Help with wedding readings!

Hi,

I'm really struggling with this too, I've spent ages googling it but I haven't found anything I like. I didn't want something really soppy but the non-soppy ones seem a bit naff, I think I might be looking for something that doesn't exist. ?

I'll be looking forward to peoples suggestions.

A Lovely Love Story (Edward Monkton)

The fierce Dinosaur was trapped inside his cage of ice.

Although it was cold he was happy in there. It was, after all, his cage.

Then along came the Lovely Other Dinosaur.

The Lovely Other Dinosaur melted the Dinosaur’s cage with kind words and loving thoughts.

I like this Dinosaur thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur.

Although he is fierce he is also tender and he is funny.

He is also quite clever, though I will not tell him this for now.

I like this Lovely Other Dinosaur, thought the Dinosaur.

She is beautiful and she is different and she smells so nice.

She is also a free spirit, which is a quality I much admire in a dinosaur.

But he can be so distant and so peculiar at times, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur.

He is also overly fond of things.

Are all Dinosaurs so overly fond of things?

But her mind skips from here to there so quickly thought the Dinosaur.

She is also uncommonly keen on shopping.

Are all Lovely Other Dinosaurs so uncommonly keen on shopping?

I will forgive his peculiarity and his concern for things, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur.

For they are part of what makes him a richly charactered individual.

I will forgive her skipping mind and her fondness for shopping, thought the Dinosaur.

For she fills our life with beautiful thoughts and wonderful surprises. Besides,

I am not unkeen on shopping either.

Now the Dinosaur and the Lovely Other Dinosaur are old.

Look at them.

Together they stand on the hill telling each other stories and feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs.

And that, my friends, is how it is with love.

Let us all be Dinosaurs and Lovely Other Dinosaurs together.

For the sun is warm.

And the world is a beautiful place

Our registrar sent a booklet out with readings we could choose from for our ceremony might be worth asking if yours does the same?

Are there any songs you particularly like the lyrics of that could be adapted into a reading?

Hi stephjbenton90,

We have chosen two readings - first, 'Union' by Robert Fulghum and second, 'The Art of Marriage' by Wilferd A. Peterson. We love them, not too soppy and just right for us x

Another vote for Union by Robert Fulghum:

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 promises and agreements in an informal way. All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks — all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and continued with “I will” and “you will” and “we will” — 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 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, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years. Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this is my husband, this is my wife.

Agree that 'Union' is a good one.

We thought it sounded like an introduction to the wedding, and so a nice idea to have it at the beginning.

We didn't use it in the end, however, as we decided to cut down to 1 reading from 2, and preferred our sole reading to come a bit later in the proceedings. As 'Union' sounds like an 'opener' type of speech, it was that one we bumped.

It is fab though.

Our son read the lyrics to Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. Not a dry eye in the house. ?

I couldn't find anything weird/suitable enough for us so I have cobbled together my own reading from Manic Street Preachers lyrics!

I am having my eldest cousin do our non-bible reading, and I have said that I will leave choosing the reading up to her. I am planning on having my Godmother do the bible reading and will say the same thing to her as well. (I haven't seen her in person to ask her yet)

I thought that as me and Mr K have planned and chosen everything else for the wedding, that it would be quite nice to have a couple of things during the ceremony/day that will be a surprise for us!

We're having something a little bit light hearted

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, 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!

Xx

Oooft, that nearly made it into our wedding too ?

We wanted a bridesmaid and a groomsmen to read different bits (we went to the effort of altering and male/ female stereotyping different verses and personalising them), but then found my sister wasn't particularly keen on the idea of doing a reading, LOL. This one got bumped from the wedding ONE DAY BEFORE !!!!

Gosh we sound really crap and indecisive, having bumped two readings ? We did end up having one, read by the FIL. Luckily he went with the flow and our last minute decision!

I found off beat bride really useful for readings, and also the 'Speeches' section of Hitched has some good ones.

