Wedding reading ideas

maggie1976

We had Blessing for a Marriage by James Dillet Freeman as one of the readings at our wedding last year. It was beautifully read for us by my DH's aunt, and she memorised the whole thing! I think it's lovely and would fit with the 'non religious' bit.

I'm doing a reading for my future SIL's wedding in June and I'm doing the Irish Blessing but that one mentions God so no good for your friend. The other one I considered was the Apache Blessing:

Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no more loneliness for you,
For each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two bodies,
But there is only one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place,
To enter into the days of your togetherness.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.

There is a section on wedding readings at confetti.co.uk which might have some different ones too.

HTH

Maggie.

Quackers

margaretclare wrote:

Blessing For A Marriage

James Dillet Freeman

May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding.May you always need one another - not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness. A mountain needs a valley to be complete; the valley does not make the mountain less, but more; and the valley is more a valley because it has a mountain towering over it. So let it be with you and you.May you need one another, but not out of weakness.May you want one another, but not out of lack.May you entice one another, but not compel one another.May you embrace one another, but not encircle one another.May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces.May you look for things to praise, often say, "I love you!" and take no notice of small faults.If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back.May you enter into the mystery which is the awareness of one another's presence - no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when you are side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or even distant cities. May you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy. May you have love, and may you find it loving one another!

This is my favourite so far. I've just emailed it to my friend to see if she likes it as much as I do. I now know she has a couple of ideas of her own so I'm sure we'll come up with something.

Thanks for all your help - knew I'd get it here

Jess_B

This is the one we had, I think its fab. A very good friend of mine picked it out for us.


Oh Tell Me The Truth About Love

Some say that love’s a little boy,
And some say it’s a bird,
Some say it makes the world go round,
And some say that’s absurd,
And when I asked the man next-door,
Who looked as if he knew,
His wife got very cross indeed,
And said it wouldn’t do.

Does it look like a pair of pyjamas,
Or the ham in a temperance hotel?
Does it odour remind one of llamas,
Or has it a comforting smell?
Is it prickly to touch as a hedge is,
Or soft as eiderdown fluff?
Is it sharp or quite smooth at the edges?
O tell me the truth about love.

Our history books refer to it
In cryptic little notes,
It’s quite a common topic on
The transatlantic boats;
I’ve found the subject mentioned in
Accounts of suicides,
And even seen it scribbled on
The backs of railway-guides

Does it howl like a hungry Alsatian,
Or boom like a military band?
Could one give a first-rate imitation
On a saw or Steinway Grand?
Is its singing at parties a riot?
Does it only like Classical stuff?
Will it stop when one wants to be quite?
O tell me the truth about love.




I looked inside the summer-house;
I wasn’t ever there:
I tried the Thames at Maidenhead,
And Brighton’s bracing air.
I don’t know what the blackbird sang,
Or what the tulip said;
But it wasn’t in the chicken run,
Or underneath the bed.

Can it pull extraordinary faces?
Is it usually sick on a swing?
Does it spend all its time at the races,
Or fiddling with pieces of string?
Has it views of its own about money?
Does it think Patriotism enough?
And its stories vulgar but funny?
O tell me the truth about love.

When it comes, will it come without warning
Just as I’m picking my nose?
Will it knock on my door in the morning,
Or tread in the bus on my toes?
Will it come like a change in the weather?
Will its greeting be courteous or rough?
Will it alter my life altogether?
O tell me the truth about love.

omega_2

Quackers wrote:

Thanks Mini - There are some good ones on there. My favourite one so far is this: (dont worry - I wont read it but the child in me LOVES it ))

Why not?!!!!!!!! It's one of the ones we had at our Wedding, read by my Best Woman. To counterbalance things, my MIL read a more serious "advice" type reading.

I read the Apache Blessing at my sister's wedding last summer - went down really well, and it's relatively short - some Registrars will let you have it, some won't.

Whatever, you chose, good luck!!

heather38

this is what i'm having at mine in three months

We have been called together as witnesses
to the happiness which this couple
has found together
and to the pledge which they will now make
each to the other
for the mutual service
of their common life.


We rejoice with them,
that out of all the world
they have found each other.
And that they will henceforth find the deeper
meaning and richness of human life
in sharing it with each other.


Taught by our own joys,
By our own sorrows,
Even by our own failures,
We remind them
That in marriage
As in all life,
Whosoever insists upon saving his lesser goods
And his little self
Shall miss what is greater,


But whosoever forgets himself
In devotion to his beloved
And in consecration to their common enterprise,
Is surest to find a full and happy life.


- anonymous

Marriage is a promise of love
Marriage is a commitment to life - to the best that two people
Can find and bring out in each other. It offers opportunities for
Sharing and growth no other human relationship can equal, a
Physical and emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.

Within the circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life's
Most important relationships. A wife and husband are each
Other's best friend, confidant, lover, teacher, listener and critic.
There may come times when one partner is heartbroken or ailing,
And the love of each other may resemble the tender caring of a
Parent for a child.

Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life. Happiness is
Fuller; memories are fresher; commitment is stronger; even anger is
Felt more strongly and passes away more quickly.

Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes life is unable to avoid.
It encourages and nurtures new life, now experiences, and new
Ways of expressing love through the seasons of life.

When two people pledge to love and care for each other in
Marriage, they create a spirit unique to themselves, which binds
Them closer than any spoken or written words. Marriage is a
Promise, a potential, made in the hearts of two people who love,
Which takes a lifetime to fulfil.

Edmund O'Neill

Katgoddess

This one is lovely...

Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Louis de Bernieres

Love is a temporary madness,
it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides.
And when it subsides you have to make a decision.
You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together
that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.
Because this is what love is.
Love is not breathlessness,
it is not excitement,
it is not the promulgation of eternal passion.
That is just being "in love" which any fool can do.
Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away,
and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.
Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground,
and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches,
they find that they are one tree and not two.

This one is funny...

:rotfl:

Yes, I'll Marry You
Pam Ayres

Yes, I'll marry you, my dear,
And here's the reason why;
So I can push you out of bed
When the baby starts to cry,
And if we hear a knocking
And it's creepy and it's late,
I hand you the torch you see,
And you investigate.

Yes I'll marry you, my dear,
You may not apprehend it,
But when the tumble-drier goes
It's you that has to mend it,
You have to face the neighbour
Should our labrador attack him,
And if a drunkard fondles me
It's you that has to whack him.

Yes, I'll marry you,
You're virile and you're lean,
My house is like a pigsty
You can help to keep it clean.
That sexy little dinner
Which you served by candlelight,
As I do chipolatas,
You can cook it every night!

It's you who has to work the drill
and put up curtain track,
And when I've got PMT it's you who gets the flak,
I do see great advantages,
But none of them for you,
And so before you see the light,
I do, I do, I do!