Instead of Unity Candle....??

We're using The Unity Cross. We love the symbolism of the cross & the story about God creating man & woman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX4okpDydBA

Listen to the story. It's amazing.

Chocolate sharing, tree planting, wine sharing or wine and words box, hand fastings.

Thanks guys! I'll look into all these ideas!

We are doing a salt covenant. you take two vials of equal parts of salt and pour it together into a container (we are using a glass heart). the covenant is that you can only break the covenant if you can retrieve all of your grains of salt, which is obviously impossible. its used in the bible as the highest covenant you can possibly make. my parents did a salt covenant also

I've also seen some other ones that were interesting. my favorite was two clear chemicals that created a pink liquid when combined. I couldn't find what the chemicals were and I was afraid to do that since I do not know enough about chemistry lol

There's also God's Knot - my sister in law asked us if we wanted to do it while she was doing a reading, still undecided but here's another option that's different:

God’s Knot – Cord of Three Strands

The following readings are provided as a sample of what can be read during the braiding

of the Cord of Three Strands. You may certainly use these or develop your own!

Reading – Option 1

Today, [name of groom] and [name of bride] have chosen to braid three strands together

into a single cord. Each strand has a significant meaning.

The gold strand represents God and His majesty.

The purple strand represents the groom and his life.

The white strand represents the bride and her life.

In braiding these three strands together, [name of groom] and [name of bride] have

demonstrated that their marriage is more than a joining of two lives together. It is a unity

with God as well. They have chosen to allow God to be at the center of their marriage,

woven into every aspect of it.

As Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 reads, “Two are better than one, because they have a good

return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who

falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend

themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

We are doing a wine box/love letter ceremony. We are not having the officiant mention the part about opening it we have difficult times. We are gong to open it on our 10 year anniversary. We thought it was a special and romantic.

We are doing something that's kind of like a candle and kind of like sand. We bought two different colors of pink zebra sprinkles (tiny wax balls) and are pouring them into a pretty glass that has a wick already in it. Then we will have it lit on our reception table. If you haven't heard of pink zebra sprinkles you should google them, pretty awesome!

We wanted to do something different and with more personal meaning. I came up with a special unity tea ceremony (uniTEA!) since we enjoy having tea together often, and it turned out pretty nice.

We are doing a fisherman's/lovers knot. I found this for our pastor to read during the knot tying ceremony:

(Bride and Groom) have just sealed their relationship with the giving and receiving of rings. Today their relationship is further symbolized by the tying of a fisherman’s knot; a true lovers knot, for it is the strongest there is; its bond will not break, becoming ever stronger under pressure.

(Bride and Groom), will you please tie this knot? ~ (couple begin tying the knot)

These two cords represent your past; each of you as individuals and the unique and special gifts you bring to your marriage. As you fasten your pieces together, these actions represent the present; this moment when you join your two lives into one common purpose. The completed knot represents your future, secure in the knowledge your relationship will continue to be strong despite the inevitable changes life brings. Although the fisherman's knot is one of the simplest to tie, it is also one of the sturdiest. As stress is applied, the knot becomes ever stronger.

It is the goal of marriage to achieve a blending of hearts and lives, but like the spaces between these cords formed by the knot, let there also be spaces in your new life together, so each may encourage and nurture the individual growth of the other.

I ask that you know pull on this rope to see it strengthen under pressure while still allowing us to see the individual cords ~ just as your support of one another as beautiful and blessed individuals strengthens your union. ~ (pull on the rope together)

As you hold one another in mutual concern and shared respect, may you continue holding each other tightly in your hearts and form a strong bond, now and forever. Let this knot indicate the strength of your love and be a symbol of your unity from this day forward.

I will also be doing the "fisherman's/lovers knot"

We are doing a wine box ceremony. We put love notes to each other and a bottle of wine in a box to seal during the ceremony and open on our one year anniversary.

We are also having a salt covenant ceremony and will include my twin children so that it will be a family covenant.

He's Scottish and I'm of Scottish extraction. We are doing a quaich ceremony.

We're going to do something like the sand ceremony, but with an hourglass instead of a glass container. Every year on our anniversary we'll flip it over until the two colors of sand we used are completely mixed together.

I know a lot of people are not of fan of this, but I am doing the sand ceremony. I love the meaning behind the sand ceremony; once the three grains are mixed, they can never be separated.

We are doing the tree planting ceremony.

These are all great ideas! Thanks so much

Salt covenant here as well...can't separate "your" grains of salt...also salt is a preservative

We are also doing the tying of the fisher means knot. My fiancé is in the navy so we like the to subtly include that. Also I like the symbolism behind it that the rope will break before it comes untied.

We did a lego heart unity ceremony. so we put the two halves of the heart together and now i have that heart framed as a reminder!