{"id":598,"date":"2021-12-08T09:43:15","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T09:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/?p=598"},"modified":"2026-02-26T12:32:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T12:32:22","slug":"love-letter-and-box-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/2021\/12\/love-letter-and-box-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Letter and Box Ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"598\" class=\"elementor elementor-598\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-909ff38 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"909ff38\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-4b708ab\" data-id=\"4b708ab\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7dc82c6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7dc82c6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>This ceremony involves the couple\/parent writing a love letter to each other\/the child in the weeks before the ceremony. They will also prepare a special box filled with romantic items such as a CD of their favourite songs, photographs, pieces of poetry and other mementos.\u00a0<\/p><p>For naming ceremonies you could include special items such as the first outfit they wore home from the hospital or a hat that was knitted by someone special.<\/p><p>On the day of the ceremony the box is positioned at the front of the ceremony room. At a chosen part in the ceremony they will each be asked to place their love letters in the box which will then be sealed shut.<\/p><p>Each of the couple keeps one of the two keys to ensure that one cannot open it without the other.<\/p><p>This ceremony is suitable for\u00a0both marriage and civil partnerhip\u00a0ceremonies.\u00a0 It can also be adapted to make it suitable for Naming Ceremonies.<\/p><p>The box will then be opened on the couple&#8217;s first anniversary, or the childs twenty-first birthday.<\/p><h2>What you will need<\/h2><ul><li>A lockable box<\/li><li>2 padlocks with keys (1 for a naming ceremony)<\/li><li>2 love letters sealed in separate envelopes<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-1183918 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"1183918\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-1ebca33\" data-id=\"1ebca33\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5ed8d25 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5ed8d25\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 style=\"font-family: Roboto, sans-serif;\">Example Wording<\/h2><p>Family and Friends,\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bolder;\">[Party 1]\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bolder;\">[Party 2]\u00a0<\/span>have chosen as a couple to perform a Love Letter and Box ceremony.<\/p><p>\u00a0This box contains romantic items very special to both of them, and a love letter from each to the other. The letters describe the good qualities they find in one another, the reasons they fell in love, and their reasons for choosing to marry. The letters are sealed in individual envelopes and they have not seen what the other has written.\u00a0<\/p><p>You have created your very own &#8220;romantic&#8221; time capsule to be opened on your wedding anniversary.\u00a0<\/p><p>We recommend that you keep the box in a place of honor prominently displayed in your home as a constant reminder of your commitment to each other.\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bolder;\">[Party 1]\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bolder;\">[Party 2]<\/span>\u00a0should you ever find your marriage enduring insurmountable adversities, you are to as a couple, open this box, sit down together, then separate and read the letters you wrote to one another when you were united as a couple in marriage.\u00a0<\/p><p>By reading these love letters you will reflect upon the reasons you fell in love and chose to marry each other here today. The hope is, however, that you will never have a reason to open this box. And if this is the case, you are to open this box to share and enjoy on your wedding anniversary!\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: bolder;\">[Party 1]\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bolder;\">[Party 2]\u00a0<\/span>you may now seal the box.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This ceremony involves the couple\/parent writing a love letter to each other\/the child in the weeks before the ceremony. They will also prepare a special box filled with romantic items such as a CD of their favourite songs, photographs, pieces of poetry and other mementos.\u00a0 For naming ceremonies you could include special items such as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ceremonies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10677,"href":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598\/revisions\/10677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.argyll-bute.gov.uk\/marriage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}