The Anniversary sand ceremony is a great addition to any beach wedding or elopement. It does require a little of preparation from the bride and groom in the form of love letters. But the keepsake, and anticipation of reading those letters are well worth it! You can view information on many specialty ceremonies here.
Prior to the ceremony, the bride and groom both write a small love letter to the other. Then at the ceremony, they place a handful of sand from under their feet into the jar. The very sand they took their vows is now in the jar!
They then add the love letters. On their anniversary, they open the jar, and read their love letters!
Here is the wording from the ceremony:
We will now have the anniversary sand ceremony.
Groom please take a handful of sand from where you stand and place it in the container.
Bride please take a handful of sand from where you stand and place it in the container.
The container now holds the very sand that you made your vows and promises.
You both have written a love letter to the other.
Groom, please insert your letter into the container.
Bride, please insert your letter into the container.
Together, I want you to seal the container,
and together you will open the container on your anniversary
to read the love letters you wrote one another.
If writing a love letter is not your thing, we can turn this into a Beach Sand ceremony. Basically same concept, only omit the letters. You still have a container with the sand where you said your vows!
You can check out other ceremony options here.