Words For Shell Ceremony

[JanetandDan2014]

Hi everyone,

So I have decided to do the Shell Ceremony and I have about 32 people attending.  I am trying to come up with words to write on the shells for each of the guests to receive and toss into the water.  I thought I would post what I have so far and see if anyone had suggestions of other to add.  I'm sorry if this has been done already.  I couldn't find a topic that discussed the words specifically. 

 

Love

Laughter

Hope

Trust

Understanding

Forgiveness

Fun

Health

Happiness

Respect

Fairness

Communication

Sharing

Responsibility

Faith

Peace

Friendship

Admiration

Passion

Actually I have found many more so I am responding to my own thread.  LOL.  Hope it helps someone who is looking for quick words for their ceremony.  Here are 35 words:

 

Love

Laughter

Hope

Trust

Understanding

Forgiveness

Fun

Health

Happiness

Respect

Fairness

Communication

Support

Tolerance

Commitment

Dependability

Sharing

Inspiration

Affection

Responsibility

Faith

Peace

Friendship

Admiration

Sincerity

Patience

Generosity

Wisdom

Joy

Compassion

Humor

Loyalty

Comfort

Safety

[kmk2016]

What's a shell ceremony? I have never heard of it... but it sounds really beautiful/interesting based on info you shared! Would love to know more!

[pddcmc]

@@JanetandDan2014 - do share, what is a shell ceremony?!

[JanetandDan2014]

Sorry for the delay in responding.  We just got back from our wedding in Mexico! 

It was perfect and when I get around to it I will be posting pics and such. 

 

Ok so...shell ceremony....

 

It was one of the best parts of our wedding. 

We had 30 guests, therefore we started with 30 seashells.  I bought them at Michaels before we left and wrote a word on each shell.  Fun, joy, hope, understand etc (basically the things you hope for in your marriage).  As guests arrived I had my best friend and her sons pass out shells to each of the guests.   At a point in the ceremony I had my friend come up to the front and read the following:

 

Dan and Janet, before you met, your lives were on different paths with different destinations.  But love has brought you together and joined these separate paths into one.  Each of your guests has been given a shell to hold, bless and protect throughout your ceremony.

 

Janet and Dan ask that in your mind and heart you take a moment and pray that their marriage be blessed. 

 

.....Pause for around 10-15 seconds..............

 

Dan and Janet will now count to 3 and we will cast our shells into the sea to spread love and good wishes to the happy couple!

 

Janet and Dan:  1-2-3! (if your wedding is in Mexico you could do uno, dos, tres). 

 

Then everyone tosses their shells into the water. 

 

It makes for a wonderful photo opportunity.  Hope that helps. 

 

You could choose to have the officiant read your ceremony, however, I wanted a way to include my friend. 

[kmk2016]

I ended up googling this while you were gone (congrats by the way!!!!) and had decided to do it- but I'm even MORE convinced now that I read your version.... It's perfect and I will definitely be adding this to my ceremony!

 

 

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[tygrrlily]

This sounds like such a lovely idea. I would really like to get our guests involved.

 

I'm planning my ceremony on a rooftop though so we will be faraway from the beach/water! I've googled some alternatives like having people place the shells in a vase before doing the sand ceremony on top of it? Has anyone ever seen anything like this? It would be a nice momento to have

[kmk2016]

This sounds like such a lovely idea. I would really like to get our guests involved.

 

I'm planning my ceremony on a rooftop though so we will be faraway from the beach/water! I've googled some alternatives like having people place the shells in a vase before doing the sand ceremony on top of it? Has anyone ever seen anything like this? It would be a nice momento to have

I love this idea! Especially if you are on a deck and can't have immediate access to the ocean! I actually may like this idea even better! It becomes almost a "guest book" so to speak!!! You could also gather the shells, and then immediately following the ceremony- almost as a recessional, it could lead out to the ocean (led by Bride and Groom), and everyone could toss them as a group as a final conclusion to your ceremony?!

 

 

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Edited May 7, 2014 by kmk2016

[tygrrlily]

@@kmk2016 - I like this idea too! Just trying to think logistically about things like pictures hmm

 

I found this cool picture of this couple that looks like they did their ceremony on the rooftop, but then had all the guests walk down for the sand ceremony. Trying to figure out the logistics of it all now

 

 

 

[kmk2016]

Yes... You would want to make sure you don't have groups of people waiting for an elevator to get down!! Kind of takes the flow out of the idea... But it would be such a great moment if it could work!

 

 

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[1BeachBride]

I like this idea but not sure if it's possible. My guests will be sitting in rows... Not sure how close we are to the water for weak throws to make the distance.

 

Great way to incorporate the guests though!