04.29.08

Important tips when utilizing a Unity Sand Ceremony in your wedding

Posted in Wedding Vendors in Minnesota at 3:49 pm by Rev. Tomkin Coleman

I just met with a couple last night who was inquiring about a Unity Sand ceremony (appropriate for more non-traditional wedding ceremonies), and I had so many tips for them that I thought I’d write them out for everyone.

First of all, a definition: The Unity Sand Ceremony is a new wedding tradition, which can be a beautiful and powerful symbol of your wedding vows. In the ceremony, the bride and groom each hold two bottles of colored sand, and then pour them into a vase (often glass). The mixing and melding and layers help symbolize the couple joining together. The sands can be black and white, or any colors you choose, depending on what colors are meaningful to you. Once mixed in the vase, the sands are then always together and it would be impossible to separate them again. Properly explained, this ceremony can be a beautiful and meaningful visual symbol of the wedding vows that are being witnessed.
If this non-traditional ceremony appeals to you, a sand ceremony can be a wonderful choice to help symbolize your marriage vows because it’s:

1. Visually powerful: Exchanging wedding rings is almost universally done, but it’s nice to also have a symbol of your wedding vows that can be seen from across a crowded room
2. Good on windy days: Unlike lighting a unity candle (which can be blown out accidentally when used outdoors), a sand ceremony works anywhere, even on windy days
3. A great keepsake: While a couple can keep their unity candle as a memento, many more couples keep their sand ceremony vase as a centerpiece in their homes, reminding them of the love and commitment they felt on their wedding day. The two bottles can also be kept, and though they are then empty, they can be then used as flower vases, if you like.
4. Good for families: The sand ceremony can work especially well for blended families, as children can participate, too… you can have 4, 5, 6 or more colors of sands blending together, each from one member of the family. Afterwards, the family can then exchange hugs, and it can be a very powerful element of the wedding ceremony, providing a concrete, visual symbol of the family joining together.

However, there are several important tips that should be remembered:

• Measure out the sand beforehand! It’s very important that the two bottles of sand, once combined, equal the volume of the vase. Otherwise, if the two bottles of sand contain more than the volume of the vase, it will be easy for one bottle of sand to get “dumped in”, and then 90% of the vase will have the sand from one partner, and only 10% of the volume contain the other - oops!
• Get a bottle with a cork (rare): I also highly recommend that the vase come with a cork or other stopper, so you can keep the vase of sand forever. It would be a shame to have such a powerful symbol of your lives joined together get knocked over by the dog a couple years later, and have the sand spill all over. You can use any bottles and any vase you choose, and you can even buy “sand ceremony sets” that have the bottles and vases and sand all prepared for you, and yet many of those sets do not have a stopper for the vase! How odd!
• My recommendation?
  • This set (shown empty of sand) is only $19, and it has a stopper.  There are many other sets online, but they don’t come with stoppers.  If you are including children in your ceremony, you can order as many side bottles as you want.
  • For sand, here’s a good site for sand in any color (only $3.50 per color, and comes with a full pound of sand).

I hope this blog posting helps other couples who are looking into using this new tradition of representing their wedding vows with a powerful visual symbol.

Rev. Tomkin Coleman
Home page - Minnesota Weddings with Rev. Coleman

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