Unity Ceremony Ideas for a Pantheist Wedding Ceremony

Pantheist wedding ceremonies celebrate love, nature, spiritual connection, the joy of living, and the divinity of the universe. Like all Pantheist ceremonies, the marriage rite is grounded in the sacredness of nature and humankind’s place within it. 

 

Many Pantheist couples choose wedding rituals that include natural elements – plants, trees, earth, and water – and symbolic elements that represent their commitment, devotion, passion, and deep spiritual bond. Cerermonies are often held outdoors, and on dates that honor the turning of the seasons.

 

Because there are no standard Pantheist wedding traditions, you’re free to include any elements that reflect the spirit of your relationship and your beliefs. 

 

Related: Eco Friendly Wedding Planning 

 

The unity ceremonies below symbolize several Pantheist values perfectly: Mutual love and respect, abundant joy, a zest for life, spiritual and physical partnership, a connection to the Earth, and a reverence for the divine cosmos – to all that ever was, or will be.

 

As you plan your wedding ceremony, ask yourself: Do one of the rituals below resonate with you? Do any elements of these ceremonies ‘speak’ to you? Inspire you? 

 

Get creative and talk to your wedding officiant about how to include meaningful aspects of these traditions in your wedding! 

 

 

Don’t have a wedding officiant yet?

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Photo: Tiko Giorgadze / Unsplash

Nature provides the most beautiful wedding venue of all.

 

 

6 Unity Ceremony Ideas for Pantheist Weddings

1. Tree Planting Ceremony 

 

Tree planting ceremonies are a meaningful way to honor the Earth while celebrating your new marriage. This tradition is bursting with symbolism, too! You and your spouse are literally ‘putting down roots’ with each other, making a commitment to grow and support each other, and promising to create a canopy of trust that will protect your love for years to come. 

 

Click the links below for a detailed description of this ritual, a sample wedding script, and instructions on how to add a tree planting ceremony (or plant potting ceremony) to your wedding.
 

• How to Add a Tree Planting Ceremony to Your Wedding
• Simple Wedding Script with Tree Planting Unity Ceremony

 

Saplings can be planted in starter pots during the ceremony, or placed directly into the soil in a home garden. This ceremony is perfect for apartment dwellers, too, just substitute houseplants or patio-friendly dwarf trees.

 

 

2. Handfasting Ceremony 

 

Imagine this: You and your partner turn toward each other and hold hands. As you stare into each others’ eyes, your wedding officiant wraps a symbolic cord around your hands and knots it, joining you in spiritual union. You just ‘tied the knot,’ literally! 

 

This beautiful ritual, called ‘handfasting,’ began as an ancient Pagan wedding tradition. Because of its timeless symbolism, it’s become one of the most popular modern wedding rituals for couples of all faiths and backgrounds. Use a single cord, or multiple ribbons, to represent the natural elements or members of your family. 

 

Click the link below for a detailed description of this ritual, a sample wedding script, and instructions on how to add a handfasting to your wedding.

 

• How to Include a Handfasting in Your Wedding Ceremony or Vow Renewal
•  A Simple Handfasting Ceremony Script
• Browse all Handfasting Articles

 

Handfasting rituals can be performed with one cord or multiple cord, and by wrapping the cord or knotting it in various decorative ways.

 

 

3. Stone Blessing Ceremony 

 

Stone blessings are a very old wedding tradition that symbolize the strong foundations of a loving marriage: family, community, patience, and connection to the natural world. 

 

There are many ways to perform a stone blessing, but one of our favorite variations is to have wedding guests hold a stone in their hands, ‘bless’ it with their positive thoughts (or write a sweet thought on it in marker), and toss it into a nearby body of water for luck. You might also choose to keep these symbolic stones as a memory of the wedding day, placed in a home garden or decorative bowl. 

 

Click the link below for a detailed description of this ritual and how to include it in your wedding. 

 

• Include Loved Ones in Your Wedding With a Stone Blessing Ceremony
   

Photo: Michaela / Pixabay

Stones can be decorated or simply held in the hand and 'blessed' by guests. 

 

 

4. Oathing Stone Ritual 

 

Similar to a stone blessing ceremony, an oathing stone ritual involves holding a sacred stone near a body of water while setting an intention. In this case, the couple to be married holds the stone in their hands while they make their marriage vows. Then, the stone is either tossed into the water to seal their promise, or kept in their home as a daily reminder of their promises.  

 

Oathing stones began as a Scottish wedding tradition, and are now practiced by couples all around the world. Click the link below for a detailed description of this ritual and how to include it in your wedding. 

 

• The Oathing Stone: A Modern Twist on a Traditional Scottish Unity Ceremony

 

Photo: Alexa / Pixabay

Oathing stones and wedding stones are sometimes carved with the couples names (and the names of their children) and the marriage date, as a symbolic keepsake.

 

 

5. Candle Lighting Ceremony 

 

You’ve probably heard of this one before! Candle lighting ceremonies are one of the most popular unity rituals because light and fire can symbolize many different things: life, spirituality, faith, love, passion, desire, connection, the Sun, and the power of the natural world. Variations of this ritual appear in many religious and non-religious wedding ceremonies around the world. 

 

In Pantheist weddings, candle lighting ceremonies might represent two lives uniting as one in love, the Sun that gives life and light to our planetary home, and the divine spark that connects all beings… or any unique meaning that calls to you. 

 

Click the link below for a detailed description of this ritual, an example of what to say while officiating, and instructions on how to include it in your wedding. 

 

• How to Perform a Unity Candle Ceremony (for Wedding Officiants)
• Winter Solstice Wedding Ceremony Script With Candle Lighting (Community Candle Lighting Ceremony)

 

Photo: Alonso Cabrera / Pixabay

Some couples ask the entire wedding reception to participate in a candle lighting ceremony, symbolic of the community's role in the marriage, while others keep the ceremony small to symbolize their vows to each other.

 

 

6. Soil Blending Ceremony (Variation on a Unity Sand Ceremony)

 

This unique variation on a unity sand ceremony uses soil instead of sand... although if you and your sweetheart share a love of beaches and ocean views, a traditional sand ceremony is a great choice, too! 

 

In a soil blending ceremony, you and your partner will each bring a small container of soil to the ceremony, taken from a place that’s meaningful to you, and then blend them together into a glass vase or jar as a keepsake. This blending of soils honors the Earth while symbolizing the union of two histories, two homelands, two lives, two bodies, or the past and present, as you build a life together in marriage. You can plant something in it, add it to your garden, or simply keeping in a decorative vase as a symbol of your love.

 

Click the links below for detailed descriptions of these rituals and suggestions on how to add one to your wedding. 

 

• How to Perform a Unity Sand Ceremony (for Wedding Officiants)
• Don't Use Sand! Creative Alternatives for Your Sand Ceremony

 

 

Photo: Ashley Ross / Unsplash

For this ritual, choose soil or sand from any place that holds special meaning for you. 

 

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Read Next: 

 

• These compostable wedding rings gave us a fun ceremony idea…
   
• An Intro to Interfaith & Interspiritual Wedding Ceremonies
   
• Pagan Wedding Blessings for Every Season and Ceremony
   

 

4 Pagan wedding blessing examples and sample scripts to help you personalize your own handfasting, marriage ceremony, or Year and a Day celebration. Read the full article here. 

 

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