Where you place the Unity Candle ceremony within the wedding ceremony is up to you although most couples wait until after they've said their vows and exchanged rings to light the candle. However, some like the use of a unity candle as a beginning for a wedding ceremony as it symbolically shows the couple as coming together. It is not particularly religious as fire is a universal element.
# 1. Unity Candle Ceremony
Groom and Bride will light the unity candle, as a symbol of their marriage. The candles from which they light it represent each of them in the fullness of their personhood. They come into their marriage relationship as individuals and they do not lose their identity, rather they create through their commitment the relationship of marriage. Therefore, three candles remain lighted, one for each of them and one for their marriage as symbols of their commitment to each other and to a lasting and loving marriage.
#2. Unity Candle Ceremony
This candle you are about to light is a candle of Marriage. Its fire is magical because it represents the light of two people in love. This candle before you is a candle of Commitment because it takes two people working together to keep it aflame.
This candle is also a candle of Unity because both must come together, giving a spark of themselves, to create the new light. As you light this candle today, may the brightness of the flame shine throughout your lives. May it give you courage and reassurance in darkness, warmth and safety in the cold, and strength and joy in your bodies, minds, and spirits. May your union be forever blessed.
#3 Unity Candle Ceremony
You begin your journey of life shared, separate beings that have come together into one light, one love. Many are the years you will share if you keep your vows, your sacred trust. May the sacred winds whisper joy into your life. May you take delight in each other for all your days. You are forever changed from this day forward. May this fire of love kindle your passions for each other throughout all your years. May your love rise anew, an eternal flame to light the day. May you grow old together and share a happy home.
#4 Unity Candle Ceremony
From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven. And when two souls who are destined to be together find each other, their streams of light flow together, and a single, brighter light goes forth from their united being. In this spirit, Groom and Bride, take your individual candles and light together a third candle which signifies your marital bond. May the light of love, and the light of understanding, and the light of respect, and the light of tolerance shine eternally for you both.
#5 Unity Candle Ceremony
From every human being, there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven. And when two souls are destined to find each other, their two streams of light flow together and a single brighter light goes forth from their united being. They do not lose their individuality; yet, in marriage, they are united in so close a bond that they become one. Now, following the profession of their marriage vows, Groom and Bride will light the large center candle from the smaller candles to symbolize this new reality. In this way, they are saying that henceforth their light must shine together for each other, for their families, and for their community.
#6 Unity Candle Ceremony with Parents
Today Groom and Bride come here from two different families. Out of these two families, a new family will be created . At this time, I would invite the parents of Groom and Bride to come forward and light the individual candles which represent the two separate families. The two individual flames, one representing each family, will demonstrate to us in a very beautiful way the symbol of two who become one. As you light your Unity Candle together, from today forward you will grow together as unique persons becoming a light to the world.
#7 Unity Candle Ceremony (and Remembering Deceased)
Our community is shared, if in a different way, by those who have passed beyond this life. Their roles in the lives of Groom and Bride are no less remembered and honored as we savor today's joyous moments. Join with us, then, in fond memory of all these people, and in particular (Names of deceased family and friends). In their memory, let us be silent together. In all the quiet of this very special moment, we pause, also, to give thanks for all the rich experiences of life that have brought Groom and Bride to this high point in their lives. We are grateful for the values which they have found by their own strivings. We are grateful that within them is the dream of a great love and the resources to use that love in creating a home that shall endure. We are especially grateful for the values which have flowed into them from those who have loved them and nurtured them and pointed them along life's way. The heritage each brings to this marriage will continue to be an important element in their lives, but now will be shared between them. In commemoration of the merging of these two rich heritages and in memory of those, living and dead, who were part of these heritages, I now invite Groom's parents and Bride's parents to light the individual candles, representing each of the families of this couple. Groom and Bride will now light the unity candle with these candles, symbolizing the union of their two families in this marriage and the rich heritage each brings to it. As Groom and Bride light the central candle, they do not extinguish their flames. Although they are embarking upon a new and unique relationship in the union of their lives in marriage, they, nonetheless, retain their own separate and unique identities and personalities.)
