Readings

What do I choose?

Do I include one, do I have to have them?

What do we use readings for?

First of all, a reading doesn’t have to be religious, but it can be if you’d like it to be. A reading (or two) during your ceremony is a way to involve other guests in your big day, by having them read out an excerpt from a poem, a book, a song lyric, a movie quote, or a religious passage.

Readings typically go for 2 to 10 minutes each, and can be a great opportunity to bring some literary flair to your wedding.

Here are some of my favorites

Extract from Les Misérables – Victor Hugo

You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. 
The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. 
We pardon to the extent that we love. 
Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be lonely again. 
And great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. 
Loved for ourselves. 
And even loved in spite of ourselves.

The Art of Marriage – Wilfred A Peterson

A good marriage must be created.
In the marriage, the little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once each day,
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is having a mutual sense of values and objectives.
It is standing together and facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each person can grow.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is not only marrying the right person
It is being the right partner.

Apache Marriage Blessing – Anon

Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness,
for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons,
But there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years.
May happiness be your companion to the place where the river meets the sun.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.

Extract from The Amber Spyglass – Philip Pullman

I will love you forever; whatever happens. 
Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again… 
I’ll be looking for you, every moment, every single moment. 
And when we do find each other again, we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one’ll ever tear us apart. 
Every atom of me and every atom of you… 
We’ll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams… 
And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won’t just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we’ll be joined so tight…

Relativity – Albert Einstein

Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. 
How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? 
Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. 
Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. 
That’s relativity.

Extract from The Bridge Across Forever – Richard Bach

A soul mate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. 
When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; 
We can be loved for who we are and not for who we’re pretending to be. 
Each unveils the best part of the other. 
No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we’re safe in our own paradise. 
Our soul mate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. 
When we’re two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we’ve found the right person. 
Our soul mate is the one who makes life come to life.

The Ent and The Ent Wife – Lord of The Rings, J.R.R Tolkien

When Winter comes, and singing ends; when darkness falls at last;
When broken is the barren bough, and light and labour past;
I’ll look for thee, and wait for thee, until we meet again:
Together we will take the road beneath the bitter rain!
Together we will take the road that leads into the West,
And far away will find a land where both our hearts may rest.

True Friendship – Judy Bielicki

It is often said that it is love that makes the world go round. However, without doubt, it is friendship which keeps our spinning existence on an even keel.
True friendship provides so many of the essentials for a happy life — it is the
foundation on which to build an enduring relationship, it is the mortar which bonds us
together in harmony, and it is the calm, warm protection we sometimes need when the world outside seems cold and chaotic.
True friendship holds a mirror to our foibles and failings, without destroying our sense
of worthiness. True friendship nurtures our hopes, supports us in our
disappointments, and encourages us to grow to our best potential.
Bride and Groom came together as friends. Today, they pledge to
each other not only their love, but also the strength, warmth and, most importantly,
the fun of true friendship.

Extract from The Wedding Singer

I want to make you smile whenever you’re sad. 
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad. 
All I want to do is grow old with you.
I’ll get your medicine when your tummy aches. 
Build you a fire if the furnace breaks. 
Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you. 
I’ll miss you, Kiss you, Give you my coat when you are cold. 
Need you, Feed you, Even let you hold the remote control. 
So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink. 
Put you to bed if you’ve had too much to drink. 
I could be the man who grows old with you. 
I want to grow old with you.

Love Me When I’m Old – Bee Rawlinson

Love me when I’m old and shocking
Peel off my elastic stockings
Swing me from the chandeliers
Let’s be randy bad old dears.

Push around my chromed Bath Chair
Let me tease your white chest hair
Scaring children, swapping dentures
Let us have some great adventures

Take me to the Dogs and Bingo
Teach me how to speak the lingo
Bone my eels and bring me tea
Show me how it’s meant to be

Take me to your special places
Watching all the puzzled faces
You in shorts and socks and sandals
Me with warts and huge love-handles

As the need for love enthralls
Wrestle with my damp proof smalls
Make me laugh without constraint
Buy me chocolate body paint

Hold me safe throughout the night
When my hair has turned to white
Believe me when I say it’s true
I’ve waited all my life for you

Let’s plan a wedding!