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Wedding readings that aren't shit

107 replies

NoEffingWay · 14/07/2022 20:06

In a nutshell. I don't want Corinthians or a Shakespearian sonnet, nor something from the 'Owl and the Pussycat'. I would like something meaningful, modern-ish and short!

Any ideas, please feel free. Cheers 🍻

OP posts:
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16
FancyFelix · 14/07/2022 20:11

I read this at a wedding last year. Thought it hit the spot as it was original and also not too long! It got a laugh at the end.

Wedding readings that aren't shit
ploopypleepy · 14/07/2022 20:12

Watching this in interest for my wedding next month

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HTruffle · 14/07/2022 20:13

We had a poem called ‘what is a marriage’.

NoEffingWay · 14/07/2022 20:13

@FancyFelix that's definitely the feel I'm going for! We are not in our 20's and this isn't my first marriage. We are not under any illusions of virginal marriage but bloody love each other and want to celebrate that.

OP posts:
FancyFelix · 14/07/2022 20:14

I remember having a similar issue for my own wedding. Can't actually remember what we settled on Blush

CaptainBeakyandhisband · 14/07/2022 20:16

I really like The Art of Marriage by Wilfred Arian Peterson

Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens.
A good marriage must be created. In 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 a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world. It is forming a circle of love that gathers the whole family.

It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humour.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow old.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner; it is being the right partner.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 14/07/2022 20:16

If I had a tenner for every wedding I have read from the first book of Corinthians at, I could buy a lovely air conditioning unit today.

Gensola · 14/07/2022 20:16

@FancyFelix I think that’s horrible - if my husband suggested that I wouldn’t be marrying him!

iklboo · 14/07/2022 20:17

I Rely On You by Hovis Presley.

NoEffingWay · 14/07/2022 20:18

@CaptainBeakyandhisband I do like this one, there's lots of truth in there. Might skip the bit about family support though as my family are loving but so hands off they might as well be in Australia Grin

OP posts:
iluvsummer · 14/07/2022 20:19

We had this…

Love is friendship caught fire; it is quiet, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving.
It is loyalty through good and bad times.
It settles for less than perfection, and makes allowances for human weaknesses.
Love is content with the present, hopes for the future, and does not brood over the past.
It is the day-in and day-out chronicles of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories, and working toward common goals.
If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack.
If you do not have it, no matter what else there is, it is not enough.

Thack · 14/07/2022 20:22

He's not perfect - Bob Marley

Yes, I'll marry you - Pam Ayres

iluvsummer · 14/07/2022 20:23

And this…

"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, my dear,
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!!"

Waitwhat23 · 14/07/2022 20:23

We had this. We're not terribly soppy so wanted something meaningful but not too lovey dovey -

Union

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance

to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry.

From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes, indeed,

you have been making commitments in an informal way.

All of those conversations that were held in a car, or over a meal,

or during long walks – all those conversations that began with,

"When we're married", and continued with "I will" and "you will" and "we will" –
all those late night talks that included "someday" and "somehow" and "maybe" –
and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart.

All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.
The symbolic vows that you are about to make

are a way of saying to one another,

"You know all those things that we've promised, and hoped, and dreamed –
well, I meant it all, every word."
Look at one another and remember this moment in time.

Before this moment you have been many things to one another –
acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher,

for you have learned much from one another these past few years.

Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life,

and things between you will never quite be the same.

For after today you shall say to the world –
This is my husband. This is my wife.

Robert Fulghum

jadew88 · 14/07/2022 20:25

We had this from a novel I read called "in five years"

Wedding readings that aren't shit
Propercoppertop · 14/07/2022 20:25

I always liked this one by Brian Bilston.

Wedding readings that aren't shit
NoEffingWay · 14/07/2022 20:28

Thank you for these. There must be something in my eye...

OP posts:
Yiayoula · 14/07/2022 20:29

I found this on a similar MN thread a while back , and it struck a chord with me .

Wedding readings that aren't shit
Propercoppertop · 14/07/2022 20:30

@NoEffingWay Wishing you and your man all the very best.

Verbena87 · 14/07/2022 20:32

This edited from a letter Steinbeck wrote to his newly-in-love teenage son

“First — if you are in love — that’s a good thing — that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second — There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you — of kindness and consideration and respect — not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had...

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it...

And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.”

GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 14/07/2022 20:33

Yiayoula · 14/07/2022 20:29

I found this on a similar MN thread a while back , and it struck a chord with me .

I have a copy of this in my purse that I carry around with me.

Thestoppedfan · 14/07/2022 20:33

We had ‘The bridge across forever’ as one of ours-

A soulmate 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 soulmate 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 soulmate is the one who makes life come to life.

Verbena87 · 14/07/2022 20:34

And this by Wendy Cope:-

Being Boring

'May you live in interesting times.' Chinese curse

If you ask me 'What's new?', I have nothing to say
Except that the garden is growing.
I had a slight cold but it's better today.
I'm content with the way things are going.
Yes, he is the same as he usually is,
Still eating and sleeping and snoring.
I get on with my work. He gets on with his.
I know this is all very boring.

There was drama enough in my turbulent past:
Tears and passion - I've used up a tankful.
No news is good news, and long may it last.
If nothing much happens, I'm thankful.
A happier cabbage you never did see,
My vegetable spirits are soaring.
If you're after excitement, steer well clear of me.
I want to go on being boring.

I don't go to parties. Well, what are they for,
If you don't need to find a new lover?
You drink and you listen and drink a bit more
And you take the next day to recover.
Someone to stay home with was all my desire
And, now that I've found a safe mooring,
I've just one ambition in life: I aspire
To go on and on being boring.

PointyMcguire · 14/07/2022 20:34

We had “Yes, I’ll marry you” by Pam Ayres and “The places you’ll go” by Dr Seuss at ours.

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