Your unity ritual match
The Sand Ceremony
Each of you pours a different color of sand into a single vessel, and the two streams settle into a layered pattern that cannot be separated again. It works especially well for blended families, because each child can have a color and pour alongside you.
It suits you if you want your families to take part in a way everyone can see. It fits blended families, beach weddings and destination ceremonies.
What to gather
- One larger central vessel, ideally clear glass
- One small bottle of colored sand for each person pouring
- Colors that mean something to you, or sand from a beach you love if you can get it
- Craft-store sand is fine, and the cheaper sand layers better
How it goes
- The two of you pour first, in alternating streams.
- If there are children from previous relationships, they pour next, each with their own color.
- Seal the vessel with wax or a cork once the ceremony is over.
- The vessel is your keepsake, and it lives on a shelf at home.
The script
The Sand Ceremony · read aloud by your officiant
Today two histories meet: [PARTNER 1]'s family, [PARTNER 2]'s family, and now the family the two of you are starting. The sand you are about to pour stands for more than a color, because each stream carries everyone who got you here.
As each of you pours, you are saying that this is mine, and now it is also ours. The grains will mix in a pattern that none of us could pull apart by hand, however carefully we tried.
Two histories now share one vessel, and there is no taking it back.
Read it as written, or change any line the two of you wouldn’t say out loud yourselves.
Robyn Ashley Weddings · www.robynashleyweddings.com
What the kits add
The four rituals in the quiz are the ones couples ask me for most. Here’s where I’d send you next, depending on which side of the ceremony you’re on.
From the quiz
- Four unity rituals: handfasting, sand, candle and the wine box
- What to gather and how each one goes
- A ready-to-read script for each
If it’s your wedding
If none of the four is quite yours, the Couple’s Ceremony Kit has all sixteen, along with the rest of the ceremony to go with whichever one you choose.
In the Couple’s Ceremony Kit
- Sixteen unity rituals, with the words and what to gather
- Five questions that narrow the choice
- Five full ceremony scripts in five different styles
- The Story Mine for vows, and thirty readings
If you’re officiating
If you’re the one leading the ritual, the Officiant Kit has eight full ceremony scripts to set it into, the rehearsal run sheet for walking through it beforehand, and pocket cards for when something goes wrong.
In the Officiant Kit
- Eight full ceremony scripts, with names you type once
- The Story Builder, seven steps to the couple’s story
- The Rehearsal Run Sheet, a cue sheet and four pocket cards
- A marriage license reference for all fifty states