From the article: Unity Candles and Other Unity Ceremonies
Having a Unity Candle Ceremony at your wedding is a beatiful way to demonstrate the joining of two families. But from a sand ceremony to a wine pouring, there are many other unity traditions for weddings. What are you planning? Share Your Unity Ceremony
Unity Ceremony
- This is our second marriage. His daughter and one of my sons will light a candle on one side. His son and my other son will light a candle on the other side. The groom and I will use their candles to light the center candle. This will symbolize the union of the 2 families. Our grandchildren are our attendants. All 11 of them!
- —Guest Carol-Jeanne T
sushi!
- One of my cool couples loves, loves sushi, so we did a sushi sharing! We had two spicy tuna rolls in a little iced dish and as they shared them, I spoke of the significance of the elements; fish represents prosperity; the rice, the sustenance that a solid relationship provides; soy sauce; the bitter and sweet that make up every life; ginger that represents the spice of a partnership and the sesame seeds represent many children! Grandparent alert!
- —Guest celia milton
unity sand, for now
- We did a unity sand ceremony that included our child that is ours together from before our wedding. But...we decided that we are not going to seal it and showcase it forever. We are going to repeat this ceremony over the years, maybe yearly on our anniverary, with our child, to remind us that we keep remaking our connection with each other all the time. We feel that the sand itself is not the unity but the act that we took in pouring it. And while marriage is forever, our unity is one day at a time.
- —Guest flora
I'll drink to that...
- In lieu of a traditional unity tradition, we are including a wine ceremony in our nuptials. Our mothers will each pour a bottle of wine (mine white, his red) into two carafes before they are seated. During our ceremony we will each pour our wine into a larger carafe, then we'll pour one glass for ourselves, and a glass for each of our 25 guests. We will toast each other and invite our guests to raise their glasses and drink when we do. We'll be reciting traditional vows earlier in the ceremony so this will be our version of personal vows. [The Editor Adds: This sounds like a beautiful ceremony, but make sure you test your wines out beforehand. It can be difficult to find a red and white wine that mix well together. You wouldn't want the symbol of your marriage to be undrinkable plonk!]
- —Guest Quesarasara
Paint
- We're both early childhood educators and thought about the sand ceremony. Instead, we are going to paint our hands and place them on a canvas intertwined with the handprints of our children. We expect it will create a beautiful butterfly. We will also write a line from our vows to remind us from day to day about our pledge.
- —Guest Michelle
Alternative to Sand
- My fiance and I really liked the sand idea but were afraid of it breaking and not being able to fix it, so we are instead using different colored marbles that way if the container breaks years from now we can put it back together.
- —Guest jess
more rocks but different
- we are also using river rocks in our unity ceremony, but it's a bit different. We collected some rocks from places we love, and then also bought some rocks at the craft store. Instead of a guest book, guests will have a chance to write something on a rock and leave it in a vase for us. It will be a pretty decorative thing from our wedding. I like the idea of having the family add their rocks during the ceremony which makes it more special and also reminds anyone who hasn't participated yet!
- —Guest morerocksbutdifferent
river rocks
- in the invite we are asking all the guests to bring a pretty rock from near the place they live. we'll put them all in a pretty bowl and during the ceremony our families will add their rocks. this felt like a good alternative for our outdoor nature-centered wedding.
- —Guest naturelover
Chocolate
- we're combining a couple of different ideas we found on web. it will be a chocolate ceremony. we'll mix together an unsweetened chocolate with a white chocolate and a semi-sweet. we'll use a flame to melt them into a mixture bringing together ultra sweet and ultra bitter into something tasty.
- —Guest A.Jackson
in case of trouble, break open
- during our wedding, we will ceremonially seal a box that has in it a good bottle of wine, two glasses, and love letters from each of us. Those love letters will express why we love each other, and why we are chosing to marry each other that day. The minister will describe to the guests everything in the box, and then present us with twine and wax to seal the box up. If we ever have trouble in our marriage, we can break it open, drink the wine, and remember our wedding day and love. It's not a traditional unity candle ceremony, since it doesn't unite the families. But hopefully it will keep us united if there are ever hard times.
- —Guest Lala
mixing hot with bitter with honey
- We wanted to do something food related since we both love to cook and eat and food has played a big role in our relationship. I heard about this idea for having three glasses at the alter. One has hot sauce in it, one has vinegar, and one has honey. They represent the three parts of a relationship - the hot and spicy times, the bitter times, and the sweet times. A good marriage is a mix of all three. The bride and groom mix them together, and then drink from the cup. Being cooks we are going to play with the ingredients and amounts beforehand to make sure we end up with something that is good to sip! We want marriage to be represented by something that is good in the end, not gross.
- —Guest Meshella
tree as unity
- We are going to plant a tree together in the garden where we're getting married. The hole will be dug and then the parents will come up and each help put dirt on top in support.
- —Guest csBliss
Flowers
- For our unity ceremony, we are handing a pink flower to each guest as they come in, with white flowers for his family members and red flowers for mine. Towards the end of the wedding the officiant will invite the guests to come to put their flowers in a vase for us, in support of our marriage. He'll hold up the bouquet and say a few words about the beauty that happens when everyone comes together.
- —Guest Alice
