If you thought it was a Tomato Girl Summer, or a Euro Summer, or even a Dua Lipa Summer, I’m afraid you're wrong. This summer belongs to the Etsy witch.
While witches for hire have been selling their wares (mysterious tinctures, incantations, the odd curse or crystal) for a few years on Etsy, since May, there’s been a huge uptick in orders for one thing in particular: the promise of a perfect wedding day. Around the world, anxious brides-to-be are sliding into the DMs of ‘casters’ and ordering personalised spells, in the hopes that a power beyond our realm will help their weddings go off without a hitch. It’s a day people tend to spend masses of time and money on – what’s an extra £6.99 for peace of mind?
It all started with influencer Jaz Smith, who live-posted her wedding day on TikTok at the end of May. One post drew more than a million views: a playful admission that she’d “paid an Etsy witch for good weather”, and it worked. The comments flooded with “drop the link girl, I’m getting married soon!” until she shared the shopfront of NaturalisticBlessing – a UK-based witch and tarot reader who soon had so many orders she was forced to pause trading.
Etsy technically banned the sale of ‘spiritual and metaphysical services’ back in 2015, but many in the world of tarot, Wicca and alternative therapies teamed up to oppose it. Today, with hundreds of witchcraft practitioners selling ‘perfect weather spells’ and ‘rituals for calm, love and harmony on your special day on the platform’, the hype around pre-marital magic has only built: Google searches for “Etsy witches” have risen 80% since the end of June.
Instagram content
Brontë King, a content creator and founder from London who got married in Croatia last month, said she stumbled onto WitchTok on the same day she found out her wedding was due to collide with the worst storm the country had seen all year. “It was a complete nightmare; we were asking all our family and friends to fly out for this beautiful summer wedding, and now a freak storm was threatening to ruin the whole day,” she says. “Everything had been planned to take place outdoors, from the sit-down dinner to the aisle itself, which was set up on a jetty going out into the water.”
She heard people were paying witches online and decided it was a sign. “I’d been using Etsy for so many wedding bits – personalised favours and things like that – so it didn’t feel that different to find a seller who offered ‘good weather spells’ and add one to basket,” she says. “It was the first time I’d ever done something like that; I'm not big into spiritual stuff, but I have always believed in manifesting and the idea that what you put out into the universe will come back to you. I just thought, why not? I’ll try anything at this point.”
When her order confirmation came through with a PDF document saying her ‘spell had been cast’ and asking for ‘patience while the witch works her magic’, King says she couldn’t resist checking her well-thumbed weather app straight away. “My husband started filming my reaction because I was jumping up and down on the bed,” she says. “The forecast had changed to pure sunshine.”
Instagram content
In a world where organised religion is waning but spirituality is on the rise, it’s perhaps no surprise that more women are looking to witchcraft for support on such an important day. We can plan every detail of a wedding right down to the embroidered napkins, but there will always be some things beyond our control – and what we’re looking for, really, is someone else to be in our corner.
Nici is the witch behind the highly rated Etsy shop MoonstoneMysticMagic, and alongside services like her ‘find a new job’ and ‘get back together’ spells, she also offers a £10 casting of ‘powerful love magic for a flawless wedding day, ceremony harmony and bride protection’.
“Most of my customers are women from the US, UK and Australia, and I’ve noticed that most of my orders are now wedding-related. Sometimes people pre-book spells months in advance, but it’s more common for couples or relatives to get in touch a few days before the wedding when the weather forecast looks uncertain and they’d like some extra help,” she says.
“Over the last few weeks, what’s been most intriguing is a palpable uptick in orders not only for weddings themselves but also for the accompanying festivities – hen weekends and proposal spells have become particularly popular. People want these milestone events in their lives to have the proper atmosphere, plus a little bit of magic.”
84% of brides said they felt pressure to lose weight for the day.
While weather spells are the most common reason to call on witches, Bristol-based photographer Louisa Jones says it was concern about a family argument that made her tap her card details into Etsy two nights before she got married.
“There had been some tension between members of our bridal party, and it was making me so anxious; I’d lie in bed and picture them making a scene during the ceremony,” she says. “I just saw ordering a spell for ‘harmony’ on my wedding day as a bit of fun. A way of telling myself that our guests’ behaviour was actually out of my hands, and making my fiancée smile in the process.”
Jones has no regrets about introducing magic into her marriage, and she’s not the only one. ‘Crystal master and taroist’ Hank from Florida-based shop CrystalConjureMagic, one of Etsy's top sellers, says they’ve received thousands of reviews from happy customers – and that this is, ultimately, what it’s all about. “I think people are engaging in magic simply because it makes them feel good,” he says. “It’s not a new phenomenon, really – an interest in magic goes back as far as reported history – but it’s now much easier to find a practitioner and communicate with each other about what’s worked for us and the joy it’s brought us.”
For every glowing review there is, of course, a sceptic demanding to see proof that a witch really did make the sun come out – but Nici believes those people are missing the point. “The outcome of the weather is not so important; what matters is giving my clients a sense of peace and empowerment as they face a life milestone,” she says. “I use their names, dates and places to design a focused ritual that meets that person’s wishes, and I view each spell as an act of love – both symbolic and spiritual.”
Whatever your take on modern witchcraft, one thing is undeniable: this spike in spell orders is bringing people a sense of calm in times when it can feel elusive. “I saw contacting a witch as an intention-setting thing; putting what I wanted out into the world and getting as many positive vibes circulating around my wedding as possible,” says Jones. “And I can’t deny it worked. As soon as I woke up that morning and looked at my dress hanging in front of me, I felt nothing but magic.”
When Ben suddenly fell ill with a life-threatening illness, a declaration of love and unity started to feel like a radical act.
