Go With The Unity Candle

Virtually every aspect of a wedding ceremony is based on some sort of tradition and symbolism, the lighting of a unity candle is no exception. The use of the unity candle during the wedding ceremony is another way for the bride and groom to symbolize two individuals becoming one.

The unity pillar candle is placed at the front of the room and left unlit. Two lit taper candles are placed on either side, one for the bride and one for the groom. When it is time for the unity candle portion of the wedding, the bride and groom walk up together and each take hold of a taper candle. Then together they light the unity candle from the tapers. Once the unity candle is lit the bride and groom extinguish their individual taper candles and set them back beside the pillar.

A really nice tip is to light the unity candle before the ceremony then blow it out. This will make the candle light easier when it is done for real.

There are literally thousands of unity candles to choose from. They come in many different size, shapes, and colors. Some are plain and simple, others are really fancy. Many of them have sayings and images on them. Narrowing down your selection of unity candles can be a tough job.

The majority of wedding candles are either white or ivory. You can find some that are other colors so deciding if you want color or not is a good place to start.

You will have to determine what style of unity candle best fits with the rest of your wedding decor. You can get plain pillar candles and tapers that are really affordable but still look beautiful surrounded by the rest of the wedding decorations. If you want something more elegant, there are cut and curl unity candles. For modern weddings you may want a square pillar candle instead of the traditional round one.

A very popular way to go is the personalized unity candle. A bride and groom can get their names and wedding date with a graphic or saying put onto a pillar candle making it one-of-a-kind unity candle. Some companies can also put initials or other personal touches onto each of the taper candles.

You don't have to spend a lot of money on your wedding candles to get something beautiful and that will do the job. Do some looking around and you might be surprised at what you can find.

If you don't want a candle for your ceremony or the facility you are using won't allow a lit candle in their buildings, there are some other options for you. One of the non-candle favorites is using sand and cylinder vases. Instead of lighting a unity candle from your individual tapers, you each pour a different color sand from a smaller cylinder vase into a larger vase. You can have a lot of fun alternating the colors back and forth to create a beautiful layer design. It is possible to get the glass cylinders personalized with your names and dates too.

Besides picking out a unity candle set, you will also need to choose a set of holders. The width and height of your candle holders will be determined by the size of your pillar candle. The taper holders will most likely have a standard size hole. Once you know what diameter of pillar holder is required for your unity, you can then start looking for the style that you want.

There is a huge selection of candle holders available out there. Wedding candle holders can come in metal, ceramic, glass, resin, wood, and other materials. You can pick from very decorative holders or go with some thing simple and inexpensive. Many times your decorator can turn a cheap unity holder into one that looks like it cost a lot so be sure to get some ideas from them too.

Unity candle holders often come as a 1 piece set with the taper candle holders attached to the center pillar holder. That can seem like a convenient option at the time but if the candles are tough to get back into their holders you could flip the whole set over. When the taper candle holders are separate from the unity holder you can pick up the taper candles and holders to light the unity. That way you don't have to worry about getting the taper candle back in the holder.