'Macho' Wedding Reading for Non-religious Ceremony

The problem with film dialogue is that it usually requires more than one person. And anything I can think of that might fit for a wedding reading more naturally comes from the chick flick genre...

I had a fairly masculine reading, but still a poem and still a touching one.

“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.

Short but sweet, a good old When Harry Met Sally...

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

We had this, chosen because of its lack of mush.

A good marriage must be created.
In the art of marriage the little things are the big things...

It is never being too old to hold hands.

It is never going to sleep angry.

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 speaking words of appreciation
and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

Thats really lovely, but he doesn't want anything that rhymes! He's so fussy. Thats the problem with the scene from Rocky that he chose - its a conversation so doesn't flow properly. I'm trying to find some kind of speech from a film so its only one person who says it!

Thanks, Kat

I've never even noticed that Scaffolding rhymes til now! Have a watch of Seamus Heaney reading it on YouTube, its not really rhyme-y.

Or maybe Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy, I love that one.

Just to help a little more with the direction we want to go in, this was what was suggested from Rocky -

Paulie: [talking about Adrian] You like her?

Rocky: Sure, I like her.

Paulie: What's the attraction?

Rocky: I dunno... she fills gaps.

Paulie: What's 'gaps'?

Rocky: I dunno, she's got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps.

I do love the sentiment of it and would have been really happy with it if it weren't for the fact that he has to say 'and then Paulie said 'bla bla' and then rocky said 'bla bla'. I also love Valentine as I studied it at school but again, it really doesnt suit my brother. He loves motorbikes and football and i am his annoying little sister

Thanks, Kat x

Personally, if he felt that unseasy about doing a reading, then why not get him to do something else instead, like signing the register? My OH politefully declined reading at his friends wedding because it made him uncomfortable - and it wasn't just the content of the passage, it was actually standing up in front of loads of people (half of which he didn't know) and saying something about love. Some people just don't enjoy it.

I had a quote from The Crow first time round. I can't remember the full thing, maybe someone can find it, but it ends "... buildings burn, people die, but true love lasts forever".

ETA just searched... we actually linked 2 Crow quotes into a reading...

"A building gets torched. All that is left is ashes. I used to think that is true about everything.... families, friends, feelings. But now I know that sometimes, if love proves real, and two people are meant to be together, nothing can keep them apart. Buildings burn, people die, but real love lasts forever".