It's great sitting down with couples and discussing ideas. I do of course have my own favourites. At my wedding we did the handfasting so it always has a special relevance for me, but over the last year I've had more couples express an interest in performing a sand ceremony, and I've grown to love doing it at ceremonies.
You choose two different coloured sands (IKEA is a great source for finding what you need) - one colour for each of you. On the day of your wedding, you choose a glass jar/bottle with a stopper, and both of you take it in turns to pour your sand in. It takes a few minutes but the guests are usually intrigued by what the end result might be. Once we've finished, we hopefully end up with something like this...
The third colour of sand in this picture was to include their child in the ceremony - so it wasn't just about our couple coming together, but all three of them joining as a family.
And the symbolism... you can still see the different colours. Getting married hasn't stopped our couple still having their own individuality. But the sands can never again be separated, just like our couple (and their child).
