I recently officiated a wedding at The Conservatory in St. Charles, MO where it was a second marriage for both the bride and groom. We added a sand ceremony and invited the children to come forward. They gathered around a table while I made a simple statement, "The sand represents each individual coming together to join a union - a family union."
Couples have been using sand to symbolize unity for many years, and sand ceremonies in the US are starting to feature these ceremonies in addition, or more often in place of, the unity candle ceremony. It probably started in Hawaii as brides and grooms would stand barefoot on the beach. At the right moment in the ceremony, they would reach down and take a handful of sand from beneath their feet and pour it into a single container.
The Unity Sand Ceremony can also be altered in many ways to include family and friends. Besides the bride and groom, various colors of sand are given to wedding members who will add their sand to the couple's sand, all flowing into the container, creating a colorful and one-of-a kind symbol of unity.
Following is an example of wording for the ceremony.
Plan to have soft music playing during this part of the service.
UNITY SAND CEREMONY READING
After the minister reads the statement below, pour two containers of sand into a third, wide-mouthed, container simultaneously:
[Bride] and [Groom], today you join your separate lives together. The two separate bottles of sand symbolize your separate lives, separate families and separate sets of friends. They represent all that you are and all that you'll ever be as an individual. They also represent your lives before today. 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.
If children are a part of the new family, the sand ceremony can involve them also. Some families choose a different color for each member. (This can be tricky to get colors that complement each other. Lots of different colors together end up looking dirty and brown from a distance.)
This is much safer than having small children handling lit candles!
Article from http://www.coloredplaysand.com/
Couples have been using sand to symbolize unity for many years, and sand ceremonies in the US are starting to feature these ceremonies in addition, or more often in place of, the unity candle ceremony. It probably started in Hawaii as brides and grooms would stand barefoot on the beach. At the right moment in the ceremony, they would reach down and take a handful of sand from beneath their feet and pour it into a single container.
The Unity Sand Ceremony can also be altered in many ways to include family and friends. Besides the bride and groom, various colors of sand are given to wedding members who will add their sand to the couple's sand, all flowing into the container, creating a colorful and one-of-a kind symbol of unity.
Following is an example of wording for the ceremony.
Plan to have soft music playing during this part of the service.
UNITY SAND CEREMONY READING
After the minister reads the statement below, pour two containers of sand into a third, wide-mouthed, container simultaneously:
[Bride] and [Groom], today you join your separate lives together. The two separate bottles of sand symbolize your separate lives, separate families and separate sets of friends. They represent all that you are and all that you'll ever be as an individual. They also represent your lives before today. 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.
If children are a part of the new family, the sand ceremony can involve them also. Some families choose a different color for each member. (This can be tricky to get colors that complement each other. Lots of different colors together end up looking dirty and brown from a distance.)
This is much safer than having small children handling lit candles!
Article from http://www.coloredplaysand.com/