Please make sure to bring three candles with holders with you – you can search for Unity Candle Ceremony on pinterest to have a look at your options 🙂
<Bride> and <Groom>, I would now like to ask you both to light a candle. Each of these flames, represent you both as individuals and in turn each of their separate journeys, choices and experiences which have led them to this moment.
<Bride> and <Groom> each light a candle.
<Bride> and <Groom>, before we finish this ceremony and you enter into the world together as a married couple I would like to ask you both to take the flames from your individual candles and unite them together as one. These flames represent you both as individuals, and also your commitment to one another united together as a united flame. May these flames always burn brightly and be a guiding light to you both.
I would now to ask you all to be seated for a few moments as we sign the wedding certificate, with <Groom> and <Bride>’s two witnesses <Witness-1> and <Witness-2>. Do make sure you have your bubbles ready for their them in a moment when they walk down the aisle together.
Signing of “the certificate”
You will need to buy a certificate – or have a friend design one for you. You can find lovely ones on Etsy.
I would now like to invite <Bride> and <Groom> and <their parents>, to sign their certificate of marriage. This certificate is not only to be signed by Bride and Groom but also by everyone here today to recognise the special importance of the community in the success of a marriage, and how each of you here have played your part in <Groom> and <Bride>’s journey. There is a space for every guest to sign their names as witnesses to this marriage, so today, after our ceremony, please do find a moment to sign your name.
<Bride> and <Groom> sign and <their parents> sign
Finally <Bride> and <Groom>, to seal your vows today I would like to invite you each to take part in an Ancient Scottish Tradition, drinking from the Quaiche or cup of friendship. This will be your first drink together as a married couple. The two handles on the Quaiche represent the two of you, joined together as equal partners in life through your willingness to give and share alike. As you drink from the cup in turn, know that you have your best friend beside you and that your journey ahead will be a journey shared. <Groom> and <Bride>I now invite you to drink from the cup, and seal your vows today.
I found this poem related to the Quaiche which i could read as you drink from the cup
Strike hands with me, the glasses brim
The dew is on the heather
For love is good and life is long,
And two are best together.
Bless the union of these two,
Eager for marriage, eager for love.
May they begin life together,
Live that life together
And come to the end together.
On a small table nearby are the marriage box, are two pre-titled envelopes for the vows to go inside
With those words in mind, before you make vows of marriage to one another I would like to draw your attention to the wooden chest beside us. This is <Bride> and <Groom>’s marriage chest, and it is made from the wood of an old oak tree that once stood in their garden in Kent. Not only does this box represent their shared love of nature, but also their shared love of their home life, which like this tree before them will grow onwards and upwards as the years pass by. <Bride> and <Groom> will keep this box throughout their married life, placing inside it, small special objects and keepsakes which will act as reminders to them of the important moments they’ll share as the years go on.
The first of these special keepsakes will be their wedding vows. Which I would now like to invite to you both to make to one another.
Thank you. <Bride and Groom> I would now like to invite you to place your vows inside the envelopes on the table and place them inside your marriage box.
In appreciation of the unique role you’ve played in <Bride> and <Groom>’s journey, they ask you to take part in the warming of their rings whilst we explore their story together. Can <PERSON ONE> and <PERSON TWO> please move forward with the rings.
During the ceremony please pass <Bride> and <Groom>’s wedding rings between you. As the rings make their way from hand to hand, please take a moment to hold them and warm them. Silently fill them with your own reflections of love and compassion, wishing <Bride> and <Groom> a loving, contemporary and distinctly adventurous future together. When the rings are returned they will contain your support for their partnership helping to keep it strong throughout the years.
You will need letters and box big enough to fit two bottles of wine inside – also possibly glasses.
I would like to invite <bride’s friend> and <groom’s friend> to the front to join us. Each of them have a bottle of wine from <Groom> and <Bride>’s respective homelands, Spain and New Zealand. I would like to ask you both to present the wine to <Bride> and <Groom> and then<Bride> and <Groom> please place the bottles in the box beside you.
This box contains two bottles of wine and two love letters written by each of you for one another. The contents of the letters are a secret, but they describe the qualities that you love in one another, your reasons for choosing to marry and your hopes for the future.
<Bride> and <Groom> plan to open these bottles of wine on their fifth wedding anniversary. Until that day keep this box in a place of honour as a constant reminder of your love of wine, I’m joking, I mean your commitment to each other.
