Destination and Beach weddings have become increasingly popular over recent years. Brides are looking for ways to carry their theme over into all aspects of their ceremony. A sand ceremony is the perfect addition to any beach or destination wedding.
What is a Sand Ceremony?
A sand ceremony is a way for the bride and groom to express their unity to their guest and each other. Essentially, the bride and groom each have their own container of sand that is combined into one, representing the joining of their two separate lives. A sand ceremony is preceding by an accompanying reading by the officiant.
Accompanying Sand Ceremony Reading
A popular sand ceremony sample reading from The Wedding Officiant is:
"Today, this relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these two individual containers of sand one, representing you BRIDE and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be, and the other representing you, GROOM, and all that you were and all that you are, and all that you will ever be. As these two containers of sand are poured into the third container, the individual containers of sand will no longer exist, but will be joined together as one. Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage be."
Crafting Your Own Sand Ceremony Accessories
Crafting the accessories for your sand ceremony is an easy project for any bride-to-be. You will need:
- 3 glass containers (2 smaller ones of equal size and a larger one)
- 2 different colors of decorative sand
- Embellishments for your containers such as ribbons, raffia or shells
Step 1: Embellish your containers. Some ideas include having your containers personalized with your names and wedding date or tying raffia around the bottle and using adhesive to attach a starfish embellishment on top of the raffia.
Step 2: Make sure you have the right proportions of sand. Do a dry run to ensure that each of the smaller container's contents holds just the right (and equal) amount of sand to fill up the larger container. Measure the sand accordingly and seal in individual zip lock sandwich bags.
Optional: If you plan on using your sand ceremony accessories as decor at your reception, a great idea is to bring additional sand to fill the two empty individual contains with, and top all three containers with a tea light candle.
Ways to Personalize Your Sand Ceremony
- Use sand colors that match your wedding palette. The sand hues that you choose should compliment the overall color scheme of your wedding and they should also compliment each other. Play around with different color combinations until you find a pair that you are happy with.
- Involving your family and friends into the ceremony. A sand ceremony is an ideal way to involve children into your vow exchange. This works especially well for blended families. Make sure that each child gets to choose his/her sand color and allow them to decorate their individual containers as well.
Tips:
After your wedding, be sure to display your large, blended sand container as a keepsake. Remember to buy a stopper so that you don't accidentally knock it over and spill the sand!
Having a traditional unity candle ceremony? Consider updating the old idea with the modern sand ceremony.
You can purchase complete sand ceremony kits online that come with your choice of sand colors. A lot of these companies will also offer personalized etching on the glass containers to meet your specifications.
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