Bride reveals why she and her baby were splashed with chicken blood during her wedding ceremony: 'It just felt right'

A bride who held her baby as they were both splashed with chicken blood during a Viking-inspired wedding ceremony said 'it just felt right'.

Kiwi couple Lea Fetting and Cody Kivell got hitched in January at the Craters of the Moon geothermal walkway near Taupo on New Zealand's north island. 

But their nuptials took a surprising twist when the pair and their baby Bjorn were all spattered with the blood of a slaughtered chicken by wedding celebrant Scott Phillips.

'It sounds gruesome, but it’s not that bad,' Ms Fetting assured The New Zealand Herald. 

'I am German-Swedish and my partner and I are not really religious, but we wanted to be married in front of some sort of god – and since we’re not Christian, we looked more into my heritage and Nordic mythology.

Kiwi couple Lea Fetting and Cody Kivell got hitched in January at the Craters of the Moon geothermal walkway near Taupo on New Zealand 's north island 

But their nuptials took a surprising twist when the pair and their baby Bjorn were all spattered with the blood of a slaughtered chicken by wedding celebrant Scott Phillips

'It just felt right; it felt wrong not to be married in front of anything, we’re both quite spiritual.'

Vikings would often sacrifice animals to the gods to ensure success in battle, favourable weather or fertility rites. 

These 'blot' sacrifices were often followed by the communal cooking and eating of the animal. 

It is unclear if the sacrificed chicken was eaten. 

Mr Phillips, who describes himself as an 'extreme wedding specialist', reportedly held a coconut shell full of blood and cranberry juice which he dipped a brush into a flicked it on the couple's rings and faces.

The couple also performed a handfasting ceremony, which is an ancient Celtic tradition where their hands are bound together by a cord (pictured)

Wedding celebrant Scott Phillips (pictured) is accustomed to alternative wedding requests, having officiated a zombie-themed wedding and once had a groom arrive in a hearse

Ms Fetting chose to forego make-up and walk down a gravel-pathed aisle in her bare feet to meet her husband.

They also performed a handfasting ceremony, which is an ancient Celtic tradition where their hands are bound together by a cord. 

'We wanted it to be completely personal and just us – I think you should do whatever works for you because it is your day and you have to remember that,' Ms Fetting added.

The couple's original photographer pulled out amid fears it would be 'too graphic'.

Only the replacement photographer and the celebrant, Mr Phillips, were in attendance.

He is accustomed to alternative wedding requests, having officiated a zombie-themed wedding and once had a groom arrive in a hearse. 

'I have no limits,' Mr Phillips told the paper.

'I might not do a naturalist wedding in the middle of winter, but that’s about it.'