Alternative Unity ceremony w/o candle or sand?

Honestly, i just had my wedding and it was outside, and we didnt do anything....we just made it short and sweet. Its still beautiful without any of that kind of stuff...

I was thinking the same thing and you asking this question made me look. Here is what I found so far. http://weddings.about.com/cs/style/a/unityceremony.htm

Rose Ceremony: A simple unity ceremony where the bride and groom exchange roses. Other variations: the families exchange roses, the bride and groom exchange roses with their families, the bride and groom exchange roses, then present their mothers with the roses.

Wine Ceremony: The bride and groom each take a carafe of wine and pour it into a single glass, which they both drink from.

Water Ceremony: The couple each pour a different colored water into a single glass, creating a third color.

Breaking Bread Ceremony: The bride and groom tear off pieces of bread, and then each eat a piece. Sometimes the bread is also shared with family and friends. It symbolizes their future as a family together.

Garland Ceremony or Lei Ceremony: The bride and groom exchange garlands of flowers. This is a common part of Indian weddings, where the ceremony is called varmala or jaimala, and represents a proposal by the bride and acceptance by the groom. It also represents their new unity, blessed by nature. In Hawaian weddings, the bride and groom typically exchange leis. The families may also exchange leis with the couple. Leis represent the love and respect you have for the person you are giving it to, and the unity of the new family.

Circling: In Eastern European ceremonies, the bride and groom circle the altar three times, which are their first steps together as husband and wife. In Hindu ceremonies, couples circle the fire seven times, sealing their bond. The unbroken circle represents the unbroken committment to each other.

The first is a Celtic Oathing Stone. Molly writes "The couple holds or puts their hands on a stone during their vows to "set them in stone" (I also believe this is where this phrase comes from, or so the rumor goes)."

Have you seen the unity cross?

thats the only one i can think of off the top of my head. but if youre not religious or do not like that idea I will keep thinking...i posted a similar thread awhile back and couldnt find any ideas either.

Http://www.godsknot.com/CordOfThreeStrands.aspx

There's another wine ceremony that's a bit different than what Jaemi posted. The B and G select a bottle of wine and put it in a box along with a letter to one another and two glasses. They seal it up and open it on their anniversary where they can share the wine and read the letters.

Welp..DH and I are doing a wedding time capsule.. i ordered one from Etsy which should arrive shortly and I will post a thread and pics at that time.. but ..here is what it will basically look like, only with our names and date on it

I think we're going to have our officiant tell the story and explain what it is to our guests.

I'm still researching, but from what I understand, you put a bottle of your fave wine, or champagne maybe (we may do some Asti) in the box as well as a love letter to one another that neither of us has read. You can put some pictures in there too, or do a "scribble" which is basically a list of the reasons why you love one another, OR you write/draw on a piece of paper your memories, like you used to do in HS remember? "Always remember that first kiss on the pier at the Cape" or whatever.. that kind of thing. You can put promise rings that you may have given to one another in there as well. (You can get diff sz boxes, theres small, medium and large). (cont)

There happens to be a particular hawaiian shirt that I bought DH for his bday one year. We had a huge fight and had broken up mid week and on the weekend the shirt I ordered him arrived in the mail. His bday was like 4 days from that point. I didn't really see any point in sending it, but my mom said: "Send it, it's his birthday, you never know what will happen. Always leave the door open." So she was right! I sent that shirt & THAT SHIRt got us back together & we've been together since DH doesnt wear it anymore cuz too big now but i may put it in the box too 1st pic: outside, 2nd: inside, 3rd mine w/latch/key. Most you have a ceremony of "sealing" the box w/hammer/nails which, i didnt want to take the chance hurting myself/DH. LOL so we will make a ceremonial turning of the key together or something..IDK yet. LOL Btw, my box looks like natural wood in pic, it'll be stained & engraved as other shown.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/vonderberry77?ref=seller_info

OH and i forgot... you're supposed to open it on your 5th anniversary and share the letters and memories over the wine/champagne, OR if you ever are on the road to divorce (god forbid) you open it then, and the hope is that it will renew your relationship somehow.

We are doing the unity cross

Tree ceremony...your family would get dirt from a special place,ie,where you were born,house you grew up in,etc.~in-laws would do the same.Then you & FH combine the dirt into a new tree to plant at your house.

http://community.livejournal.com/weddingplans/17798876.html

If you want to have a blending of colors but don't want sand to blow around you could use colored pebbles, stones or beads from the craft store. That can be very pretty and won't blow around.

You could also do a handfasting, you where hold each other's hands and the officiant wraps a cord or ribbon around then and ties a loose knot. This old custom is the origin of the phrase "tie the knot".

You could also look into godsknot.com - chord of three strands ceremony.

We are doing the three strand ceremony for our's. The post from Sweet I Do's is where we got our cord from.

No new ideas but I like the idea of the 2 families exchanging something if this is possible for your 2 families

I've done sand ceremonies outside in many different locations, and I've never had a problem with blowing; in fact, I often suggest it as an alternative to the unity candle.

A handfasting is a wonderful idea, which I also suggest to my couples all the time, although I use six cords.

In a garden setting, the couple combined 2 containers of water into 1 and used it to water a small tree that they planted in their yard afterward.