Ceremony Elements 4: Wish Jar

A wish jar ceremony can be a lovely, highly inclusive moment that gets everyone involved in your celebration. It’s great for couples and families who want their guests to feel truly part of their ceremony, not just observers.

It can take place at various points in the ceremony, though is particularly good as guests arrive. For this element, guests are given a small piece of paper, card or wooden shape to write their wishes, advice, or blessings for your future. These could be for the future of your relationship if it’s part of a wedding or the future of your child if it’s for a naming ceremony.

Then, during the ceremony, these are collected in and placed in a special jar or box that you'll keep.

Some couples read these messages on their first anniversary or their child’s future birthday. Others save them for when they need a boost of love and support.

Some couples use beautiful origami paper for the wishes, others provide small cards in their wedding colors. You could even use paper embedded with wildflower seeds and plant these with the wishes, literally growing your wishes on the foundation of your community's love.

All of these ceremony elements can be beautifully woven into a wedding day, and as your celebrant, I'm here to help you choose and personalise the ones that best reflect your relationship. You can check out my previous posts on ceremony elements below or email me at nick.wells@thismoment.org.uk if you’d like to talk about how we could work together.

I’d love to hear from you.

You can check out the full collection of ceremony element posts here.