The Unity Sand Ceremony Comes to Prince Edward Island, Canada

With the serene back drop of Prince Edward Island farmlands, Linda MacDonald and John Bain held their wedding on August 11th, 2007. The unity sand ceremony was an important part of the wedding as both Linda and John had children before this marriage.

Right from when John proposed in December last year they knew that they wanted an outdoor wedding combined with a family unity ceremony of some kind. It was soon after that that they discovered the unity sand ceremony and decided that it would be perfect for their blended family wedding.

It was very important for both Linda and John that their blended family be included in a family unity ceremony and with five children between them the unity sand ceremony was the best choice because of the ease of getting the seven of them involved without looking silly.
Linda used a whiskey decanter instead of a conventional unity sand ceremony vase set because she couldn’t find another receptacle large enough. “We needed something big enough for all of us to participate,” Linda said. “We had a total of 800 grams of sand!”

They also chose some particularly apt music for the unity sand ceremony – David Chamberlain and Teresa James singing “Yours, Mine and Ours.” This song is said to be THE family unity ceremony song for the blended family and, in Linda’s words, “is really beautiful.”

The bishop, who was the Officiant, recited “a verse that we got right off your site,” Linda said. “He included our names and the children’s names. Some people thought we should have the verse framed and hung on the wall.” The unity sand ceremony is very rare on Prince Edward Island; in fact “the bishop had never seen it before.”

As you can see from the photos with this article, the photography was a real success. As Linda said, “The view is really gorgeous and that was another of the main reasons for having the wedding outside. Plus it’s close to home and in the country.”

When asked what she would say to other brides who were considering the unity sand ceremony, Linda said she thought the sand ceremony “was a much nicer idea than other ceremonies because it’s something that you’ll always have. And the comments we got on the ceremony were unbelievable. People, including the bishop, thought that it was just awesome. It was just a nice touch and works so well for a blended family.”