Wedding readings

[Lucylocks222]

I’ve posted in ‘what we are reading’ but realise it will not be seen by everyone and ‘relationships’ is also a really relevant place to ask.

Does anyone have any suggestions of beautiful wedding readings?

Thank you

Religious or non religious?

It's very conventional but I had the bit from The Marriage of Psyche by Kathleen Raine ('He has married me with a ring, a ring of bright water') which I just thought was beautiful. Bearing in mind she wrote it for Gavin Maxwell who was gay and the object of her hopeless affections!

Shakespeare - sonnet 116 about marriage. Our reader was Scottish too - sounded lovely!

We had sonnet 116 as well.

We also have Ruth chapter 1 verse 16-17 as our bible reading. It's beautiful;

Tell me not to stop following you or to turn back from doing so.

Wherever you go, I go, wherever you lodge, I lodge. Your people will be my people and your god my god.

The Lord do so unto me and more so if anything but death parts you and me.

@gobbledygoook non-religious

There’s a section from The Velveteen Rabbit about being loved despite imperfections. We almost had it at our wedding but my friend couldn’t get through it without sobbing! It’s full of lovely sentiments though.

We had' The Giraffe and The Monkey' nonreligious and not to weirdly lovey dovey if you having a friend/family member read it!

A quirkier choice, but I’d really like the poem ‘Applied Mathematics’ by Dan Simpson as a wedding reading. I saw him read it live and thought it would make a great reading.

I read a Winnie the Pooh poem at a friend's wedding - "Wherever I am, there's always Pooh. There's always Pooh and me." It was their choice!

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 seem to be
Old bridges breaking between you and me

Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall
Confident that we have built our wall.

How I go to the woods

Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single
friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore
unsuitable.

I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds
or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of
praying, as you no doubt have yours.

Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit
on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds,
until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost
unhearable sound of the roses singing.

If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love
you very much.

We had both of those at our wedding.

Kahlil Gibran on Marriage - often used without the first verse if you'd prefer no religious references:

Then Almitra spoke again and said, And
what of Marriage, master?
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you
shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white
wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the
silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens 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 let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone
though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into 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 cypress grow
not in each other’s shadow.

Atlas

There is a kind of love called maintenance
Which stores the WD40 and knows when to use it;

Which checks the insurance, and doesn’t forget
The milkman; which remembers to plant bulbs;

Which answers letters; which knows the way
The money goes; which deals with dentists

And Road Fund Tax and meeting trains,
And postcards to the lonely; which upholds

The permanently rickety elaborate
Structures of living, which is Atlas.

And maintenance is the sensible side of love,
Which knows what time and weather are doing
To my brickwork; insulates my faulty wiring;
Laughs at my dryrotten jokes; remembers
My need for gloss and grouting; which keeps
My suspect edifice upright in air,
As Atlas did the sky.

U.A. Fanthorpe

My cousin had a young niece and nephew read the 'The Owl and Pussy Cat' and it was one of the best and loveliest readings I have heard at a wedding.

John Cooper Clark's I wanna Be Yours is used quite a bit for something a bit more alternative.

I fancied having an edited version of the lyrics to 'Palaces of Montezuma' by Grinderman (Nick Cave) but we've decided not get married.

We had a reading by Neil Gaiman which he wrote for his friend’s wedding

*@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross

Oh, that’s beautiful !

We had sonnet 116 as well.

We also had the one in my pic (if it doesn't work Google for Philip Pullman wedding reading).

We had a poem called the future by Emma salmon

In my future I see you and me,
And a house and garden filled with trees.
I see dinner parties surrounded by friends,
And a vegetable patch we love to tend.
I see cosy nights in front of the fire,
And a four-poster bed for when we tire.
I see our kitchen which will be the heart of the home,
And a Victorian bath brimming with foam.
I see muddy wellies by the front door,
And the kids eating cookies and asking for more.
I see nights in the garden camping under the stars,
And shelves full of mismatching local jam jars.
I see family picnics outside with the dog,
And a little blue shed containing the logs.
I see us sat by the window watching the snow,
And reading the papers and learning to grow.
I see pictures of family in quirky frames,
And letters on the kids’ doors spelling out their names.
I see laughter, pain, kisses and tears,
And helping each other to confront our fears.
I see you as my friend and also my lover,
Your confidant and your children’s mother.
I see a wonderful future for you and I,
And it’s cloaked in love until we die.

Yes to Emma Salmon it's beautiful

www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/ceremony-and-reception/the-future-by-emma-salmon-amp.html

We had A Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton, it was read by DS who was around 9 at the time. Not a dry eye in the house.

Velveteen Rabbit? The Owl and the Pussycat?

One starts: “What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nanna came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”

The other has a repeated chorus: O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!

I'd not have either of those at my wedding.

@ShinyPikachu

We had sonnet 116 as well.

We also had the one in my pic (if it doesn't work Google for Philip Pullman wedding reading).

I want to get married just to use this!!

Although The Owl and the Pussey Cat gets my vote

The other has a repeated chorus: O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love, What a beautiful Pussy you are,...
Owl just wants her to know how beautiful she is 😍

Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness,
for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons,
But there is only one life before you.
May beauty surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years.
May happiness be your companion to the place where the river meets the sun.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.