Non soppy and vomit inducing civil ceremony readings....impossible?

[Indith]

Pretty much everything makes me want to throw up. There is cute stuff from Winnie the Pooh, very cute yes but having it read at my wedding would make me want to stick my head down the loo. There are all those "marriage advice/marriage cake" type things...yuck, there are sickly sweet "I love you let us fly on a carpet of dreams together for ever and ever my dearest darling" type things. More vomit.

I adore poems like this one by Pushkin

I loved you once: perhaps that love has yet
To die down thoroughly within my soul;
But let it not dismay you any longer;
I have no wish to cause you any sorrow.
I loved you wordlessly, without a hope,
By shyness tortured, or by jealousy.
I loved you with such tenderness and candor
And pray God grants you to be loved that way again.

I love folk music and can think of quite a few lyrics that I adore/are moving but the trouble with folky love songs is they tend to be quite tragic, young men going off to sea/dying in wars/fathers locking their daughters up and quietly getting rid of the unsuitable true love etc.

I have 2 maybes that I have yet to run by dp. One is from Captain Corelli which has stuck with me ever since I first read it as a teenager and the other is sonnet 116 but that always makes me think of Marianne being all impulsive and still dreaming of being swept off her feet rather than allowing love to grow.

Go on, there are some well read people around here, any suggestions?

we had Walt Whitman 'Song of the open road' here, along with the 'Owl and the Pussycat'.

Someone suggested songs. This is Morning Song, Jewell.... [might not be appropriate for the wedding? But I've always loved the sentiment]

Let the phone ring, let's go back to sleep
Let the world spin outside our door, you're the only one that I wanna see
Tell your boss you're sick, hurry, get back in I'm getting cold
Get over here and warm my hands up, boy, it's you they love to hold
And stop thinking about what your sister said
Stop worrying about it, the cat's already been fed
Come on darlin', let's go back to bed

Put the phone machine on hold
Leave the dishes in the sink
Do not answer the door
It's you that I adore -
I'm gonna give you some more

We'll sit on the front porch, the sun can warm my feet
You can drink your coffee with sugar and cream
I'll drink my decaf herbal tea
Pretend we're perfect strangers and that we never met...
My how you remind me of a man I used to sleep with
that's a face I'd never forget
You can be Henry Miller and I'll be Anais Nin
Except this time it'll be even better,
We'll stay together in the end
Come on darlin', let's go back to bed

Put the phone machine on hold
Leave the dishes in the sink
Do not answer the door
It's you that I adore -
I'm gonna give you some more

some of these are vomit inducing (especially the one about having so much fire we bake clay IMO) but some are quite good

More reading to do!

Thank you all so much for sharing your readings and suggestions.

How are you and T doing dear? If you are free Sat I'm attempting to drag Kiskidee to the folkworks picnic at the DLI...though it could turn into cake in Vennels is this weather keeps it up.

Snap, edam! We had John Donne too.

i had these lyrics read out as a poem.

you need ogden nash - to My Valentine

More than a catbird hates a cat,
Or a criminal hates a clue,
Or the Axis hates the United States,
That's how much I love you.

I love you more than a duck can swim,
And more than a grapefruit squirts,
I love you more than a gin rummy is a bore,
And more than a toothache hurts.

As a shipwrecked sailor hates the sea,
Or a juggler hates a shove,
As a hostess detests unexpected guests,
That's how much you I love.

I love you more than a wasp can sting,
And more than the subway jerks,
I love you as much as a beggar needs a crutch,
And more than a hangnail irks.

I swear to you by the stars above,
And below, if such there be,
As the High Court loathes perjurious oathes,
That's how you're loved by me.

hi indith!
At a wedding this weekend I'm afraid, in Cornwall, in fact meant to be packing now! Not very motivated...

we're fine thanks - how are you, W and bump?

Ooh have fun

We are all fine thanks.

We had this read to us, which I think is lovely. I love the last line.

The Art Of A Good Marriage
Wilferd Arlan 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 all 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 in 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.
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.

The Owl and the Pussycat - brilliant!

we had the apache wedding blessing not vomit inducing

also love the corelli one - although v popular and owl and pussycat

we had the ogden nash and this:

ee cummings
love is more thicker than forget

love is more thicker than forget
more thinner than recall
more seldom than a wave is wet
more frequent than to fail

it is most mad and moonly
and less it shall unbe
than all the sea which only
is deeper than the sea

love is less always than to win
less never than alive
less bigger than the least begin
less littler than forgive

it is most sane and sunly
and more it cannot die
than all the sky which only
is higher than the sky

Mrs. Darwin
by Carol Ann Duffy

7 April 1852.

Went to the Zoo.
I said to him ?
Something about that chimpanzee over there reminds me of you.