By By Blake Kritzberg
By now, surely everyone's familiar with the unity candle, but did you know there are other unification ceremonies to choose from when planning your wedding?
Although the unity candle seems to have been with us forever, in reality it's only about ten years old. During those years, more "two-become-one" motifs have arrived to round out the theme.
Unification ceremonies are not only a symbol of togetherness, they're also flexible elements of a wedding. These ceremonies can be "opened up" to include important family members, such as the bridal couple's parents. Children from previous marriages can play a part, as can the entire congregation in a smaller wedding. Candle and rose ceremonies are common choices for adapting in this way.
Unification ceremonies can also be "stacked." It's not unusual to find a wedding that includes a hand and water ceremony, for example, or a wine and rose ceremony. Some couples play music during these ceremonies and others don't.
The timing of unification ceremonies varies by wedding, but they most often take place directly before or after the exchange of vows. These ceremonies may be especially important in non-religious weddings, which may end too quickly otherwise!
Let's look at some alternatives to the Unity Candle ceremony:
* Rose Ceremony * Hand Ceremony The groom then takes the bride's hands, palm side up. The officiant says, "They are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness, as she promises her love and commitment to you all the days of her life."
* Knot Ceremony * Sand, Water and Wine Ceremonies A nice touch is to have the bride pour white wine while the groom pours red. You can then serve rosé at the reception to remind everyone of the ceremony.
* The Salt Covenant * The Foot-Washing Ceremony This short article hasn't covered all the unification ceremonies: there are bread-sharing ceremonies, circling ceremonies, broom jumping ceremonies, and probably more ceremonies that are being invented right now.
However, if you feel a unification ceremony might make your wedding more meaningful and personal, consider these alternatives. Don't forget that you can use more than one!
Blake Kritzberg is the proprietor of: Visit the site for easy, elegant, unusual, and affordable wedding favor ideas, wedding favor FAQ, and a free wedding screensaver. This article may be freely reprinted so long as this resource box and URL are preserved.
The rose ceremony is a flexible, informal ceremony especially suited to an interfaith or non-religious wedding, not to mention a garden wedding! In the rose ceremony, bride and groom exchange a single rose as their first married gift to each other. They are asked to recall this symbol of their love during the more trying seasons of marriage.
In the hand ceremony, the bride takes the groom's hands in hers, palms up. The officiant invites her to view his hands as a gift, and says: "These are the hands that will work along side yours, as together you build your future, as together you laugh and cry, and together you share your innermost secrets and dreams."
In the knot ceremony, the mothers of the bridal couple are given a cord, which the officiant later asks them to give to the bridal couple. The couple ties a lover's knot, which they may save to look back on later.
These are all mixing ceremonies suited to a Unitarian or interfaith wedding. The sand ceremony is said to arise from Apache customs, and is popular in beach weddings. In each case, the bride and groom pour sand or liquid from two separate vials into one. In the wine ceremony, they drink the mixed wine.
The salt covenant is an ancient tradition, well-described in the Bible, and appearing regularly in Indian-national and Jewish weddings. Like the Jewish Huppah, the salt covenant (a mixing ceremony with ancient connotations of loyalty, protection and hospitality) is beginning to show up in non-Jewish weddings as well.
The foot washing ceremony (not to be confused with the Scottish bridal foot-washing ceremony, a raucous pre-wedding event) is a fascinating, solemn custom emphasizing the role of dual servitude in a marriage.
http://www.just-wedding-favors.com
By Anonymous
Los Angeles, CA September 28, 2004 – Nomine Candles has created a unique line of aromatherapy pillars and botanical jars that not only promote a more healthful candle burning experience but offer a distinct European aesthetic that compliments any home.
Nomine Candles are made with 100% natural wax made with soybeans and botanical oils. They are free of petroleum byproducts, additives and synthetic fragrance. Nomine uses only 100% cotton wicks. Unlike paraffin, soy candles produce virtually no black soot to ruin walls and furnishings. Soy wax is American grown and a renewable resource. It cleans up easily with soap and warm water and is biodegradable.
