Choosing to incorporate readings or poems to your wedding celebration is a lovely way in which you will be able to add a personal touch to the ceremony that your wedding celebrant or 'officiant' has prepared for you.
It can be quite daunting when deciding which to choose of which are suitable so I have grouped together some of my favourite readings, poems and quotes for you to read and use as you wish. During the ceremony they can be used to ease the tension on you and your partner after saying your legal vows and before going on to exchanging rings/tokens. They can be read by the bride, groom, guests or of course the registrar if you wish.
The Hands Ceremony - Anon
Please face each other and take each other’s hands, so that you may see the gift that they are to you. These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and forever. These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future.
These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch will comfort you like no other. These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief temporarily comes to you.
These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes, tears of sorrow and tears of joy.
These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children, the hands that will join your family as one. These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it, support and encouragement to pursue your dreams, and comfort through difficult times.
And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.
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Excerpt from The Bridge Across Forever - Richard Bach
"A soul mate 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 soul mate 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 soul mate is the one who makes life come to life."
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The Apache Wedding Blessing (Native American Wedding Blessing)
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 and your days together be good and long upon the earth.
Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulties and fear assail your relationship, as they threaten all relationships at one time or another, remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong.
In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives -- remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there.
And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.
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The Amber Spyglass - Phillip Pullman
"I will love you forever; whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again… I’ll be looking for you, every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one’ll ever tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you… We’ll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams… And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won’t just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me."
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The Owl and the Pussy Cat - Edward Lear
The Owl and the Pussy Cat went to sea,
In a beautiful pea green boat.
They took some honey, and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
‘O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!’
Pussy said to the Owl, ‘You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?’
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
‘Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?’ Said the Piggy, ‘I will.’
So they took it away, and were married nest day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.
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"I Rely on You," by Hovis Presley
I rely on you
like a camera needs a shutter
like a gambler needs a flutter
like a golfer needs a putter
like a buttered scone involves some butter
I rely on you
like an acrobat needs ice cool nerve
like a hairpin needs a drastic curve
like an HGV needs endless derv
like an outside left needs a body swerve
I rely on you
like a handyman needs pliers
like an auctioneer needs buyers
like a laundromat needs driers
like The Good Life needed Richard Briers
I rely on you.
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"Be my Homer" - C J Munn
Be my Homer
I wanna be your Marge.
If I'm your Norfolk Broads
Will you be my barge?
Let's please be Tom and Barbara,
I will show you The Good Life.
Even though we're not yet married
I would love to be your wife.
I've the passion Lily Munster
has for her dear Herman.
I would love you if you were ginger,
I would love you if you were German.
Like Mr and Mrs Huxtable,
We'd smooch even when we're wrinkly.
I'll even consider ironing your shirts,
But I hope you like them crinkly.
Like Mr and Mrs Incredible
I'm flexible and you're tough.
But if you promise to be my true love
That will always be enough.
Like Bonny and that Clyde guy
without all the dying.
Like Gwyneth and that Coldplay man
without all the crying.
My partner in crime, the love of my life,
My muse, my joy, my fun.
Please be my one and only,
Cos you've always been 'The One'.
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The Promise - Eileen Rafter
The sun danced on the snow
with a glittering smile,
As two lovers sat quietly,
alone for a while.
Then he turned and said, with
a casual air,
(Though he blushed from his
toes to the tips of his hair)
“I think I’d quite like
to get married to you.”
“Well then,” she said,
“well there’s a thought,
But what if we can’t vow
to be all that we ought?
Can you promise me, say, you
won’t grumble and shout
If I’m late yet again when
we plan to go out?
For I know I can’t say that I’ll learn to ignore
Dirty socks and damp towels
strewn all over the floor.
So if we can’t promise to
be all that we should,
I’m not sure what to do,
though the idea’s quite good.”
But he gently smiled and tilted
his head
Till his lips met her ear,
then softly he said,
“I promise, to weave my dreams
into your own.
That wherever you breathe shall
be my heart’s home.
I promise, that whether with
rags or with gold I am blessed,
Your smile is the jewel I shall
treasure the best.
Do you think then, my love,
we should marry, do you?”
“Yes,” she said smiling
“I do.”
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