What are Symbolic Wedding Ceremonies?

Many couples opt to include a symbolic ritual as part of their wedding ceremony, renewal of vows or baby naming ceremony. You may not want to include extra symbolism - for you the vows and ring exchange may be exactly what you want to do on your big day - but if you want to explore other options, read on!

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Symbolic Ceremonies include a symbolic element which is added to a wedding, to represent your unity through the use of rituals. Symbolic Ceremonies offer an extra visual and interactive experience to the day, and often include keepsakes which you can treasure at home for long after your ceremony. They can be used not just to symbolise the union of your love, but to also symbolise your union as a family - as you may consider including children, parents or other guests in the ceremony as well.
Many of the rituals hold their origins in spiritual religion, but whatever your beliefs, a symbolic ceremony can be tailored to suit your own personal way of life, and can make for a unique and memorable addition to your day.

GIN MIXING

Gin mixing is a fun, modern blending ceremony which is fantastic for the gin loving couples out there - why not infuse your own gin together before the big day at your local distillery - made to your own very personal recipe. Mix it with a mediterranean tonic water to remind you of an amazing holiday together in the Greek islands. Add lemon, ice and rosemary to represent important things in your life - your family, friends and pets. Toast your guests with your first gin and tonic as a married couple and share your recipe for ‘happy ever after’! 
OK - so not all of us have been to the Greek islands but we can find symbolism and make it appropriate to you as a couple. This is not an ancient ritual (as you may have guessed) - but it is fun, symbolic and a different element to include in your ceremony - particularly if you are a gin lover!!  ​

WINE BLENDING

Wine is a universal symbol of the richness of life and sweetness of love. So it is appropriate that you toast life at a wedding ceremony or a vow renewal with this ancient symbol.
In a blending ceremony, the bride and groom each take a carafe of wine - each wine from a different grape - maybe even one red and one white wine and each pours some of their carafe into a single glass, from which you both drink. The blending represents your two lives combining to make a new and successful marriage. Then as a couple you can toast your guests - your first drink as a married couple.

HAND FASTING

One of the more recognised additions to a wedding ceremony; Hand Fasting (or ‘Tying the Knot’) originally stemmed from Pagan ritual, but is often used in modern ceremonies to represent the coming together of two people and their lives by the tying of their hands with cord or ribbon.
There are many ways to tailor this ceremony to suit the purpose of why you have chosen to include it, but generally the couple will place their palms together, and with each spoken promise or given virtue the cord is wrapped around the hands. The ceremony is then made complete with the tying of a knot to form an eternal loop in the material, before the hands are released and the loop is taken home to be kept as a visual reminder of their bond.
Couples can use multiple coloured cords plaited together to represent a combination of different promises and virtues. You can even symbolise the union of different people being brought together by the marriage, by using the coloured ribbons to represent each person within the family unit.
You could even ask friends or family members to come forward and assist in adding their own cords to the finished piece…
As the name suggests - like in ancient times - you will have literally ‘tied the knot’.

UNITY CANDLES

This ceremony involves the lighting of two single candles; each representing the two people as individuals and the energy and light that comes from their own being.
The couple then bring their individual flames together to light a central pillar candle or  ‘unity candle’. This demonstrates the stronger energy that is formed in the flame, when they marry their own energies together and the larger lit unity candle ​ symbolises that they now light a clearer path for each other as one.

​If you have children you can involve them too, by them lighting their own candles from the flame of your unity candle. This shows how together you have created a new energy and brought a new light into your life, through your child or children.
Why not light the unity candle every year on your anniversary to remind you of your wonderful day? ​

SAND CEREMONY

The pouring of two or more different coloured sands into one shared vessel is a contemporary symbolic ceremony which is often used to represent the coming together of two people or a family in a very visual and permanent way.
The coloured sands celebrate you both as individuals made up of millions of tiny pieces that form the complex creations that we are as humans. By mixing these sands together into one container, we demonstrate how through marriage we still exist as individuals with our own ‘colour’ to be appreciated, but by combining our colours we create something which is more beautiful than was once separated. To separate these grains of sand later would not be impossible, but it would certainly be a challenge!
​The container of combined sand also makes for a decorative keepsake which can be kept as a commemorative item in the home afterwards. Some couples even use an hourglass, and turn the sands each year on their anniversary.

RING WARMING

This is a lovely ceremony to use if you wish to involve all of your guests in your ceremony. It needn’t be spiritual as such, more a celebration of the love shared with the people who joined you on your wedding day.
The couple place their wedding rings into a small pouch or jewellery box. This pouch or box is then passed from person to person, allowing an opportunity for each guest to take a turn in holding the rings whilst making a wish for the couple, or bestowing a blessing upon them.
A piece of music could even be played to accompany the moment as the rings are being passed from person to person; or you could pass them from guest to guest whilst the ceremony continues, until they have been warmed by everyone - with the Best Man being responsible for collecting them and keeping them safe until they are exchanged.

Once the pouch has been passed around everyone, the couple can continue with placing the rings on each other's fingers in the knowledge that the rings have been ‘warmed’ with the kind wishes and the love of those friends and family they have chosen to join them.

OTHER SYMBOLIC WEDDING RITUALS

There are of course other symbolic rituals some ancient, others modern and some from other parts of the world - you may wish to plant seeds or a sapling at the site of your ceremony, or in a small pot to take home with you, as a way to represent your new life together and the continued growth of your relationship here after. There are crystal ceremonies, water ceremonies, painted canvas ceremonies, love letters sealed in a box with a bottle of wine and jumping the broom to name a few.
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If you are interested in finding out how we could include any of these rituals in your ceremony then get in touch - I would love to talk to you about your big day.

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