How To Make Your Own Unity Candles

Unity candles can be very expensive. However, it is possible to make you own unity candle for a fraction of what it will cost you to buy a set commercially.

Ingredients

  • Tall white pillar candles
  • Copy of wedding invitation. (A copy is used rather than an original because invitations are usually printed on heavy card stock or manila sheets that won't readily curve around a candle.)
  • White decorative trim
  • Low-temperature glue gun and glue
  • Straight pins with white ball tops
  • Scissors
  • Wire cutters
  • Cloth-covered wire
  • Three purchased white bows, or wire-edged white ribbon to make bows
  • White silk rose or white silk flower embellishments
  • Two tall glass taper candle holders
  • Two white taper candles

Method

  1. Preparing the Invitation and the Pins

    • Cut out the written portion from the wedding invitation in a rectangle or square or even heart shaped, depending on the layout of the invitation self.
    • Place the invitation copy around the pillar candle. TIP: Leave enough room at the top for the candle to burn without burning the invitation and space at the bottom for embellishments.
    • Use wire cutters to cut the straight pins to a length of about ½" below the ball heads.

  2. Secure the Invitation to the Candle

    • Starting in the upper left corner of the invitation, place the trim across the top edge of the paper, securing it by pushing pins through the trim and paper every ½".
    • Go all the away around the invitation.
    • Cut off the trim when it reaches the beginning point.
    • There's no need to use glue: the pins will keep the paper and trim in place.

  3. Decorate the Unity Candle using Glue

    • Hot-glue a white silk rose or white silk flower to the center of a purchased wire-edged bow, or make your own looped bow.
    • Hot-glue the bow to the space between the invitation and the bottom edge of the pillar candle.
    • Low-temperature glue is recommended so it won't melt the candle.
    • Hot-glue additional silk flowers around the invitation, if desired.

  4. Adding the Bows and Tapers

    • Tie cloth-covered wire around each of the other two bows (or make two more bows from ribbon). Wire a bow around the top of two clear-glass taper candle holders.
    • Place a white taper in each holder.
    • Place the pillar candle between the tapers.

And, voila! You've got your unity candle.