You can email wedding@marshall-dent.uk to RSVP, ask any questions, or let us know about anything. This email goes to both Alex and Matt so you might get a reply from either one of us.
If you have either of our phone numbers, please feel free to use that instead of email if you prefer.
Please RSVP by 21st December 2024 to the above email address with the following details:
The Handfasting will occur on the 28th June 2025. That’s 2025-06-28 for all you ISO fans out there!
Make your way to Jarrow Civic Hall (address below) and we will provide a coach from there to the ceremony venue. We will then bus you back from the ceremony to the Civic Hall where the reception and evening do will take place for the remainder of the day.
This is to try and make it as simple as possible for you to attend so you don’t need to worry about getting to two separate venues. The reason for the two separate venues is that we want to get handfasted outside, and we have permission to use some land nearby for it but this is not suitable to host the reception!
The full address for the reception venue is as follows:
Jarrow Civic Hall,
59-61 Ellison Street,
Jarrow,
Tyne and Wear,
NE32 3HZThe coach will pick you up at a bus stop on the same street as Jarrow Civic Hall. The coach will have seatbelts and it is necessary to use them when on the coach. We’re not sure what the rules are regarding car seats for kids on the coach; we will update this site when we know but if you want to be informed directly please just ask us when you RSVP.
The exact location of the coach pickup is available at the following links:
All times are subject to human-induced delays i.e. traffic and such. The order will stay the same though!
If it’s absolutely lashing it down we’ll skip the outdoor ceremony and do everything in Jarrow Civic Hall to stop everyone getting drenched
Jarrow is well-served by public transport and there is not any parking available at the venue, so we recommend getting public transport in. The best way by far to get into Jarrow is by using the Tyne and Wear Metro. The Jarrow metro station is close to the Civic Hall. If you’re arriving on the day by train, there is a metro station at Newcastle Central Station, and if you’re staying in a local hotel there’s usually a metro station within a comfortable distance in each Newcastle and South Tyneside.
Alternatively, you might want to get the local buses. The bus interchange in Jarrow is right next to the metro station and close to the Civic Hall. We’re less familiar with the buses than the metros, but you can find a link to the various timetables below. If the metros are not running on the day, Nexus will put on a number 900 bus which runs to the metro timetable. This will usually take you from nearby each station and in Jarrow will deposit you at the interchange. The best place to check for that is the Metro website, which will inform you of any works/disruptions.
Finally, here are a list of local taxi companies. These are useful if you’re planning on boogying with us at the reception and need a lift home.
If you are driving in to Jarrow, the nearest parking is at the local Morrison’s supermarket but there may be a time limit. We’re not sure of other parking around Jarrow as we mostly use public transport.
These are list of hotels you might want to look into if you’re staying overnight.
Most of these are in South Shields because that is the nearest destination town in South Tyneside.
If you have any accessibility concerns or needs then please get in touch as we want everyone to be comfortable during both our ceremony and reception. Please do not play down your needs or assume you’re creating a fuss; it’s much better to let us know early so we can accommodate you.
If we are aware of your needs then we can either arrange separate transportion for you, or we can ask the coach company to provide us with an accessible coach.
Please let us know in advance if you cannot stand for the duration of the ceremony. We will make sure there is some seating there for you to use.
Please be aware there likely will be no toilets or wash facilities for the duration. We are aiming to keep the ceremony as brief as possible to avoid discomfort for people.
The reception will be held in Jarrow Civic Hall which sadly does not have lifts available to reach the main venue. We have spoken with the managers who will provide chairs at each landing to support people resting on their way up.
The coach will pick you up at a bus stop next to Jarrow Civic Hall at 12:30 and leave at 12:45 approx. One of our close friends will do a register and some due-diligence to make sure nobody is left stranded! When the coach departs it will take approximately 30 mins to reach the land we’ve got permission to use for the ceremony.
When you arrive there, please enter the land quietly and quickly as it is nearby some houses. There will be a Northumbrian Piper playing for your enjoyment. We will also provide you with some light refreshments because we’re aware that the ceremony and travel cuts across lunch time.
It shouldn’t be too long before the ceremony starts. Someone will ring a big bell and you’ll be summoned to gather at the tip of the land next to the river, where the ceremony will take place. You’ll be asked to stand in a semi-circle, with the Priestess in the middle.
