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, it's only about ten years old. Since then, many more "two-become-one" rituals have arrived to round out the theme.

Unification ceremonies aren't just a symbol of togetherness, they're also very flexible parts of the ceremony. These rituals are good for "opening up" the wedding to include additional family members, such as the bridal couple's parents. Children from previous marriages can play a part. And in a smaller wedding, the entire congregation can have a role in the ritual. The candle and rose ceremonies are good for adapting 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, but usually they take place right before or after the exchange of vows. These ceremonies may play an especially important role in non-deminational or civil weddings, which may end rather quickly otherwise!

Let's look at some alternatives to the Unity Candle ceremony:

Rose Ceremony

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.

Hand Ceremony

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."

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

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.

Sand, Water and Wine Ceremonies

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.

A nice touch is to have the bride pour white wine while the groom pours red. You can then serve ros