Costa del Caerdydd…!
This month I also celebrated a whole other year of my 40s - and got to do so at Pride Cymru. Marching with my kid’s school with other families and the teachers was an absolute highlight - a scorching hot day surrounded by love and colour.
Tying-the-knot: a castle, a heatwave - and a surprise guest
The headline of my month was of course: Kate and Nick's wedding. A castle ceremony, a harp playing Calon Lan & Sosban Fach, a Celtic handfasting, a gorgeous story of love and metal across the globe, a “priodas coes ysgub” starting with a broom (more on that later!) - and the hottest week of the year (decade?!).
There were a few surprises along the way that I can't go into in full (celebrant privilege!), but I will say this: I found myself conducting a ceremony in front of someone who is, to put it mildly, very famous. World-famous, in fact. And afterwards, they told me they loved it. Still grinning!
Kate and Nick were absolutely wonderful - and I’m buzzing every time I think about that day.
They were very clear that they wanted a wedding ceremony rooted in Wales and Welshness - and we designed something that was utterly bespoke.
The guests learnt some Welsh along the way - and they made a full weekend of it by carrying on the celebrations at the Stadium’s Metallica gig the next day - with “Nothing Else Matters” dedicated just to them in front of 70,000+ fans…
We had all the drama - Bride lost her voice the morning of the wedding. Taxis didn't arrive on time. The castle walls were literally shaking from a concert soundcheck on the green just outside - and miraculously the noise stopped just in time for our ceremony. And the heat (have I mentioned the heat?!) - fans for all the guests, a gorgeous touch from Kate and Nick. Ah - it was just lush.
The qualifications I nearly forgot to mention
In amongst all of that - I nearly forgot that June was also the month that I qualified as a funeral celebrant!
I have learnt so much from this course. Funerals are different from weddings of course - the stakes feel different - but to be honest, celebrations are still at the heart of it - honouring and being thankful for a life. It’s about holding a moment, a space, finding the right words.
I’m so proud of this one - I really wasn’t sure if it was “for me” when I started the course - but what really surprised me was being asked to deliver a Celebration of Life when I was only mid way through my training - I clicked with the family almost instantly, I felt like I could see exactly the kind of ceremony they wanted - and it was really humbling getting to hear all the stories about their wonderful person - who sounded like a true icon who deserved to be celebrated and then some.
And also in training news - I’ve also been diligently training with the brilliant Glenda Proctor - the “Queen of Handfasting” - this year - and this month I completed my handfasting and handtying training.
Just in time for Kate and Nick’s wedding too - so much to say about this fab Celtic tradition I’ll save it for another post!
Roll on Mis Gorffennaf…
July is going to be a bit different. I'm starting a short public affairs consultancy contract - completely outside of celebrancy - which means juggling two quite different professional identities. I think this change of scene will breathe new energy into things on the celebrancy side too - and if anything, you’ll find me at Amgueddfa Cymru (the National Museum of Wales) for a few weeks (yep - the one with the dinosaurs!).
There's another wedding on the horizon in August that I'm really looking forward to over in west Wales - putting the finishing touches on what’s going to be a beaut of a ceremony (reveals to come…!)
And I've got a lot of content from a recent styled shoot that I've still yet to share - including some beautiful footage from a gin unity ceremony that I think is going to appeal….
Oh - and I went for my eye test. Guess who’s getting new glasses in July…! Watch this specs-space… 🤓
Six months of Elin Edwards Celebrant ❤️
My first blog post for Elin Edwards celebrant
Six months ago, I launched a business. This week, I qualified as a funeral celebrant — making me now a “Master Celebrant” across weddings, namings, funerals - and celebrations of life. So it felt like the right moment to grab a paned - and write the first proper blog post I've been promising myself I would since January!
Where it started…
Going self-employed for the first time in my life was, quite frankly, terrifying. There's no script for "what if this doesn't work," and there's no script for "what if it does" either. I had trained as a wedding celebrant, developed a brand I loved - Queen of Hearts energy and all - and then had to do the slightly mad thing of actually telling people about it.
I launched just before Santes Dwynwen - Wales' very own day of Cariad - love. And I spoke about my new project on the sofa of S4C's Prynhawn Da, and on BBC Radio Wales and Radio Cymru. Looking back, that was a brilliant, slightly chaotic way to start - there's nothing like a TV camera to make a new business feel suddenly, terrifyingly real.
… and how it’s going
In six months, I have:
Met some gorgeous couples and heard all about their love stories. Booked weddings - and in fact smashed my first-year booking target in that time alone!
Delivered my first Celebration of Life — all while still mid-training — for the most wonderful superstar and her family
I secured grant funding to design and launch my Queen of Hearts branding and all her gorgeous marketing assets (have I mentioned how much I love it - I worked with designer Seymour Creative, he absolutely took my vision and made it a reality!)
Launched my socials pages with my usual passion for red, Eurovision and featuring Barbie herself (join me on insta - I continue to be bamboozled by the algorithm!)
Trained and specialised in handfasting (with the Queen of Handfasting herself Glenda Procter) - an ancient Celtic ritual I now offer as part of my wedding ceremonies
Qualified in Namings in February (my absolute FAVOURITE type of ceremony!)
…and now funerals, making me a Master Celebrant! So there’s also been a lot of training alongside the business start up.
Took part in two styled photo shoots with some talented fellow suppliers - honestly, the options are limitless when it comes to imagining what’s possible at a wedding
Become a recommended supplier at some beautiful Welsh venues
Attended my first few wedding fayres, I even went on the Independent Celebrants Retreat in March with fellow celebrant colleagues who've become firm friends, and… written more ceremony scripts than I ever imagined I would!
Some musings…
Couples want to feel like themselves. Every couple I've worked with has, at some point, said some version of "I want it to be authentically about us and for our guests to relax" That's the whole job, really - finding the words and vibe of a ceremony that is just them to a tee.
Bilingual ceremonies matter more than people expect. I knew there was a gap for Welsh-speaking celebrants in Wales, but I didn't fully appreciate how much it would mean until I started chatting to couples. A ceremony which has two languages is special - couples and guests love a sprinkling or more of Cymraeg, it’s our language after all.
Funeral celebrancy is a different kind of privilege. Delivering my first Celebration of Life taught me more about this work than any training could. Being trusted with someone's whole life story, at the worst moment of someone else's, is something I take incredibly seriously — and something I am so proud of.
I am still slightly stunned that "what if I tried this" has become "I have a booking diary."
What's next?
The next six months are about cementing as well as growing. I have some gorgeous weddings to officiate which I can’t wait to share more on. I'm formally launching my funeral celebrancy, hoping to build relationships with funeral directors across South Wales, and continuing to take on weddings, namings and the occasional Master of Ceremonies booking (a brand new offering, with all the Queen of Hearts energy you'd expect - which I’ll be rolling out soon!).
If you're getting married, welcoming a new life into your family, or need someone to help you say goodbye to a person you loved — I'd love to hear from you. And if you've followed along, liked a post, or sent me an encouraging message in the last six months: diolch. I see you superfans! And if you’ve booked me - well then you know I adore you and we’ll be friends for life.
Here's to the next six months.
Diolch o galon, Elin ❤️