Readings Civil Service

[Karbea]

Hello,

My friend has agreed to do a reading at our wedding. But i've no idea what she should read. I'd really like something unusual meaybe something from modern/current literature. I don't want something "cute" like the owl and the pussycat, or pooh, or the one about the dinosaurs.

I'd love something that said something like "you are beautiful" beacuse that was the first thing my OH said to me...

Ideas please!!!!

[Karbea]

Umm I could do, but I figured I should make some suggestions... is that not what normally happens then?

[candleshoe]

Indian Wedding Blessing
Now we feel no rain, for each of us will be a shelter to the other.
Now we feel no cold, for each of us will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no loneliness, for each of us will be a companion to the other.

We are two bodies, but there is one life before us and one home.
When evening falls, I'll look up and there you will be.
I'll take your hand; you'll take mine and we'll turn together
to look at the road we travelled to reach this: the hour of our happiness.

It stretches behind us, even as the future lies ahead.
A long and winding road, whose every turning means discovery.
Old hopes, new laughter, shared fears.
The adventure has just begun.

[onadifferentplanettoday]

Was going to suggest the same as Candleshoe. Ds read it at my brothers wedding, not a dry eye in the house !

[candleshoe]

HINDU MARRIAGE POEM

You have become mine forever.
Yes, we have become partners.
I have become yours.
Hereafter, I cannot live without you.
Do not live without me.
Let us share the joys.
We are word and meaning, unite.
You are thought and I am sound.

May the nights be honey-sweet for us.
May the mornings be honey-sweet for us.
May the plants be honey-sweet for us.
May the earth be honey-sweet for us

[candleshoe]

offbeatbride.com/2008/07/wedding-readings

Lots of 'different' readings here.

[JenniL1977]

Go to a good bookshop and have a look through the poetry section. Open the books and flick through them, and something will jump out at you.

[DuelingFanjo]

I had this one, though we took a few lines out here and there, DH's granny said very loudkly 'well that was different':

by Sandol Stoddard Warburg.


?I Like You?

I like you and I know why.
I like you because you are a good person to like.
I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it's special
And you remember it a long, long time.
You say, Remember when you told me something special
And both of us remember

When I think something is important
you think it's important too
We have good ideas
When I say something funny, you laugh
I think I'm funny and you think I'm funny too

You know how to be silly
That's why I like you
Boy are you ever silly
I never met anybody sillier than me till I met you

I like you because you know when it's time to stop being silly
Maybe day after tomorrow
Maybe never
Too late, it's a quarter past silly

Sometimes we don't say a word
We snurkle under fences
We spy secret places

If I am a goofus on the roofus hollering my head off
You are one too
If I am getting ready to pop a paper bag,
then you are getting ready to jump

That's because you really like me
You really like me, don't you
And I really like you back
And you like me back and I like you back
And that's the way we keep on going every day

I like you because I don't know why but
Everything that happens is nicer with you

I like you because because, because

I forget why I like you but I do
So many reasons

On the 4th of July I like you because it's the 4th of July
On the fifth of July, I like you too
If you and I had some drums and some horns and some horses
If we had some hats and some flags and some fire engines

We could be a HOLIDAY
We could be a CELEBRATION
We could be a WHOLE PARADE

See what I mean?

Even if it was the 999th of July
Even if it was no place in particular in January
I would go on choosing you
And you would go on choosing me
Over and over again
That's how it would happen every time

I don't know why
I guess I don't know why I really like you
Why do I like you
I guess I just like you
I guess I just like you because I like you

[Karbea]

Aww great suggestions here ladies - thank you xx

[emsyj]

We had I Like You too, with some bits taken out.

[oohlaalaa]

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.?

From Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

[oohlaalaa]

Been to a wedding, where they had The Owl and the Pussycat. The teenage girl sat next to me got the giggles, and I struggled to hold it together. I think it was the phrase - what a beautiful pussy you are - so imature of us.

