FAQsFAQs

Question

Will a handfasting be like a wedding?Will a handfasting be like a wedding?

Answer

More coming soon, but no. Not really. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

What does the cord mean?What does the cord mean?

Answer

It’s the tying the knot part of the handfasting. It’s a Pagan Tradition. The couple is Pagan and this was the most important part of the ceremony for them. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Why did you choose zola over the knot?Why did you choose zola over the knot?

Answer

Customization options were vastly better, but it is regrettable that given our theme, our links say zola instead of the knot. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Will the handfasting be legally binding?Will the handfasting be legally binding?

Answer

Yes! Our officiant is official, and we plan to sign any and all related paperwork! On a related note, if you have advice or guidance on the how the legal side of the wedding functions, we’d appreciate it. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Will you need a prenup?Will you need a prenup?

Answer

We’re going to do a postnup so we can better focus our finances and minds on the very important task at hand.

Question

Will you be changing your name(s)?Will you be changing your name(s)?

Answer

Not at this time. We are going to take our time with this decision and don’t want to rush it amidst our other wedding responsibilities and since there is new legislature making it harder to vote if your name doesn’t match your voter registration, now doesn’t seem like a great time. We also just ordered new documents for travel with the honey in time and it just doesn’t seem like the universe is telling us it’s the right season. We’re going to think about it for a year to have the headspace to give this the time it deserves though we are aware that it won’t be free anymore.

Question

Why is the venue in Oregon?Why is the venue in Oregon?

Answer

Unfortunately, Sierra has lived her life in multiple states for years, we both have a great deal of family move across many states, and basically all of our combined friends have moved out of state, so no matter where we go, it will be a destination wedding for the majority of our guests even if we chose the back yard. The best thing we could do is choose what worked best for us based on finances, the opportunities presented by the universe, and our wildest dreams. Also, we plan to move here, so the hope is to begin our new life in our new home, and even if this is not the case, it would be ideal to do our license where we plan to live. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Why was the July 2026 date moved up?Why was the July 2026 date moved up?

Answer

We really wanted to keep our original anniversary date (and honor the years we have already accumulated together) and the great indoors suck, especially because the bride is largely bedbound. Additionally, since the couple is Pagan, not having outside, even if nature is being nature, feels out of the question. We hoped to see what we can do to accommodate this issue as we want our guests to be as comfortable as possible. This is one reason we are having the ceremony more north. Most of the folks in Sierra’s life get sick in the heat, Sierra included as heat is tough for folks like Sierra and her loved ones whose symptoms cause heat intolerance. In addition to that, keeping this date would have meant no snow on their Finland trip and a pretty hot boat ride to their dive for their honeymoon. The perfect date to make most everything work and also get some fall colors was the end of Samhain, November 2. Samhain is a very important holiday for pagans and as such is often a favorite, so we went with it. Another aspect to this decision is that Jeff’s dad’s passing was an eye-opening experience for us. We’re getting older and Sierra has concerns about being able to walk down the aisle, wear certain wedding dresses or shoes, or having the ability to have a first dance. This goes away for her sometimes and despite currently being in the plan is hard and her choices are already limited. We have also been trying to get married for years and didn’t want to wait so long that it weighed on our sense of prioritizing each other and as the last several years have gotten increasingly harder around us, generally, we didn’t want to allow any possibility for next year to be an even worse time to get married. Unfortunately this did mean giving up on Enchanted Forest this trip as it’s only open for the summer. Unfortunately this also means that there is some trouble with the school year and preparing for the holidays for some folks, but hopefully we can get creative. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Why is there a large memorial altar?Why is there a large memorial altar?

Answer

Samhain is a favorite pagan sabbat despite its somber tones. Alongside ends is the wheel’s lovely final show of life’s cycles, joy, beginnings, growth, rebirth, & gratitude for what you still have. We honor those before us that they never feel unwelcome because they are separated from us by a veil thinner than air. As we have a responsibility to celebrate creation & fertility at beltane to feed the energy of that part of life, so do we have a duty at samhain to remember the names & lessons of our lost often also in feast & ritual, until all who knew them join them again. In some sects, omitting folks yields grave consequence & offense, & is at least rude & unlucky. No matter what, we say a prayer, meditate, and pour libations to the earth for all of our passed kin of skin & friends of wing and tail, so anyone who wants to say hello when the veil is thin won’t feel turned away. Any life is important, from familiar to great-greats & friends. Coco’s depiction of Day of the Dead may be limited, but it’s an ok starter depiction of samhain. Religions & cultures vary & paganism itself has genres, but many have a similar death practice in fall. A core memory for the bride was a samhain spiral dance with her PNW coven, calling on 200 names who passed that year, ringing a bell before moving on to the next & doing it again as the circle ran faster. It was healing, formative, & educational. It’s why “Sometimes A Wild God” is a favorite poem & inspiration for our wedding theme, why we play “The Parting Glass” in fall & why some of us prefer Hallows to horror. We feel that honoring as many names as possible is seen as ideal, and suggesting otherwise may show a lack of expertise in a room we are excited for you to be an ally in. We recognize we’re traversing new territory as we open up you in perfect love and perfect trust. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Will you have family in your handfasting party?Will you have family in your handfasting party?

