Sand Ceremony - Need Help

What i meant is..i wanted to use a dark brown to represent my kids...but since only two can be there how do i handle that? Just have the dark brown represent all three but just have them taking turns pouring a little into the jar?

2 lbs is an awful lot of sand but it really depends on how big your common container is...be sure to measure it all out first so that when you are done the "pouring containers" are empty...and do yourself a favor and shake all the sand up just before the ceremony so it doesn't clump up when you try to pour it; which sand tends to do in moist climates.

As for how to handle the kids...having the kids take turns is also a nice way to do it....you could also have someone (parent, uncle, aunt or one of her godparents) pour on behalf of the child not there; just have your Officiant mention the "substitution"

In regards to the colors; that's totally up to you, there are no hard and fast rules about it, having the kids use the same color is a great way to show represent their equality...you could also use white sand ~ that goes with everything

Also talk to your Officiant; he/she may have some suggestions to add as well.

Great advice...thank you

2 lbs of each would be a LOT of sand!!!! How big is the vessel you will be pouring the sand into? We are having a sand ceremony as well, but only my FH and I, no kids. We measurend how much sand it takes to fill the bottle we will be pouring into and that is how we made the determination of how much of each we would need. We are also going ot melt wax on top of it once finished so that we can keep it as it is w/ 2 layered colors forever! Good luck!!!

The final jar is 24 oz and the pouring vases are 7 oz each...i never thought of that when taking into consideration how much sand...DUH lol. this jar has a lid but it did say something about the wax seal. I wasnt sure exactly what that was or how to do that but thats exactly what i want too...thats why i got the one with the lid. Thank you

If you are using one with a lid remember to consider how big the opening is...you may want to have a little funnel to make pouring easier especially for kids.

If you use a container with a wide mouth opening you can get one of those gel candle kits to seal everything in with, it practical and looks great, too!

To seal a small mouth jar a wax seal is good but wax does break over the years, you might want to consider using a small line of crazy glue around the rim to keep it sealed a bit better.

Thank goodness for all the help we get form these forums!!! are you going to be having chairs at your beach wedding? I'm having a hard time deciding on that right now....

Yes I truly find I get much better and HONEST advice from people here...not just those telling me what they think i want to hear LOL. But yes so many decisions...I am having chairs....we are expecting about 100 people. As for my sand jar...i believe it does have a wide opening..I saw it on ebay and they personalize it for you....but I definitely do want to have it sealed as well

Check out Heirloom Hourglass. Each hourglass holds 8-12 ounces of sand and we offer a very unique family unity sand ceremony package. Congratulations on Your Wedding!

I would have some sand already in the big container representing the daughter who can't be there. Then different colors for each child and each of you. Maybe besides the aqua and latte, the first layer can be beige, then coral, and turquoise (bluer than aqua) for the other two children. That is a combination that will be reminiscent of the sea. Michael's sells smaller vials if the ones that came with your set are too big or you don't have enough of them. We sell a family set with children's vials sold separately at www.exceptionalweddingsupplies.com

My fiance and I are putting a unique twist on Sand Ceremony. As our family and friends arrive at the wedding one of our ushers will ask each person to put a little cup of regular beach sand into our main container. Once the ceremony starts the main container will be brought up to the front and placed on a table where there will be a few more little cups for the wedding party to add to the main container as they take their place. Finally, during the wedding ceremony my fiance and I will pour our own larger sand cups into the main container (mine purple, his green). We haven't come up with the final wording yet, but our officiant will talk about how everyone who is attending our wedding has helped us grow into the people we are today and that by particiapting in our sand ceremony we are asking them to support us as we grow into a family of our own. We aren't having a huge wedding so I think it will work and be a neat way to recognize how important our family and friends are to us.

I love that idea...but Im having 100+ people so I dont think that would exactly work for us...we'd need a huge beach bucket by the time we were all done LOL...but thats a beautiful and very unique idea

I didn't read all the posts, so if this is a repeat, I apologize. One thing to keep in mind with sand is to make sure and pound it down before you cork/seal it. I used to help my ex-bf's mom do sand art, so this is something I learned from her. When it gets full, pound the bottle lightly on the table so that the sand packs down. Then keep filling. Repeat this until it is full and doesn't pack anymore - keep enough space at the top for the cork (if you have a cork, mine is so I that is why keep referencing that). This will help the sand stay in place in the layers and not get all mixed together into one color. Do you know what song you are using for the sand ceremony? I can't decide on one yet and want to stay away from the typical unity songs.

We did the sand cermony with our kids and were a big blended family. I ordered my sand from orientiel trading I think it was $20 for a dozen 22oz assorted colors.Which was way more than we needed but it was the cheapest I had found it they also sell the individual jars for $2.99 ea.I also ordered a dozen little message bottles from them to put the sand in which looked very nice.As for the container we used for the blending it was a cylinder vase I found at walmart for $2.And each kid had their own color.We started it out with my husband,myself and then each kid in their age order then my husband went again because I felt like he was the beginning and the end of our family.And the different colors blended together look so beautiful.It was a really big hit with our guest they thought it was nice the way we incorporated them into our wedding we also did a unity candle just for my husband and myself as well.

I ordered my set on ebay becasue its personalized with all our names, the date and Im having it say Inseparable as they grains of sand...it does have a lid but its not cork...It says Ill have to buy wax to seal it. But I will make sure its packed down. As for the song, I never even thought of that ....see there always some other detail Im leaving out LOL

Just a word of thought. Why not take a cup of sand, for your daughter, divide it in half, mix each half with the childrens that are there, all three are included and the kids shared in the experience !

Thats a very good idea too...thank you everyone...its all been a great help

I recently officiated a wedding also with 3 children. The couple used 3 colors one for each of them and one color for the children. The two attending children can pour on behalf of the child that is not present. I suggest you don't use a huge vase and make sure it has some kind of cover for your keepsake. I have a pic on my website with a sand ceremony using seashells and a heart shaped vase you can look at for ideas.

For our sand ceremony we're using the song "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, very beachy and beautifull I think it is PERFECT for it!