When planning the unity ceremony for your wedding, many couples want to find a way to symbolically show they and perhaps their families coming together. There are lots ways of doing this, but it’s still something that couples struggle with. Let’s talk about some of the classics, as well some of the more innovative ones we have seen.
Lighting a unity candle for a unity ceremony is a classic for a reason. It’s simple, beautiful and no explanation is needed to guests about what is going on. All you need is two taper candles, a pillar candle, something to hold them, and a plan to light them. There are different ways to change it up, such as having the moms light the tapers that will be used to light the pillar, symbolizing how the couple is using the light of their loved ones to guide the way into their new marriage.
Another way to symbolize you coming together in marriage, is to braid items together on a board of some kind that you can then display in your home. It can tie in the popular Bible verse Ecclesiastes 4:12, which states “A cord of three strands is not easily broken”. Or it can be used to show how people from two different places, even different countries, can find each other in this big world. (In case you were wondering, that’s Minnesota and Chile on the board.)
One of the sweetest unity ceremonies we have seen was with Ryan, Cookie and her son Link. While getting to know each other, Ryan and Link bonded over their shared love of Legos. When it came time to plan for their ceremony, they wanted something the three of them could do together. We came up with the idea of finishing a Lego project together. They loved it and chose to do a Lego house to show the new home they were making as a family. There was not a dry eye among the guests!
Personally, we are BIG fans of incorporating food and drinks into the unity ceremony. Devin and Evan both had family bread recipes, so they decided to weave the dough for them together to create one loaf. During the ceremony, they broke the bread, fed it to each other, and had both sets of parents come up to share it with them. Following the ceremony the rest of the loaf was put on the head table for the whole wedding party to enjoy.
Beers and breweries were Brianna and Philips’s passion, so it only made sense that they were incorporated into their ceremony. After two nights of taste testing beers to see what worked together (they drank too much the first night and forgot to write down what they liked), they settled on Ballast Point Sour Wench and Stone Brewing Arrogant Bastard Ale. During the ceremony they poured their beers together and drank to their future. Best part: there was still enough left over for a post ceremony drink!
We love helping couples come up with fun ways to have a unity ceremony that makes sense for them, and will be something guests will be talking about long after it’s over. Having elements of your day that are personal to you as a couple are the the things that guests will remember most.
Photo Credits: Studio220, Studio Veil, Alyssa Justice Photography, George Street Photography, Bellagala, Sarah Ascanio Photography, Lumos Images
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Content from Keyed Up Events, a Minneapolis Wedding Planner