#8 Unity Candle Ceremony with Children
This marriage is not just the joining of Groom and Bride, it is also the joining of [children's names], of their families and their friends to build a strong community. This community, if in a different way, is also strengthened by those who are present today only in our memories. Their roles in your lives are no less diminished as we celebrate today's joyous moments. We ask you to join with Groom and Bride in fond memory of all these people and in particular; [names of loved ones]. In the quiet of this special moment we give thanks for all the rich experiences that have brought Groom and Bride to this marriage. We are grateful for the values taught to them by those who have loved them and nurtured them throughout their lives. We are grateful that within Groom and Bride there is a great love for God and for each other. We are grateful too for the resources to use this love to create a home for each other and for [children's names]. This candle before us symbolizes the joining of Groom and Bride's past and of the new family they have formed here today. It should also serve as a reminder to them of their faith in God who enriches their marriage in every way. The flames that light this candle will burn brighter when joined together. Extinguish the two and be forever united in God's love.
#9 Add to any Candle Ceremony for Children
There is an additional smaller candle for each child. Groom and Bride will you please light the candles that represent each of your children. Children (by name) join us. Will you all please together light the center Unity Candle. The lighting of this candle represents not only the union of Groom and Bride in marriage, but the unity formed in this new family in which your lives will now shine as one family.
# 10 Spiritual Unity Candle
Before you met you were two individuals, leading individual lives. You met, got to know one another and today acknowledge your desire to join together as a family. At this point part of you becomes one. It is in the lighting of the Unity Candle that symbolizes this oneness, not only with each other, but with a greater power you can choose to call God, Spirit, Universal Power, Universal Light. It matters not what you name the light, only that you know that your individual lights are now part of something bigger than yourselves. In the lighting of the unity candle, we symbolize the joining of two lights to create a new third light. From: "The Voice of the Master" by Kahil Gibran we read, "Marriage is the union of two divinities that a third might be born on earth. It is a union of two souls in a strong love for the abolishment of separateness. It is that higher unity which fuses the separate unities within the two spirits. It is the golden ring in a chain whose beginning is a glance and whose ending is eternity. "From every human being there arises a light that reaches straight to heaven. And when two souls that are destined to be together find each other, their streams of light flow together and a single brighter light goes forth from their united being. May the light of love, the light of understanding, the light of respect and the light of tolerance shine eternally for both of you.
#11 Spiritual Unity Candle Ceremony with Parents
Will the parents of our Groom and Bride please come to the altar and light candles representing the separate families and pasts from which Groom and Bride have come today to be joined together as one? (Parents come forward to light their tapers.) Above you, below you, and forever surrounding you shall be the pledge you make unto each other today. It is the pledge of the truth and purity of your vows, the constant friendship of your hearts, the passion and fire of your spirits and the deepest love your souls have to give. It is the pledge of all that is within you. The only true pledge that one heart can offer to another. (Groom and Bride step up and join parents, each taking the candle of their past in hand.) You are now as Husband and Wife offering yourselves, and all that has come to pass unto each other, towards the creation of your future, and to all that is yet to come.
(They join hands & light the center candle together, creating the circle of life. They then place the tapers back in their holders, and snuff their flames. The light that remains is the light of God's love, the light in which you shall be forever as one.
#12 Christian Unity Candle
The two outside candles have been lighted to represent the lives of Groom and Bride to this moment. They are two distinct lights, each capable of going their separate ways. To bring bliss and happiness to their home there must be the merging of these two lights into one light. This is what God meant when He said: 'On this account, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall be one flesh.' From now on their thoughts shall be for each other rather than for their individual selves. Their plans shall be mutual, their joys and sorrows shall be shared alike. As they each take a candle and together light the center candle, they will extinguish their own candles, thus letting the center candle symbolize the union of our lives into one flesh. As this one light cannot be divided, neither shall their lives be divided. May the radiance of this one light be a witness of their unity in Christ.
#13 Christian Unity Candle
On this their Wedding Day, Groom and Bride make this loving commitment, to follow the greatest Commandment of all: 'Love one another, as I have loved you.' This they do in the hope that their union shall become a symbol of God's promise to merge two devoted lives into one. The two distinct flames represent their lives to this moment; individual and unique. To bring bliss and happiness to their home there must be the merging of these two into one. Together they light the center candle. This is what God meant when He said: 'On this account a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one.' From now on their thoughts shall be for each other rather than for their individual selves. The entwining rings -- symbolize their two lives joined in dependence and growing maturity. Their plans shall be mutual, their joys and sorrows shall be shared alike. The cross -- a constant reminder of their faith in the Lord who blesses us each day, for it is He who enriches their marriage in every possible way. Thus they extinguish the two, forever united in the radiant oneness of God's love. Let them renew their vows each day as the memory of this joyous occasion reminds us:
The Way is Long -- Let Us Go Together
The Way is Difficult -- Let Us Help Each Other
The Way is Joyful -- Let Us Share It
The Way Is Ours Alone -- Let Us Go In Love
The Way Grows Before Us -- Let Us Begin
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