Nomine Candles offers a healthy alternative to traditional synthetic fragrance by using only aromatherapy grade essential oil blends derived from the leaves, stems, flowers, bark, roots, or other elements of a plant. With an increasing number of people suffering from allergies and headaches due to synthetic fragrance, Nomine’s essential oil blends offer a more subtle and clean aroma. All Nomine Candles are hand-poured in small batches for quality assurance.
Nancy Covello, owner and candle maker, was motivated to create this all natural candle line from a personal commitment to alternative health therapies and a longstanding vegetarian lifestyle. Nancy comments on her motivation, “I was concerned when my walls became black with soot from paraffin candles. I immediately sought to find an alternative. However, many soy candle companies were producing products that aesthetically weren’t as pleasing to the eye as their paraffin counterparts. My goal with Nomine was to try and make a candle that had the best of both worlds, health and style.”
Inspired by the stories and pictures of her Italian ancestors, Nomine Candles evoke the scents, moods and the nostalgic images of the Italian countryside. Nomine (pronounced
Noh-mi-neh) simply means “name” in Latin and was chosen to celebrate the power of the meaning behind names.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Nancy Covello
Nomine Candles
Phone 310-617-9986
www.nominesoycandles.com
This article courtesy of http://bubble-pattern-candle-holdersites.coolblogs.info/.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author
name and URL remain intact.
By Anonymous
Huntsville, AL January 26 2004--Since taking over Los Tomases Candle Makers LLC a year ago, Bill Peer, President and CEO, has seen a 25% growth in gross sales. In the candle world, a $2.8 billion dollar industry, the busiest period of candle sales is November and December. “We are on track this month [January to beat even the December sales!” exclaims the proud CEO. He attributes the success to three keys: their product, online store, and customer service.
“Our votive candles are the very best you can buy” says Peer. This is something you would expect to hear from someone who believes in their product. When Peer bought the company in February of last year, he says that the quality of the candle was the deal clincher. “I found a company that made amazing votive candles the old-school way, with craftsman’s pride in every single votive.“ Old School indeed. Not only has the candle company used the same votive making machine since 1944, their Master Candle Craftsman, Lamar Sloan, has been making candles for forty years. “For every run of votives, Lamar mixes the colors and scent by hand and studies the result just like it was a fine wine” Peer continues.
The candle company’s online store, http://www.OnlyVotives.com, provides seekers of scented votive candles a wide array of choices. At any one time, Los Tomases Candle Makers LLC offers over 60 different flavors of votives that are ready to ship. Customers can select them a dozen at a time, or experiment by mixing and matching the votive candles they want. “One of our biggest draws is how easy it is to find the votive you are looking for” Peer offers. Through their web site, users can do votive candle searches by name, color, or even scent descriptions with words like ‘sweet’. “We will become the Dell of the votive candle world”, promises Peer, alluding to the quality one stop online shop for buying the exact votive you want.
Often times, companies list a large number of available choices of votives but impose a waiting period before the candles can be shipped. This is not the case at Los Tomases Candle Makers LLC. Peer says, “If a votive is listed on our site, it is ready to be shipped.” This is part of what makes the candle company’s customer service truly unique; the company only makes available candles that are ready to ship. Besides quick shipment, the company prides itself on customer communication. “When someone places an order, we feel it is our responsibility to keep them updated regarding their candles all the way from their initial payment through delivery.” Peer continues, “Customers will never be left in the dark when they order from us.”
When Peer took over the company, it already had a quality product, but only sold them unbranded to retailers. His decision to take the candles directly to consumers with a friendly web site and attentive customer service has proven to be the correct decision. Peer says, “We’ve obviously hit something here … the number of repeat buyers is remarkable.” The fire is definitely lit at Los Tomases Candle Makers LLC.
About Los Tomases Candle Makers LLC
Known as the source for hard to find quality votives, Los Tomases Candle Makers LLC offers over sixty different flavors of the finest scented votive candles. The company maintains its reputation for consistently producing the finest votives by using the same machines and processes since 1944. Through its online store http://www.OnlyVotives.com, Los Tomases Candle Makers offers free shipping within the continental United States.
This article courtesy of http://bubble-pattern-candle-holdersites.coolblogs.info/.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author
name and URL remain intact.