Unity ceremonies are a great way to symbolize the bringing together of two individuals into one partnership and, at times, the blending of families.
Here are a few of my favorite unity ceremony options — a few you've probably seen before, two will require protective eye-gear, and a couple even involve science!
Unity candle
Unity candles can be good for two or a whole family of people! Emily says, “We decided to light a unity candle to symbolize how our lives were going to burn close together from now on.”
Salt covenant
Centered Ceramics came up with a salt ceremony. It works just like a sand ceremony, but the salt egg can become a fixture in your kitchen and used daily.
Sand ceremony
When Claudia and Eddie got married, they brought together their children as well. So each family member had a colored sand that represented themselves and they combined them all together.
Unity cocktails, unity wine boxes, unity candles, unity science projects, and even unity sandwiches -- damn we love us some uniting! We've rounded up a... Read more
Your own take on a sand or salt ceremony
What about taking the same concept of the sand ceremony but adding a personal spin… Celebrant Jessie Blum explained, “I love all things spiced and spicy — my husband is a salt fiend. So we did our own twist on a sand ceremony and poured white peppercorns and black lava salt!”
Bread breaking ceremony
Nicole and Sean shared a bread breaking ceremony: “The bread was from my favorite local baker, and was sweetened with honey butter I made from local organic honey.”
Handfasting
Handfasting, or tying your hand together to symbolize the joining together in marriage, is very popular on Offbeat Bride.
Water ceremony
Cat and Andrew came up witha science-based ceremony: “Since Andrew is a Chemist, and a big science nerd. His favorite moment was our special version of a candle lighting/unity ceremony. We each poured a vase what looked like plain water into a large pitcher, causing an instant color change from clear to pink. Magic! (I mean… science!) The audience gasped and applauded, and we were beaming.”
Tree planting ceremony
Tribe member Sneff and her husband planted a tree together during their ceremony. Similarly, Mina and Adam planted an Evergreen sapling, as a symbol of their love.
Eternity flowers
We love this flower laying ceremony from Victoria & Jacqueline's wedding. “We loved the idea of incorporating the concept of eternity, and we'd tossed around the idea of a handfasting, but we ended up crafting our own ritual. All the guests came forward, picked flowers out of a vase, and laid them in two conjoined circles around us, making an eternity symbol. We placed this about halfway through the ceremony, so we stood in the circles through the rest.”
Unity cocktail
Unity cocktails are an Offbeat Bride favorite. We have an entire tag devoted to the them.
Wine lock box ceremony
Sarah and Todd did what they called a wine lock box ceremony. “Instead of a unity candle, we did a wine lock box ceremony. We sealed love letters and a bottle of wine into a box. Our officiant was thrilled to use the ‘making of wine' as a metaphor for marriage. I LOVED getting to hammer nails in the middle of the ceremony.” The photo above is from Flickr member Dirt2Mud‘s wine box ceremony. She explains, “The bottle was picked specifically as it should age well and be at its peak around our 5th anniversary when we will open the box. We also bought special break-resistant stemware.”
Unity painting/art-making
A painting ceremony has been brought up by a few of our brides. From a unity finger painting to Tribe member Zombiefrog Bunny‘s painting of concentric spirals, creating art together is a good way to honor your passions and your new partnership.
Welding ceremony
Sarah Joy and Joseph are both pipe fitters so they had a welding ceremony. Warning: only to be attempted by trained professionals!
Unity volcano
Kaci and Roy had a unity volcano — you know, that awesome science fair project!
Thanks to all the amazing offbeat brides who brought us all of these ideas, now to the rest of you… what unity ceremonies did I forget about?