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5 Seaside Unity Ceremony Ideas for Your Beach Wedding or Vow Renewal

Published Wednesday, May. 18th, 2022

5 creative unity ceremony ideas for your beach wedding, including a shell or stone blessing ritual, unique tropical toast with a custom wedding cocktail, traditional sand ceremony, and more.

A groom holds a bride in his arms on a beach on the wedding day. It's sunny, and in the background is a blanket, flowers, and other romantic items, with the ocean behind them and some small hills and grass. The couple stands in the sand in their wedding clothes. The bride wears a white wedding dress and holds up a bouquet of flowers, the groom is wearing a light gray suit.

It's beach wedding season! Get creative with one of these unique beach-themed unity ceremony ideas

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AMM Audio Articles · 5 Seaside Unity Ceremony Ideas for Your Beach Wedding or Vow Renewal

Inspired by sand, surf, and tropical breezes, these 5 unity ceremony ideas are perfect for a beach wedding or seaside vow renewal ceremony.

We’ve included helpful tips for wedding officiants and couples, from set up, to what to say, to advice on how to personalize these rituals for unique couples.

So grab your sun hat, pull on some sandals, and let’s head for the beach!

a wedding bouquet and his and her wedding shoes in the sand along the shore at sunset, during a beach wedding ceremony

5 Unity Ceremony Ideas for Your Beach Wedding

1. Shell Blessing Ceremony

In this seaworthy take on a traditional stone blessing ceremony, guests are asked to bless a shell, stone, or piece of sea glass and toss it into the ocean during the wedding in order to bring good luck to the newlyweds. The shells and stones can also be blessed and placed into a decorative vase as a sweet keepsake.

Ask guests to gather shells or smooth stones along the shore before the wedding ceremony, or have shells set out on a table for them to choose from.

During the unity ceremony, guests will hold these stones in their hands and make a wish for the couple and their future. When it’s time, they’ll toss the blessed shells back into the ocean, or place them in a decorative vase for the couple to take home.

2. Sea Breeze Unity Toast

Give the traditional unity toast a tropical twist! Instead of a wine toast, pledge your love with a fruity Sea Breeze, Rum Daiquiri, Sex on the Beach, or salted Margarita.

During the unity ceremony, each partner will pour one or more classic cocktail ingredients into a pint glass while saying a few special words to each other (such as an exchange of vows or affirmations of love).

Once all of the ingredients have been added, the wedding officiant will pop a metal cocktail shaker over the glass, shake it up over ice, and serve the couple for the toast.

Finish with a sweet sip to seal your marriage in the sand! Serve this drink recipe during your reception to give guests a taste of the fun.

tropical cocktails sitting in tall glasses in the sand on a beach, during a wedding ceremony unity ritual

3. Build a Sand Castle

The best marriages are built on teamwork, good communication, and having fun together! In this unique unity ceremony, the couple builds a sand castle to symbolize the life they’ll be building together in marriage.

This playful ritual can be included at any point in the ceremony, and couples can create a castle as simple or intricate as they wish. All it takes is the right tools – a couple of shovels, a few small buckets, some sand, and lots of love and patience.

4. Blessings in the Sand

All marriages have their ups and downs, an ebb and flow of joy and challenges. And few things capture this truth as perfectly as the rise and fall of the ocean tide!

During the unity ceremony, ask guests to write blessings and words of encouragement in the sand along the shore.

Later, as the wedding ceremony transitions into a joyful evening reception, the tide will rise and carry these beautiful blessings out to sea – bringing promises of good fortune to the couple!

The word love is written into the sand as a blessing during a wedding ceremony, in the background are blue and teal ocean waves

5. Sand Pouring Ceremony

You know we had to include this one! Sand ceremonies are one of the most popular unity rituals around, and there’s no better place to perform one than on a gorgeous sandy shoreline.

During the ritual, each partner will take turns pouring sand into a decorative vase or jar to represent the blending of their two lives into one inseparable whole. Use sand right from the beach, and add in shells, sea glass, or smooth stones, or a second colorful sand to the mix to create a unique design.

This beautiful keepsake will serve as a reminder of the promises they made on the wedding day – and the amazing view they had during the ceremony!

Close up as a man pours sand into a heart shaped vase during a unity sand ceremony on the beach

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Jessica Levey

Lead Staff Writer & Illustrator

Jessica loves exploring the history and magic of ritual, the connections between people and places, and sharing true stories about love and commitment. She's an advocate for marriage equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and individuality, and is an ordained Minister with AMM. When she’s not writing or illustrating for AMM, she enjoys city hikes, fantasy novels, comics, and traveling.

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