There are symbolic rituals that you may consider as part of your ceremony. Here are some suggestions. We can discuss how these or other ideas that you have can be incorporated.
Champagne Ceremony
This is a festive way to transition to a reception. Champagne flutes are presented to the couple and their guests. The bride and groom toast one another for the first time as a married couple.
Sand Ceremony
This marks the joining of two lives, families and friends. Two containers of sand are poured into a third vessel. As the grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage be..
Ring Warming
Your wedding rings are passed among the guests who are asked to warm them with love and blessings of health, happiness and a good life together.
Hand Binding
“Tying the knot” can be traced back to Celtic tradtion. Cords are placed around the couple’s hands to symbolize being bound together as one family.
Rose Ceremony
You may choose to present each other with a rose as a first gift to one another after marriage. You may also choose to present roses to your parents or mothers in gratitude for their love.
Memorial Candle
Lighting a memorial candle prior to the ceremony can be a way to honour the memory of a deceased loved one.
Hand Ceremony
The bride and groom face one another holding hands, palms up so that each may see the gift that hands represent. I read a passage that speaks of loving and supporting hands.
Couples with Children
I take great delight in helping couples involve their child or children in the ceremony. I have many suggestions for meaningful ways to include them.
Breaking of the Glass
In this tradition, a glass is wrapped in a cloth and steppped on by the groom at the end of the ceremony to symbolize both the permanence and frailty of marriage. Mazel Tov! Good Fortune!
Stone Ceremony
A stone is given to each guest who is asked to think of a loving wish for the couple while holding the stone. These are then collected and held in a vessel as a keepsake for the newly married couple.
Love Letter Ceremony
Like a time capsule, letters to one another are locked away in a keepsake container to be re-opened at a later date as a way to celebrate and remember your love and feelings for one another at the time of your wedding.
Unity Candle
This consists of lighting two candles by the couple or two family members . After the pronouncement, the bride and groom light the unity candle with these two, lit candles. This symbolizes the merging of two individuals, their families and friends.