5 popular Unity Ceremony Ideas to Consider
Make your wedding in Las Vegas more memorable. Consider some of the alternative, interesting and unique unity ceremonies.
1. Handfasting Unity Ceremony
The handfasting ceremony is an ancient Celtic ceremony which was a ritual practiced in the British Isles and Europe. It symbolizes the unbreakable bond between a man and woman in marriage. It actualizes the idea of “tying the knot,” an idiom often used to refer to weddings. The wedding ritual is a simple yet distinctive way of making your wedding official – an interesting way to make your Las Vegas wedding permanent. There is no set rule for how many cords are used. You may use one cord if you like. If using more than two or three colors, ribbons may be easier to use than cords and less expensive. Each of the cord colors has its own special symbolic meaning. The cords can be several colors twisted into one cord and used for a single cord ceremony. If you prefer, up to six cords can be draped individually to tie your hands together loosely.
Items list:
Each cord should be at least 48″ (4 ft.) long, so the ends can all be tied together. For more than two or three colors, ribbon usually works better than cord or rope.
Forever Together Seattle shares the meaning of the colors of the cords as follows:
• Red: Will, love, strength, fertility, courage, health, vigor, passion.
• Orange: Encouragement, adaptability, stimulation, attraction, plenty, kindness.
• Yellow: Attraction, charm, confidence, balance, harmony.
• Green: Fertility, luck, prosperity, nurturing, beauty, health, love.
• Blue: Safe journey, longevity, strength.
• Purple: Healing, health, strength, power, progress.
• Black: Strength, empowerment, wisdom/vision, success, pure love.
• White: Spiritual purity, truth, peace, serenity and devotion.
• Gray: Balance, neutrality, used in erasing, canceling, neutralizing, and return to the universe without
repercussion.
• Pink: Love, unity, honor, truth, romance, happiness.
• Brown: Healing,, skills and talent, nurturing, home and hearth, the earth.
• Silver: Creativity, inspiration and vision, and protection.
• Gold: Unity, longevity, prosperity, strength.
In case you and your partner are wondering, hands-fasting doesn’t make your wedding a restricting bond. Rather, the symbolism of the ties that bind is intended to remind the both of you that marriage makes being there for one another as more than just an obligation – it is an agreement borne out of your souls’ perpetual connection with one another.
View a Handfasting ceremony for unity here
2. Glass-Breaking Unity Ceremony
The glass breaking ceremony stands as an important rite of passage signifying the lasting endurance of marriage. It is a traditional part of a Jewish ceremony however many couples are integrating this meaningful ritual into their ceremony.
Items needed:
• Easily breakable small glass or plastic wine glass
• White napkin to wrap the glass
The glass or plastic glass is wrapped in a towel. At the end of the ceremony the best man will place the wrapped glass at the feet of the groom who steps on the glass and breaks it. At the end of the ceremony, once the groom breaks the glass, the guests shout together, “Mazel Tov!” which is a Jewish phrase meaning congratulations or good luck. The symbolism of this ritual compares the difficulty of reassembling the shattered glass pieces back together to the fragility of love. Glass-breaking, of course, helps signify in thought, that the fragile nature of glass introduces feelings of resolve to make relationships work – quite like a symbol that reminds you and your spouse that your marriage will last forever.
View more information about a glass breaking ceremony here
3. Unity Wine Ceremony

Photo by Muffet
The wine pouring ritual is a unity ceremony that typically uses alcohol, specifically wine, as a symbolic means of solemnizing a marriage. This ritual remains a novel idea.
Items needed:
• An eclectic mix of two kinds of wine: red and white
• A goblet or special cup to drink from
This wine-pouring ceremony involves the bride and groom taking turns drinking from a “common cup,” in which both red and white wine is combined. The said combination promises both an abundance of love, embodied by the red wine, and everlasting strength of marriage, represented by the white wine. Here is a link to Unity Wine Ceremony sets on Amazon or View a Unity Wine ceremony here
4. Unity Cross Ceremony The unity cross is a unique unity ceremony idea to be implemented into a religious ceremony. The symbolism represents the joining of two lives into one blessed by the love of God.
Items Needed:
• An outside cross frame with a base
• Inner sculpted cross to fit into outside frame
There are two pieces of the cross. The parts are assembled during the unity service. The groom takes the outer cross and places it in the wood base. The bride proceeds to place the sculpted cross inside the outer cross. Most couples will display the cross in their home after the wedding to serve as a reminder of their vows and wedding day and unity with God. View a unity cross ceremony example here
5. Rose-Exchange Unity Ceremony
The rose has long been a symbol of love. Roses fit the scene of every wedding. This ceremony has proven to be a ceremony idea for unity.
Items Needed:
• Two rose presentations or rose buds to exchange simultaneously
Giving a rose to the love of your life may take on a world of lovely meanings: “I love you with all my heart,” and “you’re very special to me” being among the words you may intend to say. When done as a wedding ritual, rose-giving enables you to express your feelings of everlasting love even when you’re already at a loss for words.
View Unity rose exchange ceremony examples here
Visit more ceremony explanations here.
Rev. Nourish is a Las Vegas wedding officiant who will help you customize your wedding ceremony and tailor it to your needs with each ceremony. She has over 20 years experience creating and performing weddings in Las Vegas.
Contact Julie to request more information.
My husband and I incorporated the rose exchange ceremony into our wedding. It was so meaningful to me because not only do I love roses, I love the idea of leaving a rose in the house as a special way to remind my honey how much I love him. We both do this for each other and it’s one of the ways we keep the romance alive for each other. We are approaching five years now.
Hi Bridget, thanks for contributing your comment to our discussion on this post. I especially love roses as well. It’s so nice to hear that you have made this an active ritual to keep the romance alive. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I came across your article about unity ceremonies. I have to say it helped me a lot. I have been considering having a handfasting ceremony and was wondering what it was all about. Do couples really get that many cords to use during the ceremony?
Hello Bridget, thank you for visiting! I would say it depends on you regarding how many cords you use. It keeps it simpler if you use about 3 cords. I also advise you to make sure they are longer. I have had it happen that the cords were too short. Measure them and test them out.
Beautiful ideas here! At my wedding, we did the vows and ring like traditionally but we had a unique theme- a friend of ours married us and he wrote the ceremony out and it was in Dr Suess style rhyme. Was so fun and so memorable! There are so many things you can do to make your wedding ceremony special and unique.
Wow, I have never heard of a Dr. Seuss theme wedding. I have seen and done some really unique ceremonies here in Vegas though. I did a Klingon wedding that was a reenactment of a ceremony performed on Star Trek back in 1997. I have moved on to help people plan their weddings now and have fun wedding party bus tours as well.