The Unity Candle Ceremony - Did you know?
The lighting of the unity candle is a relatively recent addition to the traditional Protestant wedding ceremony. It symbolizes the union of two individuals becoming one in commitment. During the ceremony, typically between the exchange of vows and the formal declaration of marriage, the bride and groom light a candle together.

The unity candle ceremony uses two taper candles and a large pillar candle (the unity candle). At the beginning of the wedding ceremony, typically the mothers of the bride and groom light the two taper candles. Later in the ceremony, the bride and groom will take the two lighted tapers and light the large pillar candle together. They may blow out their individual candles or leave them lit beside the central candle, symbolizing that the participants in the marriage have not lost their individuality. Often the unity candle is decorated with the invitation, an inscription, a picture of the couple, or some other ornamentation. Unity candles are often white, but brides are getting more and more creative. The lighting ceremony may also be accompanied by a special musical number.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Unity Candle".