Beautiful wedding readings for your ceremony!
Why include a reading?
A reading offers a beautiful way to include someone special in your ceremony, whether it is a family member or a close friend, or I am happy to read it for you.
How do you choose the right reading?
That is often the hardest part: it should be something your genuinely Like, something that sounds like you, and something that holds meaning for you and your partner.
Where can you find inspiration?
A meaningful reading might come from a movie, song, book, poem, or religious or non religious text. Most importantly, choose words that move you- words that make you laugh, bring a tear, or capture something true about your relationship.
Some of my favourite readings.
If you are looking for something romantic and ceremony ready, I have included a few of my favourites below.
The 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 commitments in an informal way.
All of those conversations that were held in a car, or over a meal, or during long walks –
all those conversations that began with, “When we’re married”
and continued with
“I will” and “you will” and “we will”
– all 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 that we’ve promised, 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, even teacher, for you have learned much from one another
these past few years.
Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life and things between you will never quite be the same.
For after today you shall say to the world – This is my husband. This is my wife.
Fair Dinkum Love by Kim Cockerill
Fair dinkum love isn’t about bringing in a dozen red roses.
It’s about bringing in the washing.
It’s not about standing next to your partner because they look good on your arm.
It’s about standing by them even when they look foolish. Fair dinkum love isn’t about stiff posture and smart clothes.
It’s about wrestling on the couch in your tracksuit.
It’s not about oysters and candle-lit dinners.
It’s about bringing home Chinese when your partner’s had a busy day.
Fair dinkum love isn’t about exciting getaways and fancy resorts. It’s about being totally content sleeping-in together at home.
It’s not about gym membership and facelifts.
It’s about growing old and fat together.
Fair dinkum love is not about romance or image or success.
Fair dinkum love is about two average people adoring and accepting each other for why they are.
Reading for a Farm Wedding by Candice Bydder
Love is a lot like a farm.
It’s more than just throwing a bunch of seeds in the ground and hoping for the best.
Nurture it and it will be rich and abundant.
Neglect it and it will become troublesome and wild.
Sure, there are factors you can’t control – storms, conflict and breakdown. But floods will always subside, droughts will break and fences can be mended. As for the rest, with patience, support and dedication, almost any challenge can be overcome. Above all, remember that love is hard “yakka” and with time, you’ll
know every hill and valley in your relationship.
When you get there, it’s the sweetest and most satisfying harvest of all
When two people join – unknown title
When two people join together ad bod their livers forever because they are certain they have something special that will make their commitment last…. This is the first act of faith.
Upon this act of faith these two people will build a life and as long as their determination stay with them their life will always be their hope, their dream, their truth, their being, their inspiration, and their source of strength.
Through their life together, they will hurt and laugh
Together they will feel all of life’s ups and downs
They will learn and grow through trial and error.
The lesson will show them the meaning of true love
And the difference between a love that lasts
And one that just gives up.
These two people will face each failure together and discover the strength to go on. They will encourage each other’s dreams and forgive each other’s faults.
Through a labor of love, these two will become as one, fighting against the odds and ultimately creating a commitment that will grow into an infinite love.
I Treasure Your Friendship by Rod McKuen
There is no greater treasure than an understanding friend
Who’s there in times of trouble and on whom we can depend.
A friend who knows our every mood
And brightens cloudy days,
One who’s slow to criticise,
But quick to offer praise.
One who shares our happy times
And gives them added worth,
Who adds a touch of heaven
To all our days on earth.
There is no greater treasure
Than a friend who always cares,
One who will always remember us
Every day throughout the year.
Getting Married Means You'll Have by Nicholas Gordon
Getting married means you'll have
Someone's hand to hold,
Even when you're feeling sick,
Even when you're old.
It means when you sit down to eat,
Someone will be there,
So you won't have to tell your day
To an empty chair.
It means that when you need some help,
Someone will help out,
Someone always near to you
So you won't have to shout.
But best of all is when it's time
To turn out all the lights:
You won't have to be alone
Those long and scary nights.
So even though you don't have toys,
You don't have to care:
Once you're married you can be
Each other's teddy bear.
Some Things Go Together by Charlotte Zolotow
Pairs of things that go together.
Pigeons with park
Stars with dark
Sand with sea
and you with me.
… Hats with heads
Pillows with beds
Sky with blue
and me with you.
I Belong In Your Arms by Deborah Brideau
Finally I have found a place
Into which I fit perfectly, safely and securely
With no doubts, no fears, no sadness, no tears.
This place is filled with happiness and laughter,
Yet it is spacious enough to allow me the freedom to move around, To live my life and be myself.
This wonderful place, which I never believed really existed,
I have found, finally,
Inside your arms, Inside your heart, Inside your love
All About Love by Bell Hooks
The moment we choose to love, we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love, we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others. That action is the testimony of love as the practice of freedom... When we choose to love, we choose to move against fear, against alienation and separation. The choice to love is a choice to connect, to find ourselves in the other.
The Beauty of Love by Unknown
The question is asked: “Is there anything more beautiful in life than a young couple clasping hands and pure hearts in the path of marriage? Can there be anything more beautiful than young love?”
And the answer is given: “Yes, there is a more beautiful thing.
“It is the spectacle of an old man and an old woman finishing their journey together on that path. Their hands are gnarled but still clasped, their faces are seamed but still radiant; their hearts are physically bowed and tired but still strong with love and devotion. Yes, there is a more beautiful thing than young love. Old love.”
The Art Of Marriage by Wilferd Arlan Peterson
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 speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating
gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 from the Bible
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Marriage Is Not Beauitful by Unknown Author
Marriage is ugly, you see the absolute worst in someone.
You see them when they’re mad, sad, being stubborn, when they’re so unlovable they make you scream.
But you also get to see them when they are laughing so hard that tears run down their face, and they can’t help but let out those weird gurgling noises.
You see them at 3am when the world is asleep except you two, and you’re eating in the middle of the kitchen floor.
You get to see the side of them that no one else does, and it’s not always pretty. It's snorting while laughing, it’s the tears when it feels like it’s all crashing down, it’s the farting, it’s the bedhead and bad breath, it’s the random dances, it’s the anger and the joy.
Marriage isn’t a beautiful thing, but it is amazing.
It’s knowing that someone loves you so much, and won’t leave you even though you said something nasty.
It’s having someone have your back no matter what.
It’s fights over stupid things, like someone not doing the dishes or picking up after themselves.
And it’s those nights you fall asleep in each other’s arms, feeling like there will never be enough time with them.
It’s cleaning up their vomit, or just rubbing their back when they’re sick.
It’s the dirtiest, hardest, most rewarding job there is.
Because at the end of the day you get to crawl into bed with your best friend, the weirdest, most annoying, loving, goofy, perfect person that you know.
Marriage is not beautiful, but it’s one heck of a ride
