Sand Ceremony

This element can be included in your ceremony at any point: in the beginning as the introduction, or either before or after saying vows. Other family members may also be included, as in the second & third examples that follow.
Items needed: Sand Ceremony kits can be found online and in some stores, or create your own with 2 small vases, 2 colors of sand and one larger vase that can be filled and sealed closed.

When you combine your lives in marriage, NAME and NAME, it is as combining these two vessels of sand into one. When united in marriage, you retain all of yourselves and all of your uniqueness, but also become a new entity, a new family. As you pour your layers of sand together, never again can they truly be separated, and so will it be with your marriage.

Grain by grain, your sand represents who you are: your personality, your character, your hopes and dreams, your past, your potential, and all you are. Standing together never means dissolving your individual selves into each other, but it strengthens the individuality of each partner. A good marriage evolves when two people live their lives together, complimenting and supporting each other. I hope that this new work of art will always remind you of your wedding and the connection that you share.

Sand Ceremony Including Family Members

(Items needed: additional vases and colors of sand for additional family members, if desired.)

NAME and NAME, please step this way and stand side by side facing the vessels of sand. Will the parents (or children/siblings/others) of NAME and NAME please join us at the table.
You stand here today, side by side, each of you offering your support and love to NAME and NAME as they begin their marriage.

Marriage strengthens your connections as a family. It connects your lives in many ways, physically, emotionally, strategically. You each bring with you your individuality, your own history, your particular relationship to your family, and together you’ll help create a new version of this family as you grow and change together. You’ll create a future together that will be affected by each of your own personalities and decisions in life. How you demonstrate your love for each other will define your family. As you continue to support and love and care for each other, your lives intertwine and become as inseparable as the layers of sand you combine here today.

Sand Ceremony Including Children

NAME and NAME, please step this way and stand side by side facing the vessels of sand. Will the children of NAME and NAME please join us at the table.
You are here together to share this moment, to support one another as your family changes, and to see this as a positive challenge in your lives, an opportunity to grow together.
When you combine your lives through marriage and become a blended family, it is like combining these different colors of sand into one piece of art. A good family evolves, allows time for each other to grow, is constantly changing.

As you take turns adding your own sand, you should all remember that there is no right or wrong way to do this; it’s ok to make a mess, life is messy; and you are all in this together, if you work together you will create something beautiful no matter what.

(Everyone alternates pouring their sand.)