As time goes on, should you ever find yourselves facing challenges in your marriage that seem in the moment to be insurmountable, I would ask that you both open this box and to sit and drink the wine together. Open the letters you wrote to one another to remind you of today, and this very special moment just before you made the promises of marriage to each other, on the cusp of embarking on this new and exciting journey together.
The hope is, however, that you will never face those challenges, or run out of wine in your cupboards and with any luck the next time you open this box will be on your anniversary when the wine will taste even better than it does today.
<Bride> and <Groom> I would now like to invite you both to close the box.
You will need letters and box big enough to fit two bottles of wine inside – also possibly glasses.
The below wording is fairly wine centric – so if you just want to exchange letters let me know and I will rewrite it
<Bride> and <Groom> have chosen today to exchange letters as part of the wedding ceremony. The box contains in front of you contains a bottle of wine, two glasses, and two love letters written by each of you for one another. The contents of the letters are a secret, but they describe the qualities that you love in one another, your reasons for choosing to marry and your hopes for the future.
<Bride> and <Groom> plan to open these bottles of wine on their ? wedding anniversary. Until that day keep this box in a place of honor as a constant reminder of your love and commitment to each other.
As time goes on, should you ever find yourselves facing challenges in your marriage that seem in the moment to be insurmountable, I would ask that you both open this box and to sit and drink the wine together. Open the letters you wrote to one another to remind you of today, and this very special moment just before you made the promises of marriage to each other, on the cusp of embarking on this new and exciting journey together.
The hope is, however, that you will never face those challenges, or run out of wine in your cupboards and with any luck the next time you open this box will be on your anniversary when the wine will taste even better than it does today.
<Bride> and <Groom> I would now like to invite you both to close the box.
You will need two small vases and one large one.
I would like to invite you both to take part in a blending of the sands ceremony.
Behind/beside you both are three vessels, each filled with thousands of grains of sand. <Groom> and <Bride>, each of these vessels represent you as individuals, and the sand within them the experiences and choices to date which have led each of you to this moment. Fittingly, the sand in these five vases came from the beach in Italy where <Groom> proposed a year ago. The grains of sand not only represent your history together as a couple, and your shared love of Italy, these grain act as symbols of all that you each of were, all that you are today, and all that you will ever be in the future.
I would like to invite you now to take your vases of of sand and unite the grains in the central vase, which represents your new shared life as partners in marriage.
<Bride> and <Groom> pour their sand into the central vessel
Just as all the individual grains of sand are now united together, so you <Groom> and <Bride> are united in marriage with one another, a union of two multi-faceted people, now and forever.
<Groom> and <Bride>, before you sign your certificate of marriage and enter into the world together as a married couple, I would like to invite you both to take part in a final symbolic act – this ritual is traditionally performed with sand but <Bride> and <Groom> thought this venue and the occasion deserved a bit more sparkle!
<Bride> and <Groom>, behind/beside you both are two individual vessels filled with
thousands of grains of glitter. Each of these vessels symbolize your separate lives, separate families and separate sets of friends, and the glitter within them the experiences and choices to date which have led you to this moment. As individuals, you are beautiful people all on your own. Yet when the two of you are blended together, you form something even more beautiful. So I would like to invite you to combine and blend your glitter into the central vase.
<Bride>, <Groom> pour the glitter into the central vessel
Just as all the individual pieces of glitter are now united together, so you are united in marriage with one another, a union of two people, inseparable now and forever.
I would now like to invite our flowerchildren, Freddy, Toby, Agata, and Joshua to come to the front and place the vases for the Rice and Wheat blending ceremony on the table. Later on <Bride> and <Groom> will blend the rice and wheat together to symbolise the joining of their two lives in marriage.
<Groom> and <Bride>, before you sign your certificate of marriage and enter into the world together as a married couple, I would like to ask you both to take part in a blending of the grains ceremony.
Behind/beside you both are two individual vessels filled with thousands of grains of rice and wheat. <Groom> and <Bride>, each of these vessels represents you both as individuals, and the many grains within them represent your different backgrounds and also the many experiences and choices which have led you to this moment. These grains act as are symbol of and all that you each of were, all that you are today, and all that you will ever be in the future.
