Wedding Ceremony TraditionsThese days, most weddings include a number of wonderful traditions. One of the more modern traditions includes the lighting of a Unity Candle. Included in both religious and civil ceremonies, the Unity Candle lighting has been popular since the 1970s. Some wedding experts note that the inclusion of the candle lighting in the modern wedding ceremony became particularly popular after a notable television event – the 1981 wedding of Luke and Laura on TV's General Hospital soap opera. The famous couple included the Unity Candle in their ceremony, which was watched by 30 million people, prompting fans to do the same.
Regardless of why the Unity Candle rose to popularity, the fact remains that it's a lovely and touching part of today's weddings. Furthermore, the symbolism is tantamount to what a wedding means – the joining of two that have now become one. That sentiment is expressed in the Bible several times in passages such as Genesis 2: 24, which states "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh", and Mark 10:8, which notes "...and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one."
Hence, the performing of the candle lighting ceremony symbolizes the joining of two unique lives into one and the formation of a new family. This symbolism is carried out by the lighting of one large candle from two smaller tapers. Normally, the candles are set up before the ceremony begins, with the large, thick pillar candle in the middle and two thin tapers, one on each side. Recently, most couples have their mothers or other close family member start the tradition by lighting the tapers on behalf of their son or daughter. This generally occurs before the wedding party enters.
The rest of the ceremony is completed sometime during the middle of the wedding service when the bride and groom are instructed to pick up their own candles and use them to light the large one in the center, symbolic of the coming together of their lives. It used to be that the couple would then blow out their own candles, but most now prefer to leave them lit, representing the fact that they are still an individual spirit even though they are now intimately joined with another.
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