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!
