Unity Ceremony

A Practical Wedding tells me that I don't need a unity candle.  In fact, I don't need a unity ceremony at all because that is what the exchanging of rings is for!

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Well, despite the fact that I know I don't need one, I still want one.  

There are lots of options for unity ceremonies that extend beyond the traditional ring-giving:  candles, sand, planting a tree together, wine box ceremony, hand-fasting (although I honestly know nothing about that!) and even foot washing.  When I asked Adam what he thought, he was quite content with the candle.

What I really like about the secondary unity ceremonies is that it involves the mothers by lighting the individual candles, slows down the insane speed of weddings by playing a song that is special to the couple and gives them a moment to breathe and even whisper while waiting for the song to end.  Also, if you remember our church, it adds a little extra decoration to our bare, but beautiful, bare walls.  Our pastor said that his weddings typically take about 20 minutes and with a unity candle ceremony, we can extend that out a little bit to a completely acceptable 25 minutes.

After searching the internet for unity candle sets, I decided that I am going to design my own candles and put the set together myself.  I actually found the candle holder at Goodwill for $2.75 and plan on getting some tapered candles for the sides and then a large round pillar candle for the center.  Here are some of my inspirational pictures for my upcoming project:

#1, but it would be round instead (Source)

   

#2 (Source)

#3 (Source)  

The only thing that I am completely avoiding is the over-done (because unity candles aren't over-done), ribbon and vellum unity candles that every other DIYer has done in the past.  I'm not going to post a picture because I'm not going to be a jerk to somebody's hard work, but if you Google "Unity Candle Set," you'll see exactly what I am talking about.

I'm just going to go out there and say that I am going to do this project this weekend.  Because I'm putting it out there on the internet, so it must be true, so you can check back in next week and see what I accomplished.  OR what you could do, (which would be even more fun) is you can send me your comments and opinions on which style of unity candle you like best and help me to decide on my design!