Symbolic Gestures

You may wish to include one or more symbolic gestures. This is a great way to personalise your ceremony and a fantastic opportunity to involve your friends and family. Each gesture can be personalised to suit you e.g. a couple who were keen cyclists and wanted Wedding Band Warming used a bicycle chain to tie their wedding bands together instead of ribbon!....There are many ways to be creative and I am happy to discuss the many options you have. Here are just a few….

Wedding Band Warming
Your wedding bands are passed around your guests until they make their way back to the Best Man, or whoever is in charge of the rings. This gives your guests the opportunity to hold your rings briefly and give a silent well-wishing for your marriage.

Oathing Stone
This is an old Scottish tradition where the Bride and Groom place their hands upon a stone while saying their wedding vows. The stone may be engraved or have special meaning to the wedding couple.

Hand Fasting
This is an ancient Celtic marriage ritual which involves 'tying a knot'. There are a number of ways to do this and it is a beautiful way to symbolize the joining of two people and two families.

Sand ceremony
The pouring of two individual containers of coloured sand into a third vessel symbolizes your two separate lives coming together. There are several ways of doing this and it is also a great way to involve children.

Drinking from the Quaich
This is another ancient Scottish symbolic ceremony of trust, love and peace between two people. You can involve other family members and guests and the combination of drinks is entirely up to you. You can stay traditional and choose whisky and water or you might prefer gin and tonic or raspberry vodka and lemonade! Whatever you choose remember there may well be a long white dress close by!

Unity Candle

Two smaller candles represent the bride and groom, two individuals coming from two separate families. The flames from these candles are then used to light a third candle symbolising their union in marriage.