To ask you to tell me your favourite wedding readings?

[BlueRaptor]

DP and I get married early next year and wanted to involve my uncle somehow and thought having him do a reading was a good way of this. Only thing is we can't really find anything we love! We're getting married at a venue by the local registrars do nothing religious allowed but no other rules I know of.

Anyone want to share ones they used/heard and loved?

We used an extract from Winnie the Pooh, the part where he falls into a gorse bush.

It went down well - and gave the reader a good opportunity show off her Pooh-voice.

Terry Pratchett's Thief of Time;

And they are told: 'Wen considered the nature of time and understood that the universe is, instant by instant, recreated anew. Therefore, he understood, there is in truth no past, only a memory of the past. Blink your eyes, and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, he said, the only appropriate state of the mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it.

We had Pam Ayres 'I Do, I Do, I Do'. It's a funny one though so depends what kind of tone you want!

Dr Seuss - Oh the places you'll go.

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

We had I Carry Your Heart by E E Cummings and On Your Wedding Day (author unknown)

I also love Blessing of the Hands.

I read this at DB's wedding.

We had 'I Rely On You' by Hovis Presley

Love is a temporary madness from Captain Corellis mandolin. It sounds nicer than that title lol. I also like the I love you bit from the princess bride.

We had "One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon The Strand" by Edmund Spenser. The language is a little difficult to decipher but I think it's a lovely sentiment:

One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
But came the waves and washed it away:
Again I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tide and made my pains his prey.
Vain man (said she) that dost in vain assay
A mortal thing so to immortalise;
For I myself shall like to this decay,
And eke my name be wiped out likewise.
Not so (quod I); let baser things devise
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame;
My verse your virtues rare shall eternise,
And in the heavens write your glorious name:
Where, when as Death shall all the world subdue,
Our love shall live, and later life renew

ilkboo at Hovis Presley

We had an excerpt from The Fault in Our Stars, Union by Robert Fulham and The Vow by Wendy Cope. I wanted three as I loved all these equally and I'm a greedy cow I also love the ee cummings one too!

Sorry that's Fulghum not Fulham!

The thread title immediately made me think of 'Stop all the clocks' as in Gavin and Stacey- cracks me up everytime I see that

Why falling in love is like owning a dog by Taylor Mali. And the Pam Ayres. The Dr Seuss pp mentioned was on our shortlist too but we limited ourselves to two.

We had "he never leaves the seat up" it's funny (although our readers voice did catch at the soppy ending )so not for everyone but it was well received and suited our style.

We're having "The Queen" by Pablo Naruda and "The Cloths of Heaven" by Yeats. The first present my DP bought me was a lovely copy of Yeats collected works and Pablo Naruda is one of my favourite poets.

What authors/singers etc do you like or at special to you as a couple? Might be a way to find something.

Touched by an Angel, Maya Angelou

We had this

The One (Author unknown)
When the one whose hand you’re holding
Is the one who holds your heart,
When the one whose eyes you gaze into
Gives your hopes and dreams their start,
When the one you think of first and last
Is the one who holds you tight,
And the things you plan together
Make the whole world seem just right,
When the one whom you believe in
Puts their faith and trust in you,
You’ve found the one and only love
You’ll share your whole life through.

My True Love Hath My Heart

Thoughts on Marriage from Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forever more.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your
days.
Yes, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness.
And let the winds of heaven dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but each one of you be
alone--even as the strings of a lute are alone though the quiver
with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not in each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the Cyprus grow not in each other's shadows

We had the captain corellis one as it seemed very apt as we have children already.

Scaffolding, by Seamus Heaney.

Masons, when they start upon a building,
Are careful to test out the scaffolding;
Make sure that planks won't slip at busy points,
Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.
And yet all this comes down when the job's done
Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.
So if, my dear, there sometimes seems to be
Old bridges breaking between you and me
Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall
Confident that we have built our wall.

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer would be my favourite.

I love this:

Yes, yours, my love, is the right human face. 
I in my mind had waited for this long, 
Seeing the false and searching for the true, 
Then found you as a traveller finds a place 
Of welcome suddenly amid the wrong 
Valleys and rocks and twisting roads. But you, 
What shall I call you? A fountain in a waste, 
A well of water in a country dry, 
Or anything that's honest and good, an eye 
That makes the whole world seem bright. Your open heart, 
Simple with giving, gives the primal deed, 
The first good world, the blossom, the blowing seed, 
The hearth, the steadfast land, the wandering sea. 
Not beautiful or rare in every part. 
But like yourself, as they were meant to be.
by Edwin Muirr^