Creative use of candles in your wedding

Place a wreath with candles on the alter. Have each member of your family and wedding party light a candle. Have the person officiating at the ceremony or an explanation in your program explaining the significance of the wreath as the two of you as a couple and the lighting of the candles as a sign that your family and friends will support you in your new life as husband and wife.

Unity candles.

There are several interesting ideas for your unity candle.

Have the candles on each side of the center unity candle as mother candles. Have each mother light the candles when they come into the room for the ceremony. Then each of you light the center candle off of your mothers' candles. Make sure afterwards you give each mother their candle as a keepsake to them.

If this is a second wedding you can incorporate the children into the lighting ceremony so that the lighting of the candle is to show the family as a union not just the bride and groom. This can be done by using several candles or having a special candle made with more than one wick.

Candlelight ceremony

There are several ideas for having a candlelight ceremony but the more candles you use the more glow and atmosphere you will create.

Before planning a candlelight ceremony make sure that you find out the fire code for the location of the ceremony. Be sure to follow all the rules of safely using candles to make sure that everything is safe and enjoys the beauty of the ceremony.

Use candles in the windows. Be sure to place all candles on safe holders to protect the window sills and to be sure that they do not tip during the ceremony.

Have the bridesmaids carry candles. These can be incorporated into the flowers that they carry. As in the picture.

Have candles on each pew. This can be a simple candle in holders that attach to the pews or they can be beautifully decorated with greenery, flowers or ribbons.

If the fire code permits, a very unique ceremony is when each person attending the service is given a candle. Right before the ceremony the ushers or candle lighters light the candles at the ends of the pews and then the first person lights their candle off of that candle then each person light the candle of the person next to them until they are all lite. When the officials says "I now pronounce you husband and wife" everyone blows out their candle.

If you are lighting a unity wick everyone should blow out their candle when the wick becomes one flame.

Another idea of using candles in your wedding is to use a memorial candle. This is a candle that is used to remember a love one who has passed away. These candles can be made several ways but a good idea is to use one enclosed in glass. These usually have the person's name and date. They can also include words such as "In loving memory of" or "Always present in our hearts". The lighting of this candle by siblings in a nice choice.

If you are having a outside wedding you can use luminaries. You can make these from brown bags add sand to the bottom of the bags and use a votive candle. You can make these even more decorative by cutting heart shapes into the bags for the light to shine through.

Having your invitation put on the unity candle make it a keepsake that you can use on your anniversaries.

You can also line the paths in an outside wedding using candles.

**Tip** Make sure that when you place candles you make sure they are not in drafts from air conditioning or from natural breezes from windows and doors. This will cause the candles to burn more quickly and uneven and will cause dripping of the wax.

Remember to carry the candle theme into the reception. Candles as the centerpieces on the tables as well as larger candle arrangements place throughout the room will enhance the atmosphere of the reception. Also candlelight is very romantic and everyone enjoys the warm glow of candles.