The Wine Box Ceremony: A Time Capsule of Your Wedding
Like many other wedding rituals, the wine box ceremony signifies the cooperation and collaboration needed for a successful marriage.
Weddings are memorable events, and we naturally want physical keepsakes to remind us of the happiness we experienced. Traditions such as saving the wedding cake’s upper tier have filled that purpose, but the wine box ceremony is a new kind of commemorating custom. You’re probably not alone if you’ve never heard of wine box ceremonies, but learning about this fascinating practice may inspire you to include it in your celebration.
What Is A Wine Box Ceremony?
Wedding Wire Canada’s Alice Prendergast detailed the wine box ceremony in a May 2019 article. Contrary to what you may think, you aren’t cracking open a box of wine to serve your guests. The wine box is a wooden container that contains your drink of choice plus keepsakes such as love letters or printed text of the wedding vows. Martha Stewart Weddings mentions it as a type of unity ritual similar to the unity candle or sand ceremony since you’re both placing contents inside the box and sealing it together.
The wine box can behave a little like a wedding time capsule as described in a Wedding Ideas piece. One major difference is that the wine box is filled and sealed during the ceremony, while the time capsule can contain items collected from both the ceremony and reception.
Choosing Your Vintage
Brides writer Jaimie Mackey offers some useful tips for picking the perfect bottle for your wine box ceremony. Many couples integrate this ritual if they’re tying the knot in a vineyard, so they choose a vintage from that location’s offerings. If you’re marrying somewhere else, you can ask a local wine shop for advice. Martha Stewart Weddings’ Alyssa Brown suggests that you can select a wine bottled during the same year you’re getting married.
Wine Folly instructs readers to evaluate the ability of a wine to age using three important factors: structure, balance, and the company that produces it. Look for vintages with moderately high acidity and sweetness level, moderate tannin levels, and low volatile acidity. As for alcohol by volume, Wine Folly suggests choosing varieties with either lower balanced or high alcohol levels. All these attributes should be in balance with each other, but don’t forget to look at the wine’s producer. Start with companies that have solid track records for making well-aging wines.
How To Pick Your Box
You have a lot of possibilities when selecting your wine box, so it’s wise to keep an open mind. Some commercial retailers supply pre-made boxes in a wide range of designs, so it’s easy to find the color, size, and details you want. If either of you is skilled at woodworking, you could make and personalize your box. Many options also exist for box linings, lid styles, and engraving. Keep in mind that boxes with locking lids can be closed and sealed during your ceremony, while those that need nailing should be sealed after the wedding’s over. The key is to find a box and design that you both love.
Incorporating the Wine Box Ceremony
Like other unity rituals, the wine box ceremony typically takes place after vows are exchanged. Brides’ Jaimie Mackey recommends displaying the box and the wine on a table within the ceremony space, along with any contents you want to seal inside. Your officiant can play a helpful role by explaining what’s about to happen, the significance of the ceremony, and how long you plan to wait before opening the box.
Like many other wedding rituals, the wine box ceremony has a meaning of its own. Selecting the wine, choosing the box, picking its contents, and then sealing it together all signify the cooperation and collaboration needed for a successful marriage. Care and thought during each step can ensure a successful ceremony and beautiful memories to savor together.
