Ethnic Wedding Series: Sand Ceremonies

Sand Ceremonies are getting more and more popular and replacing the unity candle ceremony ever since Trista and Ryan had a send ceremony on the ABC hit reality show The Bachelorette!

The origins of the sand ceremony are unclear, but legend has it that couples invented it themselves, most likely in Hawaii.   At a certain point in the ceremony, they would stop to scoop up sand from the beach they were married on into a container.

Today, a sand ceremony has many variations, but it is very similar to a unity candle ceremony.  Typically the bride and groom each have a glass container filled with a different color sand (these can be any colors, they can match your wedding colors, or the sand can be from somewhere significant to you).  When it comes time for the ceremony, the bride and groom pour each of their sands into one larger container, symbolizing their joining together as one.   This ceremony can also include family members, in this case each member would have a different vial of sand and they would all pour them together at the same time.   Yet another option is to have the larger container have a base layer of sand representing somewhere special to the couple, or in a more spiritual way, God as the foundation of their marriage.  Here is a picture of what a sand ceremony could look like…

“Today, this relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these two individual containers of sand, one representing you, Bride, and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be.  And the other representing you, Groom, and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be.  As these two containers of sand are poured into the third container, the individual containers of sand will no longer exist, but will be joined together as one.  Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage be.”