Charmed Wedding Inspiration from Piper & Leo’s Midnight Wiccan Handfasting Ceremony

Love the witchy vibes of the late-90s television show Charmed? We’ve got some retro Wiccan wedding inspiration for you, straight from Halliwell manor…  

 

 

Third time’s the charm, right? When it comes to wedding bells for sister-witch Piper Halliwell and her whitelighter beau Leo Wyatt, that certainly seemed to be the case!

 

Piper and Leo were star-crossed lovers on the 90s fantasy drama Charmed – a witch and an angel whose love was strictly forbidden by the Elders. These two soulmates vowed that nothing would keep them apart, breaking every rule in the magic book in their quest for love and marriage.

 

With so much stacked against them, it took three tries for them to finally tie the knot…

 

After their first attempt to marry in secret was thwarted by the Elders, Piper and Leo spent weeks planning a gorgeous formal ceremony. Piper’s mother, Patty, was brought back to life for twenty-four hours to attend the event, and the ghost of High Priestess Penny (aka Grams!) was called in to officiate. 

 

Related: Online Ordination for Modern Pagans: Why it’s So Important, Especially Now

 

But this second attempt also hit a few snags – first when temporarily-evil Piper turned the wedding planner into a pig, and later when Prue’s astral self crashed the wedding (literally) with her biker boyfriend. 

 

Luckily, the magical couple’s third ceremony was a success! After a heartfelt talk with her parents, Piper returns to the Halliwell manor to say “I do” to love. She and Leo are married in a short handfasting ceremony surrounded by those closest to them, and share their first kiss just as the clock strikes midnight. 

 

It was a truly charmed wedding ceremony! 

 

 

Screenshot from Charmed, S3E15, broadcast 2000

Leo creates a magical chandelier of lights above the ceremony space... it's ok if you just use candles. 

 

Recreate Piper and Leo’s Handfasting Ceremony
Inspiration from a Charmed Wiccan Wedding Ceremony

 

To recreate this magic moment for your own wedding ceremony, you’ll need:

 

• Wedding Officiant (High Priestess)
• Candles or a chandelier
• Golden yellow handfasting cord
• Begin your ceremony about 5 minutes before midnight
• Seal your marriage with a kiss just as the clock strikes twelve

 

 

Ask a friend or relative to get ordained online to officiate… maybe your Grams or another beloved matriarch! Having a close friend or relative officiate your handfasting is a sure way to make the moment intimate, unique, and truly magical.

 

• Get ordained online with AMM here

 

Begin your wedding ceremony close to midnight, a time that many people consider the witching hour, and keep it short and simple. Leo and Piper’s wedding was short and sweet – only about five minutes from beginning to end. 

 

Talk to your wedding officiant before the ceremony to let them know that you want your first kiss to happen at midnight, and work with them on the timing of your ceremony script to get things just right. 

 

Write your own vows to cast the sweetest spell! Your vows should come from the heart, and reflect the things you love best about your partner, and how you feel about marrying them. Here are Piper and Leo’s wedding vows to use as inspiration: 

 

 

Piper Halliwell & Leo Wyatt’s wedding vows,

transcribed from S3E15 of Charmed (WB, 2000)

 

Leo’s Wedding Vows

 

“Piper, through all the tears and struggles, I always knew in my heart that we’d make it here. I promise to love and respect you from this point forward as your husband, as my wife, my lover, my friend, and my soulmate. All I am, is yours.”

 

Piper’s Wedding Vows

 

“Leo, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I was afraid that you were too good to be true, that maybe I didn’t deserve someone so pure and beautiful, and loving as you are. But here we are, surrounded by the people that I love the most, and I feel so proud and so blessed to be your wife. Leo, I was born to love you. And I always will.”

 

 

Keep the guest list small by inviting only those closest to you – your closest friends and family members. Piper and Leo were joined by the temporarily resurrected Patty Halliwell, father of the Bride Victor Bennett, Prue and Phoebe Halliwell, demon Cole Porter, and family friend Darryl Morris. (If only Paige could have been there!)

 

Of course, their ceremony was probably private because their officiant was a ghost… but even if all your wedding guests are corporeal, small ceremonies are uniquely charming and intimate.

 

Include a Wiccan handfasting ritual following your vows to ‘seal’ the promises you make. This unity ritual has been around for thousands of years and is a popular wedding ritual for modern witches as a physical symbol of their spiritual commitment. 

Piper and Leo’s hands are wrapped in a satin yellow cord during the ritual (the color yellow symbolizes joy), before they repeat a final ‘handfasting vow’ together in unison. 

 

 

Piper and Leo’s Handfasting Vow

 

“Heart to thee, body to thee, always and forever, so mote it be.” 

 

(Officiant, friends and family respond, “So mote it be.”)

 

Screenshot from Charmed, S3E15, broadcast 2000

Piper and Leo chose a satin gold handfasting cord for their midnight wedding ceremony.

 

 

For more handfasting inspiration, check out these helpful resources: 

 

• Browse all Handfasting Articles 

 

 

Seal your ceremony with a kiss at midnight! As described above, this ceremony is extra-special because the first kiss comes right at midnight. With a little preparation and good communication with your wedding officiant beforehand, yours can too! 

 

Related: Wiccan Wedding Spell – A Handfasting Love Spell

 

Piper and Leo take their handfasting vow, the clock chimes twelve, and officiant High Priestess Grams tells them to kiss, fast! As the magical newlyweds embrace, candles flicker and brighten, and their beloved friends and relatives clap in celebration of their love. 

 

Blessed be! 

 

 

…

 

Watch Piper and Leo get married in the wedding scene below: 

 

 

 

---

 

Read Next: 

 

• Online Ordination for Modern Pagans: Why it’s So Important, Especially Now
   
• Pagan Wedding Blessings for Every Season and Ceremony
   
• Salt & Sage Love Smudge for a Lowkey Pagan Wedding Blessing
   

 

Sprinkle some magic into an eclectic earthy elopement with this salt and sage love smudge, inspired by authentic Pagan wedding blessings. Read the full article here. 

 

---

 

Love it? Pin it! 

 

 

---