Sand Ceremony

Alex and I are skipping the tradition of the Unity Candle. We both find it a tad outdated and, though humorous at the other weddings we attended, we do not want one to blow out or not light on us. Not to mention, the candle would eventually simply wind up in my attic fighting off the sweltering heat of summer and sub-zero of winter never to be seen again.

In it's place I found a great alternative - the Sand Ceremony. A lot like the Unity Candle it signifies the joining of two hearts becoming one - though instead of uniting a flame, we will unite different colored crystalline sands. One the the best parts is we can include my 3 year old daughter by giving her a small vase filled with her own color to signify the joining of our family.

You can buy the materials for a unity sand ceremony at Wedding Star which is where we plan to get our sands from, Black for Alex, White for me and Pink for Paige. Instead of buying the monogramed vase set from them like we initally planned to, I am going to DIY (go figure) our vases by picking up some square ones and decorating them with ribbon and crystals in our wedding colors. This way it will be much more personal and save us some money.

The Sand Ceremony though thought to be new , is in fact a very old and honored tradition thought to have originated in Hawaii when couples would marry on the beach. At the right time in the ceremony they would reach down and take a handful of the sand from beneath their feet and join it together to signify their unity.

Of course here on the main land, we had to adjust it a bit, as not many places have sand as nice as Hawaii! Wouldn't it be funny if someone here in Minnesota were to join together piles of snow? Or gravel from the construction going on in their home towns! And if we were to get even more into that..what about Wisconsin folks joining together soy beans fro their crops, or milk from the dairy cows. In Hollywood they could join together real diamonds with rubies. In New York, subway tokens - it could go on and on!

And you don't have to feel compelled to use glass vases to pour from - use seashells, bowls and other items. Get creative, find something that is sentimental to you - if your a fan of tea, use cute little tea cups! Love baseball? Use those little plastic hats they give you ice cream in at the game with your favorite team on it, signify that you'll both try to like the others team while loving and honoring each other! The possibilities are endless!

Are you doing unity sand? If not what are you doing and how are you making it unique to your wedding day?