The Unity ‘Candle’ With A 30 Foot Flame

candle

[Quinn]’s friends were getting married, and while the couple wanted something like a ‘unity candle’ ceremony, they though simple candles were entirely unimpressive and ultimately not very entertaining for the guests. They decided a unity fireball would be a much better representation of their relationship, and were lucky enough to have a good friend that could build one.

The design of [Quinn]’s unity candle consisted of a control box with two key switches, a giant button, and the gigantic propane fueled candle set well back from the bride, groom, and guests at the ceremony. The candle itself releases the entire contents of an accumulator tank over a hot surface igniter, creating a thirty foot fireball without a visible pilot light, or the loud jet-like sound you would get from a traditional ‘poofer’.

As with all giant fireballs in front of an audience, safety was of the highest concern. [Quinn] didn’t use a full propane tank for this build, instead, a new, purged, and never used tank was used as an accumulator, storing just enough propane for one giant fireball. All the valves, regulators, and plumbing were rated for LP, and [Quinn] even filled out the proper forms and got the local fire department to sign off on it. It’s safer than [Caleb]’s Mario fire flower, but you still shouldn’t try this at home.

Video of the ceremony below.

20 thoughts on “The Unity ‘Candle’ With A 30 Foot Flame

    1. It is more reflective of their somewhat theatric background, and history of being involved with building over the top cool things to share and delight those around them. Did you notice their grin as they turned away, or high five at the end?

      1. “Haters gonna hate”

        Dumbest saying that ever hit the interwebs. Just because someone disagrees with your opinion doesn’t mean they’re haters. Debate it, refute it, disagree with it, but say something other then a stupid internet meme that has zero content.

        1. Normally, I might be inclined to agree with you but I believe the phrase actually fits here. The original discussion is about the unity candle build, not the marriage itself (this being Hackaday, and not Brides magazine). Instead of actually commenting on the tech, Jon decided to post a worthless comment flippantly hating on the general use of the candle in the wedding. A comment like this isn’t worth a serious response.

  1. My wife and I didn’t have anything so elaborate. Ours was an oil lamp drilled into a carved ornate wax candle. What got all of our guests talking (and us) was that an enterprising bridesmaid (or two) pulled the wick out an inch and fanned it out. The flame was bout 8 to 10 inches and eventually ignited the wax for a 1′ to 1.5′ flame. We were about three seconds from my awesome Father in law grabbing and dumping the “bird bath” (holy water) on the flames before one of the choir put it out. Good memories.

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