Updated September 18, 2024
Looking for a way to personalize your wedding ceremony and signify the beautiful commitment you are making to your significant other? Here are six unity rituals you can incorporate into your special day!
Photo by Wilde Company
1. Handfasting
This ancient Celtic tradition has become very popular amongst wedding ceremonies. Handfasting ceremonies involve the tying together of a couple’s hands or wrists with a cord, ribbon, sash, twine, or vines to signify their union. The ritual is highly symbolic and spiritual, and it often takes place outdoors, and it has strong connections to nature.
2. God’s Knot
Stemming from the Bible verse stating, “A cord of three strands is not easily broken,” this ritual takes three cords (representing the groom, bride, and God) and braids them together. Also, sometimes called the “Cord of Three Strands” ceremony, this ritual symbolizes the couple uniting together with God in the middle.
3. Unity Puzzle
Perfect for blending families, this ritual involves assembling a puzzle at the altar representing two families becoming one. This ritual highlights the importance of each family member and how they are not complete until all the pieces fit together. The puzzle could be a photo, the names of the couple and their children, or something sentimental to the family. A possible script you can use and/or customize:
“This puzzle represents the many challenges you will face during your life together. Some of these will be easy, and others will be hard. You can expect times when you will struggle to find the way and times when you need to try several approaches to find the one that works.
Like the many facets of your individual lives and your life together, each piece of this puzzle is unique. The contours and outlines vary from one to another. Yet, there IS a solution—they complement one another, and together, they constitute something meaningful and lovely that is greater than any of the separate parts.
May your marriage be like this puzzle: rich and inspiring, full of challenges that hone your ability to understand, to cope, and to enhance one another’s efforts.”
4. Seal a Time Capsule
The couple will write love letters to each other and seal them in a time capsule to be opened and read (for the first time) at a milestone anniversary. You can also include mementos from your engagement or dating period or the vows you say to each other on your wedding day.
You could also choose to write multiple love notes and open them at different points throughout your marriage. If you are having a hard time, you can pull a note out and read it to each other as a reminder of your commitment.
5. Unity Tree
Plant a tree (or another type of plant if you prefer) to symbolize “putting down roots together.” You can choose to use dirt from places that are sentimental to you as a couple, perhaps your childhood homes, your first date location, or where you first met. After the wedding, take your tree home and plant it in your backyard as a reminder of your new life together, and you can watch it grow with your marriage!
6. Unity Sand
The unity sand ritual refers to pouring two different sands simultaneously into a container so that they blend together into a design. Each sand will represent one spouse, and pouring them together represents the unity of marriage. This is a great ritual that comes with a keepsake that you can display afterward!