Answer

Immediate family generally is automatically part of the handfasting party. It comes with titles and things like ceremony websites generally list them together and they do the same things in the same parts of the ritual at the same time. They have traditional responsibilities just like the handfasting party. Therefore, we wanted to use these limited slots to honor folks who don't already have an automatic spot who should be recognized just as much. We also want to limit how much responsibility our family has to one role as these positions are a lot of responsibility. Truthfully, we’d ideally like our family to be able mostly relax on the day of the ritual, too. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Will anyone be dressing for a normal wedding?Will anyone be dressing for a normal wedding?

Answer

Please please please. DO NOT under any circumstances dress for a wedding! Try to go fancier and sparklier with this, but do not don your suits, dresses, Sunday best patterns & florals, or other general classic traditional wedding wear. The theme is Renaissance and we are going to need you to understand the assignment here. Less King Henry VIII and polite society, more common faire and the wild hunt. Faerieworlds is truthfully a pretty good example of the kind of thing we expect. Especially so, as this faire has taken a high fantasy turn with Jeff’s love of D&D and even more especially so as faire is an easy (lazy) way to start to explain how a pagan often dresses for a major ritual like a handfasting. If you have a kilt or other family dress, wear it. If you have renaissance, probably wear it. If you have fangs, wings, claws, scales, hooves or you want to dress like a space orc but in faire or ritual garb, do it. Do try to make sure the costume is not cheap and Halloweeny and that the colors and patterns are on theme. I will detail colors later but hopefully I have represented them well in the website, invitations, etc. Check out our gallery for inspiration, but also be aware that if you are close family or in the wedding party or a vendor we want to plan with you, so people can recognize you and we can be coordinated together in the very expensive forever pictures. Please contact us about this, we’d love to help you out. Get ready to practice your favorite animal noise when you’re excited, dance like you mean it, shout across the great outdoors, and for lots and lots of pretentious rhyming. Oh, and there will be magic. Actual magic. Spare no whimsy and be extra about it. PS- failure to honor dress code will result in an involuntary visit to our back up costume station or a trip home. Just be glad we won’t ask you to attend skyclad as there are children. Otherwise we absolutely would! Not sure what skyclad is? Look it up! ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

What’s with the horns?What’s with the horns?

Answer

Horns are a symbol of the god and often used to represent the hunting seasons of fall and winter. Seasonal appropriateness is generally a factor in how we mark time, worship, and dress for gatherings.

Question

What energy should I expect?What energy should I expect?

Answer

Provide resources. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Can I help plan?Can I help plan?

Answer

Many of the advice and opinions offered have been for a wedding, not a handfasting. We don't expect everyone to have very much experience with those, and that's ok. Nonetheless, it's important to us to have the handfasting we've always dreamed of rather than the wedding many of our guests can advise us on. It is important for our growth individually and together as adults to manifest gentle boundaries when choices are ours to make, and since this is a very important decision, that is the case here. We would love help where we know we need it and will ask when that is the case. We are happy to involve you in every other way we can and would love other wedding activities to bond over or to simply spend time with you. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Will there be alcohol?Will there be alcohol?

Answer

No, thanks. The bride and groom don’t enjoy drunkenness. We will have a mocktail bar and assorted warm beverage bar. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

What’s on the menu?What’s on the menu?

Answer

Final Vendor Menu Coming Soon! It’ll be hearty and probably messy! Pagans feast about everything important, so we’re gonna eat a lot, especially sacred foods. The main menu will be accompanied by a potluck list as an added option for gifts for locals, those whose lodging includes a kitchen, those capable of ordering food, grocery shopping capable, foragers, those willing to travel with or ship a dish and those practiced in their hotel & rv mini appliance journeys. It’s also for those able to send money to those who will be local. To contribute to the food wishlist, copy and paste the link below. https://piknik.saarcology.com/event/SPICY-PARTY-36?token=p_8PUqvsjeTakC_7ae06384c12eda5a ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

What’s the food allergy plan?What’s the food allergy plan?