Think about your personalities and try a google search adding a words that sums you up to the phrase 'Wedding Speeches' OH and I are avid readers so initially I searched Wedding Readings from literature, I found some stunning ones.

I also searched 'non-soppy' and 'funny'

Sorry for the really long post, but the following are 4 that have made our shortlist. We don't have a final decision yet.

You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. We pardon to the extent that we love. Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be lonely again. And great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Loved for ourselves. And even loved in spite of ourselves.

Victor Hugo From Les Miserables

Marriage, Edmund O'Neill (b.1929)

Marriage is a commitment to life, the best that two people can find and bring out in each other. It offers opportunities for sharing and growth that no other relationship can equal. It is a physical and an emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime. Within the circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life's most important relationships. A wife and a husband are each other's best friend, confidant, lover, teacher, listener, and critic. And there may come times when one partner is heartbroken or ailing, and the love of the other may resemble the tender caring of a parent for a child.

Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life. Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher, commitment is stronger, even anger is felt more strongly, and passes away more quickly.

Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes life is unable to avoid. It encourages and nurtures new life, new experiences, and new ways of expressing a love that is deeper than life.

When two people pledge their love and care for each other in marriage, they create a spirit unique unto themselves which binds them closer than any spoken or written words. Marriage is a promise, a potential made in the hearts of two people who love each other and takes a lifetime to fulfill .

'Friendship' - Author unknown.

It is often said that it is love that makes the world go around. However without doubt, it is friendship which keeps our spinning existence on an even keel. True friendship provides so many of the essentials for a happy life – it is the foundation on which to build an enduring relationship, it is the mortar which bonds us together in harmony, and it is the calm, warm protection we sometimes need when the world outside seems cold and chaotic. True friendship holds a mirror to our foibles and failings, without destroying our sense of worthiness. True friendship nurtures our hopes, supports us in our disappointments, and encourages us to grow to our best potential. …………. And ………….. came together as friends, have become good friends and today they pledge not only their love, but also the strength, warmth and most importantly the joy of being best friends who will love each other forever.

I WILL BE HERE

By Steven Curtis Chapman

If in the morning when you wake, If the sun does not appear, I will be here. If in

the dark we lose sight of love, hold my hand and have no fear, I will be here. I

will be here when you feel like being quiet, when you need to speak your mind,

I will listen. Through the winning, losing, and trying we’ll be together and I will

be here. If in the morning when you wake, If the future is unclear, I will be here.

As sure as seasons were made for change, our lifetimes were made for years, I

will be here

I really like all that have been suggested? now to choose?. I have started to record the whole of the ceremony for clients and last weekends wedding the brides friend read one that was really really nice, it had some guests in tears.

I adore the dinosaur one think it would be lovely for a child's reading a edge of innocence and cuteness to it without being too fluffy

We had The Art of Marriage as someone else mentioned and also:

If you can always be as close

And as happy as today,

Yet be secure enough to grow

And change along the way.

If you can keep for you alone

Your love as man and wife,

Yet find the time to share your joy

With others in your life.

If you can be as one

And walk through marriage hand in hand,

Yet still support the goals and dreams

That each of you have planned.

If you can dare to always go

Your separate ways together,

Then all the wonder of today

Will stay with you forever.

Love that Hovis Presley one. We also considered having this but only had one in the end. This pretty much sums up the beginning of our relationship:

On Waterloo Bridge by Wendy Cope

On Waterloo Bridge where we said our goodbyes,
the weather conditions bring tears to my eyes.
I wipe them away with a black woolly glove
And try not to notice I've fallen in love

On Waterloo Bridge I am trying to think:
This is nothing. you're high on the charm and the drink.
But the juke-box inside me is playing a song
That says something different. And when was it wrong?

On Waterloo Bridge with the wind in my hair
I am tempted to skip. You're a fool. I don't care.
the head does its best but the heart is the boss-
I admit it before I am halfway across”