When it comes to your wedding ceremony, there are many ways you can make it personal beyond your vows and readings. So as we talk about The Ceremony Issue, today we’re sharing special unity rituals to include in your wedding ceremony.

Unity ceremonies are such a special way to symbolise you and your beloved joining forces, cementing your lives together. There are plenty of classics (the options were running through today) but this? This is also where you can get really creative. A coffee ceremony where you brew a hot cup together, a sandwich ceremony where you make your favourite sandwich (share with guests as a post ceremony snack!). This is your day remember! You could even have family contribute to an incredible piece of art as Caitlin & Rob did.

The Tree Planting Ceremony

A tree-planting ceremony involves you and your beloved planting a tree together. This is particularly special if your venue is a place you can visit time and time again. It also works if you plant it into a pot together. The idea is that you’re nurturing and planting the seeds together in your marriage, just like Mother Nature.

Photo by Shoshana Kruger Photography via Trudy & Matt’s Cheery & Fun Perth Wedding

The Handfasting Ceremony

A handfasting ceremony is a Celtic ritual. it involves you and your beloved hands being tied together in ribbons or cords while vows or blessings are recited (“The Blessing of Hands”s is a favourite for many here). The knot is then kept tied forever symbolising your unity.

Photo by Stone & Wool Photography via Rosina & Kayli’s Glittering Rustic Winery Wedding

The Wine Ceremony

Wine is a favourite for so many and the wine ceremony is a fun idea that is a twist on the traditional unity ceremony. Couples blending red and white wine (or even just their favourites) to blend. Another take on the wine ceremony is to close a bottle of your favourite wine (appropriately, it’s often the vintage of the year you marry) together, with the understanding, or pledge to open it together on a significant occasion like your tenth anniversary.

The Wedding Time Capsule

Box up well wishes to open in your years to come. You could place a letter to each other in a box, ask guests to give notes, cards and well wishes, and create a ceremony out of putting your good wishes, hopes and dreams for the future into a box to keep treasured.

The Unity Candle

A unity candle ritual is often seen in religious weddings, but it is a beautiful addition for secular weddings too. This ritual involves three candles one symbolising each of you (or each of your families) and a larger, central candle that you will light with the two individual candles, symbolising your unity.

The Sand Ceremony

An old favourite, the sand ceremony can be just the couple or the couple with their families joining in.

Photo by James White Photography via Melinda & Eleanor’s Casual Garden Wedding At Hazelhurst Art Gallery

The Jewellery Exchange

We all know and love the symbolism of the ring exchange, but there is an extra special ritual you can also perform and it’s especially perfect if you’re bringing the significance of children into the mix. Gifting the children in your family a special piece of jewellery while making vows to each other, gives them their special and important part in the wedding ceremony, but also brings a special bond to the family too.

Photo by Stone & Wool Photography via Kate & Bob’s Romantic Boho NYE Wedding

The Ring Warming

Less of a ritual, and more of a community-based blessing, the ring warming is a great way to bring your guests into your ceremony. Your wedding rings are passed around, on instruction from your ceremony officiant, and usually in a small bag or box. Each guest silently blesses your rings, blessing them in their own personal way, before passing them on to the next guest.

You may have some of your own special unity rituals – some passed down through the family, or some new ones that you create and might just become a tradition to pass on.