Answer

Feel free to bring some potluck items either from our request list or that suit the theme. You probably aren’t alone. We will try to have an assortment that most anyone can pick from, but we’re bound to miss something so please do speak up! ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Where is the entry?Where is the entry?

Answer

The entry is through the back yard and is accessible from the overgrown fence on Pioneer Street due to both the charming secret garden entrance and because the slope to the front door is dangerous. If you are north and/ or east of Canberra, you have gone too far, and if you’re south of Amethyst/ Tasman you’ve gone too far. Tasman and Pioneer are between these streets and both access the house. Tasman is the short road that Amethyst turns into going east, and both end abruptly on their respective sides.

Question

When should I arrive?When should I arrive?

Answer

2 PM. This is when folks will arrive at the secret garden at which our wedding is taking place, walk through it’s enchanted hidden doors down to the garden den, locate a seat, perhaps get briefly introduced, and watch the opening to the wedding. There will be some storytelling before the ritual starts and folks start walking the aisle itself, but this is important and is part of the wedding. There may be some variance and when specifically the ritual begins as the photographer estimates that sunset will be a bit after 5 PM and they have recommended that the ceremony kiss happen at that time. The reception is going to be at the same location. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Can my date or kids join?Can my date or kids join?

Answer

Probably. Double check with us. Do you make sure that you RSVP any +1’s whatsoever on time! ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

When is my r. s. v. p. due?When is my r. s. v. p. due?

Answer

September 30 by mail! We want everyone to respond via the same methods and to get to counting them when we feel like it for our own sanity. We also want to avoid missing someone, double counting, etc. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Update: what happens if I don’t rsvp by paper on time?Update: what happens if I don’t rsvp by paper on time?

Answer

There is a grace period of one week on the RSVPs. The rsvp mechanism for this site was very cumbersome and yielded many errors, so we did away with it so as to not have any miscounts, especially since we were doing paper anyway, which would likely lead to doubles too. After the grace period, unfortunately we don’t have the resources to track and wait indefinitely for 500 responses. As such, any and all guests who do not respond as requested by the grace period will be marked to our vendors, caterers, and rentals as not attending and will not be added to the seating chart.

Question

Where’s your registry?Where’s your registry?

Answer

On this very website! You need only navigate this menu here to find our registry under the appropriate tab. Being honest though, we have one if you want it but what we really want for our wedding is you there in costume and to be able to make sure the wedding is everything we hope for our guests and ourselves. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Where are you going on your honeymoon?Where are you going on your honeymoon?

Answer

We are going to Miami to do an accessible dive to the Neptune Memorial Reef as a “taking the plunge” ritual, starting our marriage off by completing a bucket list item that feels impossible. For similar reasons, we are then headed to Lapland Finland to see the Northern Lights and some other sites. If you want to give us a gift toward this as a wedding present, there are links for doing so through our registry on this very site!

Question

What’s the parking plan?What’s the parking plan?

Answer

We plan to invite roughly 200 guests, and it’s just a neighborhood, so we do have concerns about parking. Please try to carpool, walk, Uber, etc. as much as possible, and definitely arrive early for parking. We will also try to get creative here. When you RSVP, if you can let us know how many cars you plan to take, that would be incredibly helpful! I’d really love to have a creative mode of transportation for folks but we will have to see what the gods and a little persistence and creativity reward us with. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

Does transport between hotels & ceremony exist?Does transport between hotels & ceremony exist?

Answer

Not really. There are shuttles that go to various places nearby where one could meet someone, hop on a bus, call up an Uber, or walk for a long, long time, but no direct routes. You can however call an Uber directly from a hotel or airport. There’s usually a special location for this and anyone at a big desk should be able to tell you. Update: MAYBEEEEE. More information coming soon. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

What additional events I should know about?What additional events I should know about?

Answer

Several! Please check our schedule here on this site under the appropriate tab, and also any and all invitations that come your way! ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

What are the sleeping arrangements?What are the sleeping arrangements?

Answer

Recommendations will be listed here on the website under the appropriate tab, we are hoping to be able to have hotel accommodations booked for ourselves, our wedding party, and our vendors in February. Invitations will come out around that time and this will be the case or will not and will be updated. For our guests, we are happy to point you to the best possible options we can and maybe with any luck, might already have some accommodations sorted out to some degree. Likely around the same time. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

What’s the projected magickal info for the day and all significances?What’s the projected magickal info for the day and all significances?

Answer

Coming soon: moon, sun, planetary, stars, major events, time of the day, day of the week, time of the year, significant plants, numerology, maybe gems, etc.

