Just wondering if the Unity Candle ceremony has a religious affiliation or not. We're having a civil ceremony and my mom asked if my FH could break the glass for cultural significance, not religious. Just wondering if we could also do the unity candle (provided that it doesn't have religious affiliation). Thanks!
sarahbelle
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Re: Spinoff to Unity Candle Question
I don't think the unity candle has an affliation - I think it is ideal for interfaith couples for that reason.
Breaking the glass can be cultural also - somewhere I read that the officiant will say each broken piece of glass represents a year of marriage.
LMFitz
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Re: Spinoff to Unity Candle Question
My priest told me that the unity candle ceremony was cooked up by people who want you to spend more money and buy the candle. So my guess is that it does not have a specific religious symbolism.
MrsP2Be
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Re: Spinoff to Unity Candle Question
Just in case anyone was wondering, I found this:
The Unity Candle, according to ministers we interviewed, hit the wedding scene in the early 1990's. Couples use two lit taper candles (symbolizing their individuality) to light one big candle as a symbol of their two lives becoming one in commitment. Most Unity Candles were used in Protestant churches or in wedding ceremonies not conducted in church. Although more accepting of it today, many Catholic or Jewish ceremonies ask that couples not include the candle in the ceremony, since the Unity Candle is not a part of the traditional wedding liturgy.
The wedding ceremony ends when the grooms steps on and breaks a glass. The custom of breaking a glass under the chuppah is derived from the Talmud. It is written that a rabbi broke a vase during a wedding feast in order to warn those present against excessive joy. Even during times of great joy, we should remember the tragic destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