There is standing-room only at the ceremony. Don’t worry because it shouldn’t take too long! We’re aware of the British weather and we’re aware of people who cannot stand for long periods of time. Once you’ve taken your spot, the Piper will play another tune and we will join the Priestess in the middle so you can all get a good look at us. Someone will come around handing out drinks for toasting during the ceremony; a choice of either something alchoholic for traditionalists, some juice, and water for those who can’t or don’t want to drink alcohol.
We’ll then do the ceremony! We’re still working out the exact details but generally speaking the Priestess will open with a welcome and thanks for being here. There won’t be any hymns or chanting but we kindly ask that you follow her lead in welcoming the spirits of our gods, ancestors, and of the land to join us in the ceremony. This will just involve repeating some words back when asked.
The ceremony will continue and culminate in vows and the handfasting itself where our hands will be bound. You’ll then be asked to shout some words back when prompted and then give us a toast. We’re then done with the ceremony!
At this point you’ll be ushered back onto the coach to return to Jarrow for the reception while we disappear for some photos. Upon entering Jarrow Civic Hall the bar will be open to wet your whistles, and we will have hopefully been able to hire a magician to entertain the kids. There will be a seating plan with a diagram and also labels on the chairs so you don’t need to worry about finding someone to sit with.
After we’re done with photos we’ll join you at the reception and the buffet will open! After food we’ll do some formalities like speeches and such, cut up some over-priced cake to serve, and then we’ll get the place ready for a boogie.
The DJ will start up and we’d be delighted if you join us for our first dance as husband and wife. The dancefloor will remain open for the evening with our DJ providing a variety of sets to accommodate a range of tastes and also taking requests. At some point the buffet will be refreshed/changed over to keep you nice and bloated into the evening. We have the Civic Hall up until midnight, at which point “you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here” takes effect.
In short; smart, smart-casual, or religious/cultural dress are all fine. Wearing flowers or natural elements is encouraged.
Please also consider that we’re having the ceremony outdoors in Britain which usually means changeable weather and maybe means mud. Shoes are considered optional at the ceremony but we understand most people will want to wear them. We kindly ask you not to wear high heels at the ceremony because this may damage the land, which would make us very sad. Please feel free to change into high heels after leaving the land.
Smart-casual can mean different things to different people so if you’re stressing about this then we’ve landed on the idea that you should wear something that you’d wear to impress a first date. Chinos, nice jeans, button-downs, dresses, dungarees, etc. All of these are fine. What matters to us is that you feel like you’re dressed up just a little bit but you haven’t had to stress about buying something new or hiring a suit just for us.
If you feel more comfortable wearing a shirt and tie, please do so! We want you to wear whatever you feel is appropriate for you and expresses your personality and culture. In the spirit of making you comfortable, we do wish to make it clear that there won’t be groomsmen and that Matt will not be wearing contemporary formal wear as a groom, so there is a risk you may feel like the odd one out if you want to wear a three-piece suit. Again; from our perspective wearing a three-piece suit is as valid as wearing smart-casual but we want you to know the atmosphere in advance so that you can make the choice and feel comfortable.
All other religious or cultural attire is welcome. If you’re of a pagan-inclination please feel empowered to deck yourself out in the relevant garb and symbology of your respective paths. Those of other faiths or those who enjoy a strong connection to their cultural heritage may of course wear attire that is suitable for attending a wedding in your traditions. Kilts, saris, thobes, dishdashas, robes of various stripes and beyond are all welcome should you wish to share them with us.
We will try to ensure that the toilets at Jarrow Civic Hall are open for you to use on the day even before the coach arrives. If they aren’t for whatever reason, the nearest public toilet is at the Morrison’s in the Viking Centre just over the road:
Sadly there are not any toilets available the land but if there is enough demand we can investigate hiring a portaloo for the ceremony venue. There is a roughly 30min–45min drive between the two venues, and we expect you to be at the land for no longer than 45 minutes total. This means there may be just over two hours without access to a loo which we understand may be an issue for some people.
We will investigate whether the coach will have a toilet installed and update this site as soon as we know. Please let us know via your RSVP if you’d like us to contact you directly.
At the reception venue, the women’s toilets are located on the same floor as the main hall at Jarrow Civic Hall whereas the men’s are located on the mezzanine down a short flight of stairs and along a corridor.
We kindly ask that you do not take photos of us during the ceremony and do not upload photos of us to social media.
We will be hiring a photographer for the day and we will be providing you with copies of these photos after the event when they’re ready.
