any ideas

mld3333

I was wondering of any ideas that we could use in place of the unity candle or the sand during the ceremony. We are not having a religous ceremony. I have seen an idea on a website that a couple who were getting married in a vinyard sealed a bottle of wine and notes to each other in a box to open when they were having a ruff patch in their marriage to remind them of their love. I thought that was cute but was also looking for similar ideas.

DeannaCW

You don't need to do anything there. The whole unity candle thing has been around only 40 years or so (tops) so it's not traditional, nor are most of the things that take the place of it at many ceremonies today.  So if you don't want it, you can just skip it.

mbrischoux

We had a unity candle only because one was given to us.  You can skip it.

Like PP said, the whole unity thing is fairly new in the wedding biz - my parents didn't have one 32 years ago, and no other family members have had one.  I've only been to a few that have.

If one fits with your theme, like the vineyard one you mentioned, you can certainly work it in, but it's not at all necessay.

bar10521

We're also not planning on doing the unity candle or sand part of the ceremony. We might do something like the wine box that you've described but something our officiant said he's done before is to have each of us write something about the other person, send it to him directly and he'll read it during the ceremony. We love this idea so we'll definitely be incorporating this into our ceremony and it will most likely replace any unity portion of the ceremony.

eureka30030

I've seen some weddings featured on blogs where the couple plants a small tree during the ceremony. Probably a little scary in a big white dress, but with the right tools (gloves, pre-ready pot & plant, you could even get cute with it and don an apron just for that part). Also, I've seen another wedding where the couple made a signature drink- one had the mixer, the other the alcohol, then during the ceremony they mixed them together (similar to the sand) and then drank it from the same goblet. 

mbrischoux

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_any-ideas?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:36Discussion:029b4ccb-f8ba-4e57-9311-02063c029d96Post:002d202a-d50c-411b-9c05-e50b6941ad87">Re: any ideas</a>:
[QUOTE]We're also not planning on doing the unity candle or sand part of the ceremony. We might do something like the wine box that you've described but something our officiant said he's done before is to have each of us write something about the other person, send it to him directly and he'll read it during the ceremony. We love this idea so we'll definitely be incorporating this into our ceremony and it will most likely replace any unity portion of the ceremony.
Posted by bar10521[/QUOTE]
  This is fantastic!