What is the Meaning of the Unity Sand Ceremony?

The Unity Sand Ceremony is a newer wedding tradition typically used as an alternative to the Unity Candle Ceremony. It represents the coming together (or unity) of the bride and the groom, and their two families, to form a single, indivisible whole.

Features

Using two separate vases, vials or decanters of differently colored sands, the bride and the groom pour the sands into a single container--the Unity Vase--while they recite special statements or vows. As the distinctly colored sands merge into the Unity Vase, they form a new color as their grains co-mingle. The Unity Vase is often kept as a memento of the wedding ceremony and kept on display in the couple's home.

Considerations

Because it is a relatively new wedding ceremony, most parishes and congregations do not recognize or permit the Unity Sand Ceremony on the suspicion that it might be a pagan ritual. It is most commonly featured in non-denominational wedding ceremonies typically presided by an officiant rather than a clergyman. As in most newer traditions, it is recommended that interested couples confer with their priests or pastors for permissibility.

Symbolism

Like the Unity Candle, the Unity Sand Ceremony represents the unification of two distinct families, and the separate individuals of the bride and the groom, into a new, single, whole. Unlike the Unity Candle, the Unity Sands are used to symbolize an indivisible union because once merged, the separately colored grains of sand can never be separated.

History

The Unity Sands Ceremony is a relatively new concept, post-dating other similarly newer wedding customs and traditions, largely due to the recent high availability of tinted, dyed and colored sands. While this tradition has found its reference for decades, it has only in the past few years grown into a commercial and cultural phenomenon around weddings in the United States. Often, the custom is used to symbolize the start of a new family because the grains of colored sand may be considered as the symbolic basis for a child.

Availability

Given the commercialization of the Unity Sand Ceremony, most couples will want to confer with specialist wedding boutiques, florists and wedding reception halls for the nearest availability of colored sands, vases, and decanters. In some jurisdictions, the Unity Sand Ceremony Company has a copyright on the performance and display of this practice, though it is rarely enforced.