When planning my daughter’s outdoor wedding, we were a little hesitant to plan a unity candle ceremony for fear it might be a windy day and it would be impossible to keep the candles lit. We debated on some other options, including an idea of pouring sand into containers that we seemed to keep seeing everywhere. We finally settled on another option that we heard about that was the braiding together of three cords.
The most popular version of this is the God’s Knot. To see a picture you can click below:
=== > > > God’s Knot Website
This is based on a verse in the Bible (Ecclesiastes 4:12 to be exact) which says:
“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
We really liked this verse and the promise and symbolism it contained and it was decided that we would use this in the wedding ceremony. When we looked a little closer at the God’s Knot that was for sale, we agreed it was very attractive, but it was basically and ring and three cords. Maybe . . . we could make our own!
Our Cord of Three Strands went together quickly and our final cost came in at just a little over $10. We used drapery tiebacks that were available at Hobby Lobby for $2.99 each. We bought one in white, one in gold, and one in beige, but you certainly can use other colors with meaning and symbolism to you. Here’s a picture from the Hobby Lobby website of the tiebacks:
=== > > > Drapery Tieback from Hobby Lobby
To make the Cord of Three Strands, besides the three tiebacks you will need a ring. We used a 2″ D-Ring from the fabric store. A two pack cost $2.09. I also used a needle and thread in coordinating colors, a glue gun, and a wire cutter.
The drapery tiebacks have fabric covered wire loops on each end. On one end, pinch the loop together.
Next you will bend the pinched end over the straight side of the D-Ring and then glue it back down onto the cord so that it is attached to the ring, but not actually glued to the ring. After I glued it, I still used a needle and thread to make sure it would hold together really well.
I used my wire cutters and snipped off the loop on the other end of the cord. If you don’t have any kind of wire snippers, a heavy duty scissors could probably do the job. It is not very thick wire. Repeat this with the other two colors of cord.
And here is the final result in use at the wedding. We used a white colored hair elastic to wrap around the end when they were done braiding. (I think we put the preacher in charge of hanging on to that, but I can’t quite remember)
The Cord of Three Strands symbolizes that not only do the man and woman come together and form a union, but with God as the third component, the union has been made even stronger.
“Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
You might also like to read the other wedding articles in this series:
Make Your Own Wedding Jewelry
Sew your own $5 Bridal Veil Tutorial
I'm Bev and I love to share ideas for living a more creative and resourceful lifestyle with homemade alternatives we can make for ourselves. 
The Stocked Kitchen: One Grocery List . . Endless Recipes
Oh that is beautiful and powerful! Thanks for sharing.
What great timing. One of my cousins is getting married in May. This certainly a tutorial I can recommend.
Nice!!! We also are having an outdoor ceremony and didn't want to take a chance with the unity candle, so we wanted to do the "God's Knot" but they cost $30-$40 and we thought that was insane. I wanted to make our own, but finding PURPLE rope, even at craft stores, is almost impossible. I like the idea of just picking three other colors; you'd have to skip the reading of the color symbolism, but in the end, is that really that important? Thanks for giving us this idea!
We felt that the color symbolism was not that important either and it was really the act of braiding with the reading of the verse that was more powerful. I also tried this first with rope from the fabric store and the ends fray like mad! The drapery cords with finished ends worked soooo much better.
This is perfect! Thanks!
Thank you so much for the DIY! I saw God's Knot while,looking for wedding ideas and fell in love withbeauty and meaning of it. Im getting married Saturday June 23, 2012 and didnt have time to order it but prefer handmade anyway!!
Once you have the supplies you can make this project very quickly. Hopefully you will have time to make it before your wedding. Best wishes to you!
Thank you so much for this article, I can't wait to try this! I was thinking 40.00 was a bit too much to pay and I really wanted to use a color other than purple. However, I love the concept. You have made me a VERY happy bride-to-be!
My wedding is November 10th. I fell in LOVE with this went to hobby lobby today and found my exact wedding colors eggplant, gold, and champaign..cant wait hope it works! really dont feel like spending 40$ cause im paying for my wedding myself! Thanks for the tutorial was a BIG help
Best wishes for your wedding day! That’s great you found the colors you needed – and you’re saving money too
This is exactly what I was looking for (did not want to pay the $40 + dollars for everything!
With all the costs involved in a wedding it’s nice to be able to save money where you can. Glad you found these instructions helpful!
Hello Bev
I am getting married on 12/12/12. I love the idea of adding God to our ceremony. When I seen Gods Knot I wanted it. However to have it shipped to our location would have costed over $50. I took your advice and made mine for $11.37. Thank-you so much for the complete detailed way of how to do this. I love mine.
In Christ’s Love, Amylynn
That’s wonderful Amylynn! And I love your wedding date of 12/12/12
Am getting married on friday 12/7/12, and by looking at this site…i end up making my own god’s knot myself..my colors are red n orange so what i did i got red n white and it was impossible to find an orange colot so i bought another white and dyed the white in orange dye and it came out fine.
I like the idea of dying a white cord to make the color you need. Thanks for sharing that idea!
Thank you SO much! Your daughter’s wedding looked beautiful.. I am definitely doing this for mine on 10/13/13. Do you have the words that the preacher said by any chance? That is, how he introduced/explained the ceremony… I’m assuming he also used the verse. Thank you!
Brooke
Sorry, I don’t have any of the words the preacher used. If you provide the verse, most preachers can do a great job of coming up with some thoughtful and appropriate words on the subject.
Have had this page saved for months now! Ready to go buy supplies and make this for my June wedding. Thank you for the detailed list of stuff and tutorial. Appreciate it!
I hope you’re able to find all the supplies you need and that you have a beautiful June wedding!