Suncoast Weddings Unity sand ceremony
Our current day unity sand ceremony is thought to have its origins in Native American culture, either with Hawaiian ancestors or indigenous groups from the mainland. It is a valued part of marriage services around the globe in many different cultures.
At our beach weddings, the most popular choice is to use two beautiful shells to pour sand from the location where your service is performed. We have heart-shaped bottles as a vase to hold the mixed sands.
We offer two local conch shells - one for you and one for your fiancé which are filled with sand from your ceremony site and a heart-shaped bottle into which you pour the sand. Each of the sand-filled conchs symbolizes the separate lives of the bride and groom and their families. You can put your vase containing your combined sand on display as a constant reminder of your special day and a memento direct from the beach.
Some couples prefer to supply their own different colored sands which you can find at most arts and crafts stores.
After the minister explains the meaning of a unity ceremony the bride and groom pour the two containers of sand into the bottle simultaneously. You may wish to leave a small amount of sand in each vial to symbolize that although you are now joined as one, you are still free to express your own individuality.
If you would like to include children in the ceremony we will supply the relevant number of extra conchs with different colored sand.
Sample of a unity ceremony involving children:
Minister: _________ and _________, today you are making a life-long commitment to share the rest of your lives with each other and honor your children as well. Family relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these two individual containers of sand; each representing all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be.
There are children who will share in this marriage. _________ will now come forward to help us with the Blending of the Sands. The gathering of this new family will have a deep influence upon them. We realize that in order for the home to be a happy one, it is essential that there be love and understanding between the children and the adults being married.
As you each hold your sand the separate containers of sand represent your lives to this moment; individual and unique. As you now combine your sand together, your lives also join together as one family.
You may now blend the sand together symbolizing the uniting of the children and bride and groom into one.