Monday, February 15, 2010

What are unity ceremonies and why are they part of a wedding ceremony?

Unity ceremonies have grown quite popular in weddings, however, not everyone is settling for just the unity candle anymore. Brides are getting creative.

unity candle

The unity candle originated some 40 years ago in the Christian church symbolizing the joining together of two families. During the unity candle ceremony, a representative from each family lights the two taper candles. During the ceremony, the bride and groom then use the taper candles to light the pillar candle together.

 

http://romanticandspecialceremonies.com/

Another twist to this is the sand ceremony, which many couples having a beach wedding opt for. During this ceremony, the bride and groom each have different color sand that they pour into one glass, symbolizing the coming together of their lives. (TIP: Candles might not work because the wind will continue to put the flames out.)

 www.kcwgreatervancouver.com

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Other choices include a wine ceremony, where the bride and groom each sip from a single wine glass after each pours their own wine into one central cup. Normally a red and white wine to make a blush wine to be shared. And there is a water ceremony which is performed similar to the sand ceremony.

 

 

This type of ceremony and it symbolism carries over in other cultures as well. For instance:

lanza 020 In Filipino culture, weddings have cord and veil ceremonies.  The veil sponsors usually consist of one man and one woman - perhaps one from each side of the family. They pin a large veil on top of the bride's head and onto the shoulder of the groom. The veil symbolizes unity and that the couple shall be "clothed as one." The other set of sponsors, the cord sponsors, will place a white cord loosely around the necks of the couple in a "figure eight" configuration. The cord symbolizes the lifelong bond or tie between the bride and groom.

In Indian weddings, a Salt ceremony is performed where the bride passes a handful of salt to her groom without spilling any. He then passes it back to her. This is repeated 3 times. The bride then performs this with all the members of the groom's family symbolizing her blending into her new family.

 

unity crossThere are many more unity ceremonies to choose from, each unique and special in their own way. For my wedding, I have chosen the cross ceremony. We will have two crosses, an outer stronger cross representing the man and an inner more delicate cross representing the woman. My fiancé and I will put them together bound by 3 bolts representing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I choose this because we could display it in our house afterwards as a symbol of our marriage.

http://www.getmarried.com

Are you doing a unity ceremony for your wedding? We'd love to hear it!

Leave us a comment!

Kacie

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1 comments:

wedding said...

I've been looking for wedding blogs until I found your site.And wow,I love that sand ceremony,and I especially love what it symbolizes..