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Wedding ceremonies should be crafted to be personal and meaningful for the couple. One way to enhance your ceremony is to do a unity ceremony as a way to symbolize your union. There are so many different ways to do a unity ceremony and we’ve put together some of the most popular and unique ones we’ve seen. We had a couple recently embrace their country loving background fully and brand a cow hide at their ceremony. Yup, you read that right, they branded their own cow hide! Totally personal and totally unique. Not into branding things? Here’s some other ways to put a mark on your marriage during your ceremony. Feel free to mix and match too.:
Wine Bottle in Box - lock a bottle of wine in a box to be opened on your one year anniversary. Bonus: mix and match and add letters to one another to be read with that bottle of wine.
Sand Ceremony - Two people take sand from their individual containers and combine the grains into one. The act represents the joining of two individuals and the creation of a new union and family. Have children? Add a third or fourth color sand to represent their unity in this family too. We’ve seen couples pour it into vases, wine bottles, and even flat frames. Purchase an array of colored sand here.
Knot Tying - Literally tie the knot. It is suggested that you tie the fisherman’s knot. The fisherman’s knot is arguably the strongest knot there is. It will not break, but grow stronger under pressure. The perfect metaphor for your marriage.
Handfasting Ceremony - Handfasting is an ancient Celtic ritual in which the hands are tied together to symbolize the binding of two lives. While it is most often included in Wiccan or Pagan ceremonies, it has become more mainstream and pops up in both religious and secular vows and readings.
Sealing Love Notes to Each Other - Write love notes to each other and place them in a jar or box to be opened on your one year anniversary.
Fill A Time Capsule - Place whatever you want in there and set an open date for whenever you’d like (one year, ten years?). Maybe ask your guests to add something too to commemorate the day.
Plant a Tree - Coordinator Monica used dirt from her and her husband’s childhood homes and dirt from their current home to plant a tree during their ceremony.
Tree Watering Ceremony - If you don’t feel like risking getting dirt on your dress/tux you can just water the tree together.
Unity Candle - Light one candle from two separate candles symbolizing your two flames becoming one.
Shot - Take a shot together before saying I Do! Start the party off right!
Wine Mixing - Mix two bottles of wine into one and seal it to be opened on your one year anniversary.
Jumping The Broom - The act symbolizes a new beginning and a sweeping away of the past, and can also signify the joining of two families or offer a respectful nod to family ancestors.
Puzzle - Complete a simple puzzle together! This is a great one to involve the kids in if you have them.
Rope Braiding - One person holds a small metal ring with three attached strands. The other then braids the strands together, symbolizing the union of God, husband and wife. You could also use this with children, symbolizing the couple and the children and their new union.
Jump on the Glass - Traditionally done by the groom, the honor is these days shared by the bride and the groom. The fragility of glass suggests the frailty of human relationships. Since even the strongest love is subject to breakage, the glass is broken as a kind of incantation: “As this glass shatters, so may our marriage never break.”
Whatever you make your unity ceremony make sure that it’s indicative of your relationship and your union. Make it personal! We love a unity ceremony that can be kept as a keepsake too that you can display as a sign of your love in your home. There are so many other unity ceremonies out there too - don’t just limit yourselves to the ones you see here. You can even mix and match them to make them your own!
What are you doing for your unity ceremony? Tell us in the comments below!
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