I would like to invite you both now to take your vessels and unite your grains wheat and rice in the central vessel, which represents your new shared life as partners in marriage. Just as all the individual grains are now united together, so you are united in marriage with one another, a union of two multi-faceted people, inseparable now and forever.
<Groom> and <Bride> I would like to bring <child> to the front and invite you all, as a family, to take part in a blending of the sands ceremony.
Behind/beside you both are three individual containers filled with thousands of grains of sand. <Groom>, <Bride>, and <Child>, each of these vessels represent you as three individuals, and the sand within them the experiences and choices to date which have led you to this moment.
Fittingly, the sand in these three vases comes from two different locations that represent your family backgrounds. The sand in <Groom>’s vase is from Durban in South Africa, <Bride>’s sand comes from a beach on the Isle of Wight, and represents her Dad’s side of the family. These grains of sand are symbols of all that you each of were, all that you are today, and all that you will ever be in the future.
I would like to invite you now to take your vases of of sand and unite the grains in the central bottle, which represents your new shared life as partners in marriage
<Bride>, <Groom> and <child> pour the sand into the central vessel
Just as all the individual grains of sand are now united together, so you are united in marriage with one another, and as united as a family together, a union of two people, inseparable now and forever.
You could use, sand, small stones or even glitter.
<Groom> and <Bride>, before you sign your certificate of marriage and enter into the world together as a married couple, I would like to bring your daughters to the front and invite you all, as family, to take part in a blending of the sands ceremony.
Behind/beside you both are three individual containers filled with
thousands of grains of sand. <Groom>, <Bride>, and Your daughters, each of these vessels represent you as three individuals, and the sand within them the experiences
and choices to date which have led you to this moment. Fittingly, the sand in these three vases comes from two different locations that represent your family backgrounds. These grains of sand are symbols of all that you each of were, all that you are today, and all that you will ever be in the future.
I would like to invite you now to take your vases of of sand and unite the grains in the central bottle, which represents your new shared life as partners in marriage
<Bride>, <Groom> pour the sand into the central vessel
And I would now like to invite your daughters to pour their sand into the vase too, to represent your family life together.
The three girls pour their sand into the vase too.
Just as all the individual grains of sand are now united together, so you are united in marriage with one another, and as united as a family together, inseparable now and forever.
There is an ancient and beautiful marriage rite that I would now like to perform. Handfasting is a symbolic ritual of Celtic origin. It is a declaration of intent where the couple state clearly that they are marrying of their own free will. <Bride> & <Groom> have succeeded together by appreciating and supporting each other’s freedom to pursue and explore the world as individuals so it seems a fitting ritual to represent their love. Each vow they make in this ceremony is represented by a knot. These are not ties that seek to limit or constrict them but merely a simple visual representation of the truth that you must not only tell the people you love that you love them, but show them your love through your actions. The ties that we will make in the ceremony today will symbolise the qualities that you love about one another, that keep your relationship strong and also your intent to create real ideals that will give meaning and foundation to your married life together.
I would like to invite Beth, Lucy and Erin to stand beside you to give you the three ribbons we will use in the ceremony today.
Hannah: <Bride> & <Groom> do you seek to enter into this ceremony together?
<Bride> & <Groom>: We do
<Groom> & <Bride> hold hands, one partner with his or her left hand and the other with his or her right hand.
The first ribbon is passed to Hannah by Lucy
Hannah: The first ribbon represents So with this ribbon will you promise to continue to live life to the fullest and to find happiness and laughter throughout your journey together?
<Bride> & <Groom>: We will.
And so the binding is made.
The second ribbon is passed to Hannah by Erin
Hannah: The second ribbon represents…. With the second ribbon will you promise to always support and encourage one another as you do now, throughout your life as partners?
<Bride> & <Groom>: We will.
And so the binding is made.
The third ribbon is passed to Hannah by Beth
Hannah: This final ribbon represents your… With this final ribbon, will you promise to be worthy of one another’s trust and faith, and to work beside each other as a team in all things, sharing your challenges and achievements together?
<Bride> & <Groom>: We will.
And so the binding is made.
<Bride> & <Groom>, as your hands are bound together now, so your lives and spirits are joined in a union of love and trust. The promises you have made to each other represent your heartfelt commitment to each other. May they sustain and comfort you in your future together.
The three ribbons are then tied together and kept safe and handed to Beth. Beth, Erin and Lucy then sit. Beth puts them in the box.