You are of course welcome to take selfies and photos of each other, as long as you have the consent of everyone involved!
We kindly ask you not to smoke or vape during our ceremony despite the fact it’s outdoors. The best place to smoke is outside of the boundary of the land by the fence. Please do not discard cigarette butts by the land, as this goes against the spirit of respect we want during our celebration.
The reception venue does not have a dedicated smoking area so you must smoke outside during the reception. We also kindly ask vapists to vape outdoors as well, as there are likely to be children present at the reception.
We will be putting some money behind the bar for you during the drinks reception and evening. Please feel free to enjoy it!
The bar will sell a standard variety of alcholic and non-alchoholic beverages. We believe that the bar accepts both cash and card if and when you need it.
We will be working with Rosie’s Café in Jarrow to provide catering. By default we will be catering for a mixed crowd and we’ve asked the caterer to assume that half of the guests will be vegan so there should be plenty of meat-free and dairy-free options.
In terms of allergens and intolerances, we will work with the caterer to ensure that there are at least a few things for everyone including gluten-free dishes. If you have any other allergies, please get in touch with us and we will ensure that there is something set-aside for you.
Some people may have strong preferences that don’t fall into traditional allergy or dietary categories but nevertheless have real impacts on them. This can be a range of things but an example would be not liking particular textures of food (mushrooms, fruit etc.) or requiring foods with very mild flavours. If this sounds like you, you’ve ever described yourself as being “fussy”, or if you’re stressed about whether there’ll be food for you at the buffet please get in touch. We understand and want to accommodate you. If you find it hard to describe your preferences in general terms, please give us examples of things you like to eat so we can work something out.
We’ve opted not to have a traditional wedding cake. Instead we’ve got a local café/bakery — Hive Café — to provide us with individual cakes.
There will be one slightly larger cake that’s mostly for show so that we can get a photo of us cutting it, but otherwise there will be plenty of individual cakes/sweet treats which will get shared out.
According to some back-of-the-envelope maths from Matt; approximately 20% of the desserts will be vegan, and about 15% will be gluten free. The rest are neither. We’ll make sure that these are labelled appropriately.
Children are very welcome at our Handfasting ceremony and reception provided that you are confident they’ll feel relatively comfortable and safe. We don’t want to cause them any disproportionate distress.
We understand that young children can often be very vocal about their discomfort and this may be the first wedding or celebratory event they’ve had to attend. We fully expect — and embrace — some minor disruptions to the ceremony due to upset or excited children because this is a folk ceremony and children are people with needs equal to ours.
From our end, we will ensure that our helpers are equipped with some appropriate bribes (e.g. low-sugar treats such as home-baked biscuits, fruit, and juice) to support dealing with some outbursts.
During the ceremony, children are welcome to get a closer look by standing nearer to us however please be aware that the ceremony space is by a river so we kindly ask that parents ensure that children remain safe at all times.
Given that the ceremony is likely not going to last more than 20 or 30 minutes, we’d appreciate your support in dealing with extended outbursts to ensure that everyone can enjoy the ceremony.
Sadly we cannot allow animals other than assistance dogs or guide dogs at either the ceremony or reception.
We have been living together for a long time now and have everything that we want in terms of physical things. Gifts are not necessary but if you feel that you want to make a donation to our honeymoon fund we would be incredibly grateful. Alternatively, we would be very moved if you would consider donating an appropriate amount to the Patchwork Project who are very special to us and have kindly agreed to let us use their land for the ceremony.
For wedding cards; we kindly ask you not to bring a wedding card. We will be setting up a book for you to write in as the equivalent of a card. Your message can be anything from a simple “Congratulations!” with your name to something more wordy if you feel inspired or moved to do so. Doing things this way is better for the environment and also gives us a momento to take away and cherish.
Absolutely, yes; just let us know in your RSVP email.
While we hope that you’ll consider spending some time with us at the reception we understand that not everyone feels comfortable in large crowds of strangers who all seem to know each other, or are loud.
For some people, the party/disco/boogie after a wedding is the main event while for others it is their idea of a personalised torture. We want you to feel comfortable and safe.
If you’re planning to attend the ceremony but not the reception, please indicate this to us via your RSVP or as soon as your plans become clear. This is mostly so we know the numbers for the Reception venue, transport, and caterers. It’s also acceptable to disappear after food but before the music and dancing start.
Absolutely, yes; just let us know in your RSVP email.
