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Commitment | Wedding Day

Sunday 22 March

Why this date?

World Water Day, held on 22 March every year since 1993, is an annual United Nations Observance focusing on the importance of freshwater.

The World Water Day 2026 theme will focus on the vital role of water in achieving gender equality, highlighting how water access and management impact women and girls throughout their lives. The theme emphasizes the need for policies and programs to be tailored to the evolving needs of women and girls, from childhood to older age, ensuring inclusivity and effectiveness.

World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. It is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

Community Building

Commitment ceremonies celebrating water is a great opportunity to strengthen and build communities. The Community Building team have created workshops and resources to support you. Find suggestions on the Pre-Action Activities - To Weave Community Building into Actions page and the resources in the Community Building book.

What Can a Water Ceremony Bring?

Ceremony brings people into a deeper connection with water and each other, which can be moving and uplifting. It can bring a deeper dimension to an action, so you can better:

  • Create an emotional connection with your local water bodies.
  • Connect with the emotions you feel to drive change. Preserve them as your source of hope.
  • Continuous outreach - engage your community in devising and publicising your ceremony, then invite the wider public to your event.
  • Develop and strengthen relationships with other groups.
  • Build a common community purpose.
  • Influence local authorities and regulatory organisations.
  • Bring people to your Community Assembly.
  • Raise awareness and promote Water Pressure - Citizens' Assembly on Water.
  • Filming your ceremony and sharing it as widely as possible can cultivate a greater connection to the issues and inspire others.

Create a Water Ceremony

Resources for your ceremony including songs, vows, posters, flyers.

Throughout history, we have always held ceremonies and rituals. They are our means of celebrating, marking moments, or making sense of the world we experience. Sacred events such as naming ceremonies, funerals and unions (marriages), or more modern celebrations such as birthday parties, gigs and football matchs, are all a form of ritual where we share our feelings. They can include performance and express a sense of mourning or appreciation. Ceremonies are sacred. They are powerful.

Water is a life-giving element with profound importance, recognised and celebrated across cultures. Water is fundamental to life. Wherever clean water flows, life grows. Water represents emotions, renewal and life, which all ebb and flow. It’s not only essential for survival but also revered for its spiritual significance, offering renewal, purification, and connection to the divine. When we connect deeply with the element of water, we honor its role as a giver of life and develop a greater sense of well-being and appreciation. This connection can help us foster respect for this sacred element while enhancing our personal sense of balance and vitality. Constantly evolving, ebbing and flowing, it reminds us that we can too.

How can you connect with your emotions to truly embody water in this ceremony?

For inspiration, watch Sacred Rivers with Simon Reeve, a BBC TV mini-series that explores three of the world's major rivers: the Nile, Yangtze, and Ganges. Simon takes us on an exploration into the spiritual and cultural significance of the rivers delving into the beliefs, cultures, and traditions that surround them.

Commitment Vows

A water wedding or ceremony symbolises a commitment to protecting and celebrating bodies of water. You can create your vows or use these examples to inspire you.

Ceremony Ideas

Blessing / Oathing Stones Blessing Stones Ceremony is a meaningful ritual often incorporated into Pagan weddings and other spiritual or non-denominational ceremonies. Rooted in ancient Celtic traditions, the ceremony involves guests receiving a stone—often referred to as a wishing or oathing stone—and writing or speaking a blessing, wish, or intention for the couple. The stones are then cast into a body of water such as a river, lake, ocean, or fountain, symbolising the release of love and good wishes into the natural world.

The water element plays a central role: it represents purity, flow, and the cyclical nature of life. As each stone hits the water, the resulting ripples are interpreted as the spreading of blessings and love, touching not only the couple but all those they encounter. This reflects the Pagan belief in interconnectedness and the power of nature to carry intentions.

Hand Fasting Ceremony "Hand Fasting" is similar to knot tying. It can be adapted by using and sharing a garland and then allowing the river to accept some of the flowers and the union.
Knot-Tying / Unity Sand / Water Blending Ceremonies Getting married is called "tying the knot" for a reason. If you're looking for a symbolic wedding unity idea, literally tie a knot to signify your bond. We recommend using a fisherman's knot to tie a piece of rope—not only is it the strongest knot, it gets tighter with pressure, making it a beautiful representation of your relationship.

You can also integrate a ceremony or ritual, like a Unity Sand ceremony, water blending ceremony or water rituals, to visually represent your union.

The Language of Flowers Create a bouquet with a special message using flowers and plants with symbolic meaning here.
Paint the Streets Paint the Streets is an ongoing creative campaign, breaking social norms to raise awareness about the climate & ecological emergency. It includes a variety of low-risk actions including murals, stickering, flyposting, stencilling, chalking, banner drops and the subvertising of bus stops & billboards. And the Dirty Water campaign have created a special Fishy Business paint-the-streets pack to shine a light on every Dirty Water Source.

Please take a look at all the creative ideas and the legal guidance in these two guides Paint the Streets and Fishy Business.

We demand that water is treated as a precious natural life-source
(Dirty Water)
Seeds of Change This is a beautiful, family-friendly action from XR St Albans that kids will love. Sail your messages out into the water! Use leaves or you can cut these out using raw, biodegradable paper, with messages written on them using chalk pens. Find chalk pens here.

Get everyone at your event to write their messages of hope and promises, and publicise your next action or event. You can also wrap water plant seeds in a leaf and sail them out too.

Family with leaves Children launching leaf boatsMarch for Water leaves on a river
The Dream Boats Origami is a creative, beautiful and fun way to get your point across. Why not leave some paper boats, with your expressed wishes for water on them outside (or inside) the HQ of your local Water Company?

Publicise Your Event

Please upload all the events you plan for the World Water Wedding to the XR UK Map and Calendar. You can do this by filling in the Request XRUK Support form. You can also use the form to request any additional support you might need for your event, e.g. Action Support and Legal Briefings.

What to Wear

This action is all about your creativity. You can wear whatever you feel fits the day. Meg, who's committment to the River Avon inspired World Water Wedding, wore a repurposed wedding dress but you can make this exactly what you want it to be. Make it as bold and impactful as possible. We can't wait to see your ideas!

Spring Equinox

The commitment day comes just after the Spring Equinox (20th-21st March). The spiritual meaning of the spring equinox is deeply rooted in themes of balance, renewal, and transformation. This celestial event marks the moment when day and night are equal in length, symbolising harmony between light and dark. Across cultures, the equinox has long been recognised as a powerful time for growth, reflection, and new beginnings. Symbols of new beginnings can include decorated eggs and spring flowers.

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