The Unity Candle—A Symbol of A Life Together For Every Bride and Groom

Wedding preparations are not easy. Aside from having to spend thousands of dollars, the planning stage is the most critical. You will only have to go through this very special day once so you would want everything to be perfect.

The unity candle symbolizes the coming together of two people to unite as one. According to tradition, originally there will be three candles needed in this ritual. One candle will be for the groom, the second for the bride, and their lighted candles will light the third candle as a gesture of having a life together. But there had been a few modifications made already, depending on the families celebrating the union. There are some, wherein instead of having the bride and the groom do the act, it can be their mothers or any member of the family.

If you have a short list of guests you can give each of them an unlit candle as soon as they arrive at the ceremony. You can ask your guests to move to the front, as soon as the couple has lighted their unity candle, so that they can light theirs as well. This gesture is not made to gather participation from the audience, rather than to symbolize the union of family and friends into the marriage. However, this will not be advisable for those who have a long list of guests as it will take much of the time. On top of that, the venue can get so crowded with everyone moving around going to the front.

Another innovation would be to bring the unity candle to the wedding reception instead of having it at the wedding ceremony itself. One option is to place votive candle holders at the tables for each guest. Then the unity candle must be lighted and placed at the entrance to the reception hall. Each guest will be given a candle to be lighted with the unity candle and placed in each of their votive candle holders.

One other idea as well is to just incorporate the unity candle lighting into the activities of the reception. The bride and groom can choose a quiet moment like before dinner after the invocation, or before the slicing of the cake. The unity candle can serve as decoration for the cake, and then after the couple cut it they can serve it to the guests. This gesture would signify the guests as taking part of the bond of the bride and groom.

But then again, having the unity candle is not mandatory. What is important is how one would make the celebration a momentous and memorable one.