Wine Box-Love Letter Ceremony

I have received several emails complimenting us on the Wine Box-Love Letter ceremony we performed at our wedding ceremony.  In these emails you asked for details as to what was actually said at the ceremony to explain what was going on.

You ask and you shall receive!

Here is how it works:

You and your spouse to be pick out a bottle of wine together.  You then write letters to each other that you do not share and place them in a sealed envelope.  You write to each other the reasons you feel in love, what you love about each other and your hopes for the future. 

The day of your ceremony you place the empty box, both letters and the bottle of wine on a table close to where you will be standing.

(I have also heard of people performing this ceremony during their reception)

During your ceremony your officiant will say something like this:

“Luke and Ashley have chosen to perform a Love Letter & Wine Box ceremony. Together, they will place into the box a bottle of their favorite wine and a love letter from each to the other. The letters describe the wonderful things they appreciate about each other, the reasons they fell in love, and their hopes for their future together. They have individually sealed the letters and they have not seen what the other has written. Should they ever struggle, they will open this box, sit and drink the wine, then read the letters they wrote to one another to be reminded of the things that brought them together in the first place. Our hope for them is that they will never have a reason to open this box. And if they don’t, they are to open it to share and enjoy on their 5th year wedding anniversary, replenish the wine and open on their 10th anniversary, and so on.”

After the reading you place the bottle of wine and the letters into the box and seal it.  Some couple chose to actually nail the box closed.  We however chose to lock ours together with a lock at each end of the box.  Either way is fine, the point being that the box is sealed so your spouse to be can’t read your letter before its time.

The details….

The Wine

Luke and I aren’t real big wine drinkers.  So we chose a sweet white wine that the liquor store told us would still taste good in 5 years.  We were told not to go with a real cheap wine because the reason it is cheap is so it gets drank soon.  So we went a bottle in the middle price range.  And in 5 years when we open our box we will more than likely be drinking a beer or mixed drink.

The Box

It obviously needs to big enough for a bottle of wine.  I purchased our box from an Etsy store called Willow Road Designs.  They were able to personalize the box for us with our wedding date.  However, I am sure there are some crafty people out there who could make your own box and save some money.  We had her add a lock on each side of the box.  If you are going to actually nail the box closed, have the nail per nailed into the box so at the ceremony you only have to hit it a few times to seal the box.