Wedding Enhancements
Wedding enhancements are symbolic rituals that add richness and flavour to your ceremony
Unity Candle Ceremony
The Unity Candle Ceremony involves three candles to symbolise the union of your families. Often the mothers will light the family candles and then the couple will light the Unity Candle together. However, the choice is up to you, you could have a father, a child, a sibling, a friend or anyone who means something special to your family light the candles. Flames are said to symbolise love and passion, and so in the context of a wedding ceremony they show the adoration that the couple have for one another.
Hands of the Bride & Groom
The hands of the bride and groom ceremony is a beautiful heartfelt ceremony that is guaranteed to not leave a dry eye among the couple and guests alike. The ceremony is typically done right after the exchange of rings. Here is an excerpt from the beautiful ceremony – “These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, they are holding yours on your wedding day, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and forever …. and lastly, these are the hands that even when aged and wrinkled, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch”.
Handfasting Ceremony
The Handfasting Ceremony is one of the oldest and most beautiful wedding traditions in Ireland dating back to the Brehon Laws. The ties represent the bind of the vows made and the knot represents that which, like any good marriage, strengthens under pressure. It is where we get the expression ‘ Tying the Knot’. Prince William and Kate Middleton included Handfasting in their Royal Wedding ceremony in 2011.
Sand Blending Ceremony
The Sand Blending Ceremony is a unique way to symbolise two lives becoming one in a wedding ceremony. This is also a great way to incorporate children or family into the wedding. Three colours of sand are layered in a vase to symbolise the importance of the individuals within the marriage and the joining of the two lives into one entity.
The sculpture begins with a layer of neutral sand to symbolise that the marriage is grounded. The next is the bride and grooms’ colours combined to symbolise the joining of the two lives as one in marriage. Just as the grains of sand cannot be separated and poured again into individual containers, so their lives will be blended together for eternity.
Truce Bell Ceremony
The Truce Bell Ceremony is a different, uncommon, and interesting “add-on” that can enhance a wedding ceremony. Both the bride and groom participate, making it real fun and not just funny, it can bring laughter end joy.
The couple are each asked to give the bell a good hardy ring, while thinking lovely thoughts of each other and, most importantly, of their future together. The bell is then kept at home as a reminder of the couples wedding day. When arguments arise, the bell is called into use. One of the quarrelling couple should ring the bell and call for a truce. The sound will remind the couple of their wedding vows and conjure up the happiest memories from their wedding day.
Four Directional Ceremony
The Four Directional Ceremony has its roots in Native American culture. It is the belief that human beings are tied to all things in nature. We bless this marriage with the virtues of the North: a firm foundation to enrich your lives and a constant home to which you will always return. We bless this marriage with the virtues off the East: communication between your hearts, mind and bodies: fresh beginnings with the rising of each days sun and the value of shared silences.
We bless this marriage with the virtues of the South: a warm and welcoming home; the delight of your hearts’ passion and the ability of both to lighten the darkest of times. We bless this marriage with the virtues of the West: the deepest of the lake; the swift flow of the river; the newness after rain and the all encompassing fervour of the sea. Each of these blessings emphasises things that will help you build a happy and successful marriage.