Weddings in June by Helen Henderson

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What to choose for a topic to greet the readers of Love Romance Reads? In keeping with the group’s name, it should have something to do with romance. When I saw the date assigned for the post was in June, only one topic felt appropriate—weddings.
 
One of the advantages of writing fantasy romance is being able to create my own worlds, complete with traditions and magical equines. Both of my series, the Dragshi Chronicles and the Windmaster Novels, have a joining ceremony equivalent of a wedding. As in real life, a handfasting, as the ceremony is called, often marks a changing point in someone’s life—and can have consequences. In the novella, Forever Bound (from First Change: Legends From The Eyrie) Lady Breana and Lord Kanel’s desire to marry triggered a fight for the right to rule their two homelands. A problem solved in a Solomon-like manner.
 
Handfastings, like weddings, also have certain traditions such as the father of the bride escorting her down the aisle. What gown to wear haunts many a bride in the real world—and sometimes even their intended. Human nature can be the same whether it the world we live in or ones of our imagination. When Lord Dal married Lady Ellspeth, he wore a formal outfit of his clan. In another tale, instead of the simplicity of Dal’s vintage outfit, the bride selected a more decorative look for her mate that had so many buckles, belts, and cuffs that the best man remarked, he had “marks for a week.”
 
I like the military tradition of a sword arch and included them in handfastings in both the Dragshi Chronicles and the Windmaster Novels. A difference from what many people expect is that the glittering arch of steel honored the leadership of a woman and greeted her on the walk to the wedding rather than the groom’s friends acknowledging him and his new bride as they left.
 
Whether traditional or personalized, sealed with a ring or a hand-crafted bracelet, romance, love and weddings go hand in hand in both the world we live in and those of our imagination. If intrigued by this post, I hope you’ll check out Lady Ellspeth and Lord Dal’s handfasting in Windmaster Legacy or the one included as a reader’s bonus in Hatchling’s Vengeance.

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