Question

Where do I share pics and videos?Where do I share pics and videos?

Answer

You can type the # on the site here ( #ever-entwined ) on any social media or site and it will show you everything our guests have posted there from our wedding. If you type the same # when you post, our guests who are later looking for your photos will find them easily without needing your phone number or Facebook, etc. You can also post anything wedding related you want to https://tinyurl.com/Eternal-Album-Of-Holding or scan its QR code through the photo gallery on this site by pointing a device’s camera at it and a clickable pop up will lead you to a room where we and all our guests can exchange photos, videos, sound clips, notes… anything related to our wedding. This is our preferred method! Just remember that all posts through either method are public to our guests, vendors, and ourselves! :)

Question

What’s the Band app? May I invite a user?What’s the Band app? May I invite a user?

Answer

No. Only those helping plan or who are vending for us have access to the planning app and any information shared there is in confidence. We would love our guests to be surprised about as much as possible, and sharing these secrets would seriously disappoint us. If you were invited, it just means you need to be informed and weigh in on things behind the scenes. We appreciate you and your confidentiality here. Generally speaking, Band App or not, please keep all wedding information to yourself until save the dates and invitations go out as well as if you are privy to anymore behind the scenes information up-to the wedding day. Thanks. ꗥ᯽ꗥ

Question

How will the rain interfere with my grooming efforts?How will the rain interfere with my grooming efforts?

Answer

Significantly. We plan to minimize damage & provide umbrellas, coverage, heat, & existing & new covered areas. That being said, good planning is required. The bride will combine a Brazilian blowout (which has been very successful), braids that may include a partial or full up do, a professional to do the hair, fake hair, products for rainy and humid environments, and some amount of preventing hair from getting wet in the first place for as long as possible. If you like smooth straight hair, the bride passionately recommends that anyone worried about this and considering it get a Brazilian blowout because they have been changing her life and allowing her the ability to do her own hair easily and be outside in the rain for extended periods outside in wet weather without coverage of any kind to come home to hair is fabulous as it was when she left. She recommends her stylist for anyone in Southern California looking to do this. She has a Groupon deal for $99 and is incredible and well worth it. Please let her know that Sierra sent you and have one last worry on the wedding day as well as a much less stressful, getting ready period. Wake up a little later. Have a more pleasant day. Then, enjoy its lasting effects for upto 12 weeks if you ditch your sulfates and get a satin pillowcase. Shannon of Hair 2 Dye For at Sola in Rancho Cucamonga, California https://www.groupon.com/deals/hair-2-dye-for-2 (909) 957-8804 As for make up the bride is looking into possible tints & semi permanent makeup and/ or temporary tattoos, heavy skin care, a little bit of waterproof makeup as well as someone who knows what they’re doing, a low-stakes and reappliable make up plan to begin with, and attempting not to get wet for as long as possible to get through the day. For cryproof lashes, the bride has a lash lift and tint with a $30 Groupon deal in Fontana, California. http://www.groupon.com/deals/kat-s-beauty-studio-14?utm_campaign=UserReferral_mih&utm_source=undefined

Question

Are there fun digital wedding activities to hype up for the wedding?Are there fun digital wedding activities to hype up for the wedding?

Answer

Yes! Copy & paste the link below to bet on whether various common wedding moments will happen. Get in on the action with 'Betting on the Wedding'! Download now and place your bets on 'Ever-Entwined': https://bettingonthewedding.app.link/gesTaFn3HWb

Question

Do you have Ancestry?Do you have Ancestry?

Answer

View (only) Sierra & Jeff’s brand new and completely unfinished shared Ancestry DNA account. We are moving all the info from all the trees we know about there. View Sierra's family tree on Ancestry. https://ancestry.com/family-tree/tools/tree/172376640/invitees/accept?inviteId=a118d735-ec42-4c86-bbfc-08794a04c80b If you are a relation who loves working on ancestry.com ever, actively or otherwise, text the bride for editor access to this tree. We would love to be invited to your tree also in any capacity.

Question

Can I leave a message?Can I leave a message?

Answer

Yes! This is linked in various places around this site including our registry. Copy and paste the link below to share your relatable funny couple stories and/ or leave us a message of love! Thanks! https://reflections.provenance.co/survey/Sierra-2057 "

Question

AnnouncementAnnouncement

Answer

This space will be a friendly space to anyone no matter who they are or who they love. Please, as our guests, be respectful in this space, of all of our guests or kindly rsvp no. We appreciate your cooperation as we all want to have a good day.

Question

RequestRequest

Answer

If you have a question on wedding day ask anyone but the bride and groom. Thank you for understanding.