Wedding Ceremony with Anna Maria Island Sand...
Welcome to our fourth post in our series on Wedding Sand Ceremonies and Unity Sand Ceremonies on Anna Maria Island in Florida, off the beautiful Gulf Coast of Mexico.
Anna Maria Island Sand Ceremony
As mentioned in our previous posts, the Anna Maria Island Unity Sand Ceremony can be a unique and touching alternative to the more traditional Unity Candle Ceremony.
Unification Sand Ceremony
The Unification ceremony is a key element of most weddings and acts as a symbol of togetherness. Unlike other elements of your wedding celebration, the Unification ceremony can be flexible.
For example, they can be adjusted to include the children from previous marriages or other family members of the bride and groom.
You wedding is a very special and personal event. As such, the timing of the Sand Unification Ceremony can vary from one wedding to another. Though most often, the Sand Ceremony takes place directly before or after the exchange of the vows.
Read the example sand ceremony below, or go to "Standard Wedding Sand Ceremony as Performed on the Beaches of Anna Maria Island" to learn more.
Sand Unification Ceremonies and the Non Religious Wedding
Sand ceremonies are especially important in non religious weddings. Locate three containers of choice, one for you and your fiance to pour the sand into, and one more each to pour the sand from. It is common to use coloured sand that you can purchase at a craft store, or you can color your own beach sands.
You can even color your sands differently from one another to create a lasting unique symbol of your Unification.
For weddings being held on a beach, the often preferred wedding sand ritual is that the sand be collected at the time of the ceremony and taken from below the bride and grooms feet. This of course adds one more aspect to the importance of the Unification Vessel, in that it contains the very sand in which you stood during your wedding and Unification Ceremony. Such a detail may be of more importance to non-residence of the wedding location... in this case, Anna Maria Island.
Sand Ceremony Words and Vows
As pointed out in a previous post, we are all individuals with our own unique, and personal, values and beliefs. It is entirely up to the bride and groom exactly what the words of their Sand Unification Ceremony and Vows will be.
What follows is just one example of the words that could be spoken during a non religious sand ceremony. Use them as a guide and as inspiration to come up with own personal version and take on the tradition of the Wedding Unification Ceremony.
After the wedding officiant reads the following words and vows, or preferably you own chosen words and vows, you and your fiance will each pour your container of sand into the third container. This is done simultaneously. You may wish to leave a small amount of sand in each of the original containters to symbolize that although you are now united as one, you each remain individuals.
"<Bride >and <Groom>, you have just sealed your relationship by the giving and receiving of rings and the exchange of a kiss. This covenant is a relationship pledge between two people who agree that they will commit themselves to one another throughout their lives. The most beautiful example of this partnership is the marriage relationship. You have committed here today to share the rest of your lives with each other. 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 and 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."
Family Sand Unification Ceremony
An increasingly popular twist on the Sand Unification Ceremony is to Invite your children to take part in the ceremony. After the bride and groom have poured their sand into the unification vessel, each child pours their previously chosen color of sand from a miniature nesting vase into the unification vessel.
The Family Sand Unity Ceremony has become a very popular option among couples with children and/or important family members they wish to partake in such a joyous and special occassion and ritual. The mixing of the uniquely different sand colors is a fitting and sentimental way to symbolize the Unification of the Individuals into a newly formed Family resulting from the union of the Bride and Groom in eternal love and commitment.
There are no set guidelines for the order in which family members enter into this loving ritual, although generally the sand is poured into the Unification vase in the following order...
- Father
- Mother
- Children
Reverend Charlie,
Your Anna Maria Island Beach Wedding and Sand Ceremony Specialist...
If you are planning a beach wedding on or near Anna Maria Island, and you would like someone officiating your wedding ceremony with years of experience... may we recomment Charles Shook (Reverend Charlie).
Let Reverend Charlie perform a sand wedding ceremony at your Anna Maria Island Beach Wedding!
Learn more about Getting Married on Anna Maria Island and the Sand Ceremony as an alternative to the more traditional Candle Unification Ceremony:
- Wedding Sand Ceremony Kits - Lois Finley Shook, wife of Charles Shook (Reverend Charlie), has put together the perfect Anna Maria Island Wedding Sand Kits.
- Standard Wedding Sand Ceremony as Performed on the Beaches of Anna Maria Island - The Wedding Sand Ceremony can be used to replace the unity candle portion of the wedding ceremony and provides the couple with a keepsake that will last a lifetime.
- Unification Ceremony in the Sand - An Anna Maria Island Style Wedding Sand Ceremony adds a 'Gulf Coast' twist to the traditional unity candle tradition.
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