Dave and I didn't want to do a Unity Candle, because if you really get into the symbolism of it what does it mean when you blow it out after the ceremony? Not only that, but it's not allowed at our venue where the meadow site is prone to wildfires.
I've seen the sand ceremony done, and think that it's a bit trendy (not to mention the fact that for a mountain wedding it makes no sense whatsoever. For a beach wedding, it works).
Well, one thought led to another and after many revisions (Small rocks? Large rocks? Rocks in buckets? Rocks in vases? Eeeek!) we've come up with the following:
Before taking the 2 minute nature walk to our ceremony, guests will be greeted by a table, covered in large, flat polished river rocks where they will be directed to write their names and a wish, prayer, saying, or piece of advice on it. They will take this stone with them, and hold it during the ceremony until after our vows where some of our attendants (flower girl, ring bearer, etc) will gather them for us.
Our officiant is preparing a speech for it, about how bringing all of these stones and prayers together symbolizes the coming together of two groups of friends and family, as well as how each and every one of our guests has taken part in us as individuals and helped us build a foundation for our marriage. It goes with our mountain theme, gives us a unique unity ceremony that includes everybody who is special and important to us, and even serves as a guest book! Dave and I will keep the stones in our home as a decorative item (probably in a vase) and can look through them when we need a 'boost'.
The stones we will use are the same ones that guests will find at their place setting with their name and entree selection: they are flat, polished rocks that are usually used for home decorating.
On Sunday, after meeting with our officiant and really nailing down this process Dave and I went 'marker shopping'. I had tried using a metallic sharpie pen, and while it looked beautiful the markings rubbed off. I could only imagine our guests writing something thoughtful on it, holding it during the ceremony, and then finding their writing all over their hands instead!
We stood in the Michael's for about an hour and tried every marker and paint pen they had until we found something that dried quickly, didn't rub off, and looked nice. The only thing that worked were black and white 'slick writer' pens.
We got gold and silver for the 'escort cards' at the reception. . .more on that in another post.