[oohlaalaa]

Marriage Joins Two People
in the Circle of Its Love"

Marriage is a commitment to life,
the best that two people can find
and bring out in each other.
It offers opportunities for sharing and growth
that no other relationship can equal.
It is a physical and an 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 a husband are each other?s
best friend, confidant, lover, teacher,
listener, and critic.
And there may come times when one partner
is heartbroken or ailing, and the love of the 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, new experiences,
and new ways of expressing a love that is deeper than
life.

When two people pledge their love and care for
each other in marriage, they create a spirit
unique unto 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 each other
and takes a lifetime to fulfill.

-- Edmund O'Neil

[tootiredtomakeupagoodname]

We had poem from Sex and the City

His hello was the end of her endings
Her laugh was their first step down the aisle
His hand would be hers to hold forever
His forever was as simple as her smile
He said she was what was missing
She said instantly she knew
She was a question to be answered
And his answer was ?I do?

Try to find words that mean something to you and OH, perhaps a poem from a local poet, words from a song that you both enjoy I found the readings are our service made the day so much more special, enjoy your day!

[feetheart]

We had a shortened version of 'Oh the Places You'll Go' by Dr Suess :)

Doesn't fit your brief but was great.

[messybessie]

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Pablo Neruda

[JanMorrow]

I find that song lyrics can help you out in situations like this! We're having one "romantic" reading (a Shakespeare sonnet which has meaning to my sister and I) and one comedy one (totally ridiculous song lyrics which himself has picked).

I'm toying with having a third reading which will be winnie the pooh (also of significance as my grandparents used to read it to us as kids).

The lyrics of In My Life by The Beatles is lovely, or The Book of Love by Peter Gabriel (edited for repeated bits obviously).

[oohlaalaa]

I've changed my mind on reading, it is now a poem:

A House of Stone by Carmen Bugan

In the village where I was born, we wish
A house of stone to shelter the heart of a marriage
So here too, I wish you
Obstinate, strong love, unyielding and unending.
May you be in reach of each other when all seems lost,
May your tears and your smiles happen always face to face.
When you imagine that you have shared everything
May you know that you still have the rest of your lives
To do it all again and again.
But now listen to the hurry of bells and
Look how the petals of roses about the vineyard
Bring you words of husband and wife:
First words in your house of stone.

[melliebobs]

we asked my husbands mum to do a reading and we chose ' a lovely love story' by edward monkton. It's also a book so MIL has a keepsake from the day. We did change some of the words though. I'm not much of a shopper so we changed it to football. Anyway here it is

The fierce Dinosaur was trapped inside his cage of ice.
Although it was cold he was happy in there. It was, after all, his cage.
Then along came the Lovely Other Dinosaur.
The Lovely Other Dinosaur melted the Dinosaur?s cage with kind words and loving thoughts.

I like this Dinosaur thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur.
Although he is fierce he is also tender and he is funny.
He is also quite clever though I will not tell him this for now.

I like this Lovely Other Dinosaur, thought the Dinosaur.
She is beautiful and she is different and she smells so nice.
She is also a free spirit which is a quality I much admire in a dinosaur.

But he can be so distant and so peculiar at times, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur.
He is also overly fond of things.
Are all Dinosaurs so overly fond of things?

But her mind skips from here to there so quickly thought the Dinosaur.
She is also uncommonly keen on shopping.
Are all Lovely Other Dinosaurs so uncommonly keen on shopping?

I will forgive his peculiarity and his concern for things, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur.
For they are part of what makes him a richly charactered individual.

I will forgive her skipping mind and her fondness for shopping, thought the Dinosaur.
For she fills our life with beautiful thoughts and wonderful surprises. Besides,
I am not unkeen on shopping either.

Now the Dinosaur and the Lovely Other Dinosaur are old.
Look at them.
Together they stand on the hill telling each other stories and feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs.

And that, my friends, is how it is with love.
Let us all be Dinosaurs and Lovely Other Dinosaurs together.
For the sun is warm.
And the world is a beautiful place

[redexpat]

You can get books with readings for civil ceremonies.