Once you have sealed your relationship with the exchanging of vows, and the giving and receiving of rings, you will have truly committed to share the rest of your lives with each other. Though you come into your marriage relationship as individuals, you do not need to lose your separate identities. Rather, seek to create through your commitment and the blending of your individual selves, the relationship that is marriage.
As a symbol of this blending and of marriage itself, many couples have chosen to take part in the Unity Sand Ceremony. Though little is known about the possible Native American origins, it is said that sand from the Earth was used to symbolize the bond between two people blending their lives. The essence of this ceremony is to symbolize the union of two people, two separate individuals who are beginning a new life … together.
In this ceremony, this blended relationship is symbolized through the pouring of two individual containers of sand, each one representing your individual selves. As these two containers of sand are poured into the third container and the sand mixes, the individual containers of sand will no longer exist, but instead will be joined together as one. This act symbolizes that although you maintain your individuality, you are joined together in the creation of one loving family unit. The mixing of the different sand colors will form a mosaic unique to you, one that can never be replicated.
For blended families, the Unity Sand ceremony is a great way to include children in your ceremony. Everyone has their own unique color an beauty to bring and the sculpture that is created will always be a visual reminder of the day when you became one family, united for all time.
Just as the sands flow together and form one unified landscape, your separate lives will also flow together in unity, cemented by love and mutual respect for one another. Just as the blended grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into their individual containers, so will your new family be, united as one for all of your days. Beyond your momentous day, this beautiful work of love will become a treasured keepsake – your precious unity vase – as a visual reminder of your steadfast commitment to a lasting and loving marriage.