Unity Candy Ritual – a sweet inclusion for your wedding ceremony in Greece

A Unity Candy ritual – yes you read that right! But if you read that thinking I meant ‘Unity CANDLE ritual’ and made a typo, you wouldn’t be alone! That was my exact thought too when a Spanish bride mentioned it as a suggestion for her wedding ceremony in Greece. As English is not her first language, I immediately thought it was a typo too, or a misunderstanding. But then I decided to do a little investigating, and lo and behold, it’s a thing! And that’s what I love about this job, you just never stop learning!

So what is it, what does it symbolise and why would you incorporate it?

For this particular couple, they were looking for something to include their 6 children into the ceremony – this was a second marriage for both of them and the children were from their previous marriages. The children ranged in ages from 5 to 15, so it needed to be something that they could all participate in equally.

Not dissimilar to the sand ritual, each person (or child) has their own choice of sweets (or candy) and they take it turns to add it to a big ‘family’ jar. The act of layering the sweets/candy is a metaphor for how the individual members of a blended family bring their own unique flavour and strength to the family as a whole. As each person adds their favourite to the family jar, it’s symbolic of the compromises that need to be made, but also about how life is all the sweeter and more exciting when families come together and share what they have with each other.

This is a tradition that could also be carried forward in years to come, on special occasions and family get togethers and although it’s a lovely tradition on it’s own, it’s something that will always remind them of the day they celebrated two families becoming one!

How we did it

For this family the couple had a jar of white sugared almonds, a traditional sweet to give in Greece at weddings and because white is the colour of new beginnings. This was the first layer in the ‘Family’ jar. Each of the children told me their favourite sweets, which all happened to be Haribo’s. It was quite an investigative feat to find all the different kinds where I live on Rhodes, but I scoured the supermarkets and kiosks and found them all. The oldest (and most health conscious) teenager requested almonds or cashew nuts instead of sweets – and why not! I enjoyed a really crafty morning sourcing little jars and making name tags for them all. But the most joyous part was during the ceremony itself as they gathered around the table and took it in turns to add their jar’s contents to the family pot and watching how beautifully they interacted and assisted each other if a lid was too tight, or the sweets got stuck. Because that’s what a unity ritual is all about – demonstrating coming together.

What do you think – if you were including this tradition in your wedding ceremony in Greece, what sweets/candy would you choose?