Symbolic actions add depth and meaning to the occasion.

I love the idea of a couple writing a letter to each other on the morning of their Wedding, to be read at their anniversaries throughout their lives. It demonstrates the pure love and joy they are feeling right now that will no doubt bring them closer and stronger together in the years to come. This gesture can also be adapted for any of the ‘Family’ ceremonies.

This is a fun and very visually appealing gesture, associated with an ancient Celtic tradition.

The couple would hold each others’ hands/arms and the Celebrant or a family/friend would wound ribbons around them. The ribbons can be composed of different colours and fabrics that are significant to the couple eg old school-tie colours, or favourite sports team etc.

A family member/friend is welcome to announce the meaning behind each of these as the action is being preformed. When the ribbons are bound, the couple gently pulls together to literally ‘tie the knot’. The ribbons are then placed on the ceremony table to be retrieved later.

Although a common practice, lighting of candles is a beautiful gesture of separate persons coming together as one. The flame depicts your warmth, light and hope being unified as one.

There are different arrangements of candle lighting to suit your individual family/couple, so I will chat through some other options when we meet.

As Celebrant, I will have discussed and planned this meticulously with the parents/other children/family members who wish to be involved with this symbolic action during the Couple/Family Ceremony.
I will have a small table with a small amount of different coloured sand to represent everyone there Parents/siblings and/or other family members will be invited to create a circle around the table and one at a time will pour their sand into a larger container.
Once the sand is mixed it can never be separated, representing the close bonds within the family/couple. The colourful container of sand can then be kept as a keep-sake for you as a couple or for your newly formed family.

This is probably the most popular symbolic act at a couple ceremony.
The ring is an unending circle of precious metal, just as the love you share between you is precious and unending.
During a family ceremony, this can be substituted for a ‘gift’ to welcome new family member/s.

This is a beautiful symbol to celebrate the baby’s birth and future life during a Naming Ceremony or as a way to mark the start of a new chapter in your relationship with your partner.
As this small sampling grows, so too will your love for each other/baby will grow healthy and strong and reach for the stars. (special permission will need to be sought from the landowner beforehand).

As a couple you start the ceremony as two individuals, each with your own unique characteristics and preferences. The ingredients of a cocktail are a mixture of sweet and bitter tastes. This represents the ups and downs of marriage.
Two individual flavours have joined together to form a new and improved taste. Therefore, the blending together of the cocktail recipe represents the joining of the couple and the ingredients that will no longer be separate.
This cocktail can then be shared amongst guests and used at the end of the ceremony to Toast the new couple.

As this is a fun and an ancient symbolic action it has various claims to it’s origin eg from West Africa (to ward away evil spirits) to Celtic culture (to take a leap of faith together). These are both significant gestures as the couple start their lives as Newly-Weds.
You may wish to invite all your guests to join in too, as you all take a leap of faith into the future. Great photo op too!!