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unity candle involving guests

matkefmatkef
First Comment
in Wedding Vows & Ceremony Discussions
I'm interested in having a unity candle ceremony that involes our guests. The candles would be on the guests chairs and the ushers would light one on the end of each row and the guests would pass the flame (like at a Christmas Eve church service). The flame works its way up to the parents and then the mothers would light our individual candles so that we can light our unity candle. Each guests candle represents their support in the couples marriage. We would have the quartet playing in the background and the officiant talking about what the candle symbolizes. Has anyone been to a ceremony that did this? What's the opinion?
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Re: unity candle involving guests

  • teraliciousteralicious
    100 Comments
    Sounds nice but could be very time consuming.
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  • cebrady89cebrady89 member
    100 Comments
    If you have a VERY small wedding, maybe. This will be time consuming, and some people just might not want to participate.

    What if only the first row of people did this? I'm assuming your closest family would be sitting in the first rows, so then it would be like your family supporting the union, instead of the entirety of the guests.

    Limit the number of people involved in this candle lighting, and it will still be meaningful :)

    Good luck!
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  • matkefmatkef
    First Comment
    Thank you for the input!
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  • almost-a-bridealmost-a-bride member
    100 Comments
    It's exactly like a Christmas Eve ceremony. I think it's a great idea actually! I've never seen it done before and as a guest, I would participate. And I don't see it taking long at all to get them all lite. Good luck!
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  • jandsrutherfordjandsrutherford member
    First Comment
    I want to do this at my ceremony also! I particularly like this idea because it's more interactive for the guests. I was thinking of a few ways to do it.

    1) Pass the light forward - so the candles are lit from the back forward
    2) Pass the light back - the bride/groom light their candles first, then pass to parents, grandparents, family, etc, etc until all candles are lit
    3) Bride and groom go down the aisle and light the first candle of every row

    I think the third option might be the fastest, and I also thought it might be nice to have some interaction between the bride and groom and their guests during the ceremony.

    What does everybody think?
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  • matkefmatkef
    First Comment
    We ended up doing this at our wedding and loved it. We had the ushers start the flame in the back at the start of every row and the guests passed the flame. The officiant asked everyone as they lit their candle to say a prayer or blessing for the couple as they passed the flame. As they did this we had our string quartet playing and the flame ended with our moms and we lit our candles off of theirs. Made for great photos and something totally unique. I would do it again in a heartbeat!
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  • ls223ls223 member
    Second Anniversary First Comment

    I really want to do this but What did your guest do with the candles after they were lit and the moment was over?

    Im confused as to where they would put them for the rest of the service.

    If they hold on to them then how will they clap when the service is over?

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