It’s our preference that people try and attend the ceremony because this represents the social and spiritual commitment that we’ll be making to each other in a public setting.
However, we understand that some people may not be able to attend the ceremony for a variety of reasons. This may include accessibility or health concerns, or very strong religious beliefs that make you feel deeply uncomfortable attending a pagan ceremony.
Please let us know ahead of time that you are not planning to attend the ceremony. This informs numbers for transport.
We still want you to be a part of our day, so you are welcome to join us at the Reception from 15:30 to meet us there and celebrate with us.
Yepp! We are aware that people are travelling a ways to see us and that between photos and buffets and speeches etc. there may not be a chance for us to sit down and have a natter.
If you’re still around on the Sunday, we’ll be hanging out in the picnic area of Jarrow Hall, formerly Bede’s World (note: this is different to Jarrow Civic Hall!!). This is a museum + reconstructed Anglo-Saxon farm in Jarrow. It’s about £8 entry per person but the tickets last all year.
We’re probably going to head there around midday. Let us know if you think you’ll come and hang out!
We got this idea from a friend’s wedding where we ended up hanging out with them in the Botanical Gardens the day after and having a lovely time. Jarrow doesn’t have botanical gardens but it does have Iron Age pigs, goats, lots of ducks and geese, and reconstructed Anglo-Saxon buildings. Delightful!
The word “handfasting” has meant several things through the ages but put simply, a handfasting is a general-purpose “folk wedding”. While it’s most often used today to describe a Neopagan or Reconstructionist Pagan equivalent of a “Wedding”, technically speaking you can get handfasted in a secular or even a Christian context.
Some handfastings are intended to create permanent or long-term commitments, much like Weddings in other cultures. This is the type of handfasting we’re having. Other handfastings are deliberately intended to create a temporary bond which people will renew either at regular intervals or at a subsequent long-term commitment ceremony; either a traditional Wedding or another Handfasting.
Handfastings are commonly associated with the tying of a ribbon or rope around the hands of the betrothed or new couple. This happens differently between different traditions and even between different ceremonies of the same tradition. Sometimes it’s just the Priest or Priestess that ties it up, sometimes everyone joins in. It depends. In our handfasting we’re getting the Priestess to tie our ribbon around us.
Yes, this will be a Pagan handfasting. Pagan is a very big umbrella term, though so this section addresses a few common assumptions or FAQs we get just to give you a heads up on a few things!
We’re not Wiccans. We love Wiccans but it’s just not our path. This means Wiccan symbols such as Pentacles and Pentragrams don’t mean much to us, and we don’t do any witchcraft or spells.
We are Heathens which is another broad term but basically means we are animists and have some polytheistic tendancies. We are not Ásatrú and we do not worship the Norse gods and therefore Norse symbols and “viking stuff” doesn’t mean much to us. We mostly worship the Anglo-Saxon gods. Think Woden instead of Odin, Thunor instead of Thor, etc. and then throw in Eostre and Wayland among others, and finally mix in a dose of respect for the land and sprinkle in some ancestor-worship.
If you’re interested in getting a feel for how we do things then the following resources might slake some curiosity and answer some questions (but we’re not interested in converting or preaching):
Oh, and we’re very much anti-racist. There’s a lot of gits out there ruining Heathen-adjacent imagery for the rest of us. Death to fascists.
No, however we kindly ask that you participate in some parts of the ceremony as enthusiastically as is comfortable for you.
At contemporary Christian weddings, celebrants will often be asked to sing hymns and share in prayer as a sign of respect to the Bride and Groom. We will not have hymns or prayers, but there will be some equivalent moments where the Priestess will ask you to repeat back a welcome or a toast with a simple phrase (likely “Hail!” or “Hail, and welcome!”) and take a sip of a drink. It would mean the world to us if you participated in this.
We’re designing the ceremony so that there will be very little explicit worship of specific gods and/or spirits but there may be mention of some which hold a special meaning to us.
In general you will be asked to welcome and toast but not give praise or worship. This will be across three categories of being: gods (some named, some collectively), the spirits of our ancestors, and the spirits of the land. If we’re cheeky the Priestess might ask you to toast us at the end.
If you have any questions or concerns at all that we’ve not covered please get in touch to ask.
We like to be as accommodating as we possibly can within the limits of the venus, and we don’t take offense easily. We really do want you to be as comfortable as possible so please do not hesitate to get in touch.