In the weddings I have attended in the past there is a sort of "merging of the families" in examples of the bride and groom taking candles that were lit by the respective families and then lighting a center candle or the whole sand thing....does anyone have any other ideas?? In our venue you can't have candles or sand....it's a historical building so they are all uptight about the preservation - which is understandable. I just can't come up with any other ideas for this tradition...