Ceremony Readings

WedMe14 · March 2014

I'm looking at/for ceremony readings that aren't the typical readings you hear at weddings (1 Corinthians, etc). I'm curious as to what other brides are using in their ceremonies.

jessiray · March 2014

We're doing some readings from this guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahlil_Gibran

Particularly, this reading:

On Marriage Kahlil Gibran 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.

sandwed1018 · March 2014

I don't get the point of readings. I've never been to a wedding where they did a reading. They always have the ceremony them the preacher preaches for 20-40 mins on marriage.

SBmini · March 2014

I'm pretty sure we're doing the Art of Marriage

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 having a mutual sense of values and common objectives; it is facing the world together.

It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.

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 the 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.

It is finding room for the things of the spirit.

It is the common search for the good and the beautiful.

It is the establishing of a relationship in which the independence is equal, the dependence is mutual, and the obligation is reciprocal.

And finally, it is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

mysticl · March 2014

We did 1 Corinthians and The Desiderata. It's a poem that has a lot of personal meaning to me. I have also read it at the weddings of two friends.

flyingfoxes · March 2014

We are not doing any of the unity candle or the sand ceremony, so I think a reading will be nice. My best friend lives far away and I'm using my sisters and future stepdaughter as my bridesmaids, but I think having her do a nice reading will fill out the ceremony and will mean a lot to her, and to me.

clg1213 · March 2014

I had a big list that my FSIL was picking from, but the formatting all disappeared! So I deleted it. And then it did it AGAIN....if you can parse it out, the poem my mom is reading is: James Kavanaugh To love is not to possess, To own or imprison, Nor to lose one's self in another. Love is to join and separate, To walk alone and together, To find a laughing freedom That lonely isolation does not permit. It is finally to be able To be who we really are No longer clinging in childish dependency Nor docilely living separate lives in silence, It is to be perfectly one's self And perfectly joined in permanent commitment To another–and to one's inner self. Love only endures when it moves like waves, Receding and returning gently or passionately, Or moving lovingly like the tide In the moon's own predictable harmony, Because finally, despite a child's scars Or an adult's deepest wounds, They are openly free to be Who they really are–and always secretly were, In the very core of their being Where true and lasting love can alone abide.

clg1213 · March 2014

Also, this is one of the sites i consulted:

http://offbeatbride.com/2008/07/wedding-readings

firebabe6519 · March 2014

We are doing a Navajo wedding blessing and a Tolkien poem.

(The Tolkien poem is meant to be read by two people.)
1
When Spring unfolds the beechen leaf, and sap is in the bow;
When light is on the wild-wood stream, and wind is on the bow;
When stride is long, and breath is deep, and keen the mountain air,
Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is fair!

2
When Spring is come to garth and field, and corn is in the blade;
When blossom like a shining snow is on the orchard laid;
When shower and Sun upon the earth with fragrance fill the air,
I'll linger here, and will not come, because my land is fair.

1
When Summer lies upon the world, and in a noon of gold
Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreams of trees unfold;
When woodland halls old green and cool, and wind is in the West,
Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is best!

2
When Summer warms the hanging fruit and burns the berry brown;
When straw is gold, and ear is white, and harvest comes to town;
When honey spills, and apple swells, though wind be in the West,
I'll linger here beneath the Sun, because my land is best!

1
When winter comes, the winter wild that hill and wood shall slay;
When trees shall fall and starless night devour the sunless day;
When wind is in the deadly East, then in the bitter rain
I'll look for thee, and call to thee; I'll come to thee again!

2
When winter comes, and singing ends; when darkness falls at last;
When broken is the barren bough, and light and labour past;
I'll look for thee, and wait for thee, until we meet again;
Together we will take the road beneath the bitter rain!

Both
Together we will take the road that leads into the West,
And far away will find a land where both our hearts may rest.

Bubblegum5586 · March 2014

Here is a reading we used. It really fit for us as we dated a long time before we got engaged and then had an 18mo engagement, so we had talked and planned a future together for a long time!

An excerpt "Union" by Robert Fulghum

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to the 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 begin 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.

CrazyCatLady3 · March 2014

sandwed1018 said:

I don't get the point of readings. I've never been to a wedding where they did a reading. They always have the ceremony them the preacher preaches for 20-40 mins on marriage.

That actually sounds kind of excruciating.

anjuli116 · March 2014

Are you looking for less typical bible verses, or readings that are non-religious altogether? Our church will not allow secular readings, but I got kinda tired of hearing 1 Corinthians. I picked Song of Solomon (somtimes called Song of Songs) 2:10-13; 8:6-7. I liked it because the beginning made me think of the Beatle's song "Here Comes the Sun", which we couldn't play at the ceremony for the same reason.

¹⁰My beloved spoke and said to me,
    “Arise, my darling,
    my beautiful one, come with me.
¹¹See! The winter is past;
    the rains are over and gone.
¹²Flowers appear on the earth;
    the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
    is heard in our land.
¹³The fig tree forms its early fruit;^A)'>
    the blossoming^'> vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
    my beautiful one, come with me.”

Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm;
for love^A)'> is as strong as death,
    its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
    like a mighty flame
⁷Many waters cannot quench love;
    rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
    all the wealth of one’s house for love,
    it would be utterly scorned.^C)'>

HisGirlFriday13 · March 2014

We did readings from the Book of Sirach, first Letter of John, and Gospel of Matthew. (Catholic churches don't allow secular readings.)

FWIW, I would prefer sitting through 20 to 40 minutes of preaching marriage than sitting through a forced recital in which I have to listen to the vocal talents of various and assorted friends of the bridal couple.

wabanzi · March 2014

FI each selected a passage about love/friendship/unity/etc. from a favorite childhood book. His selection is from The Little Prince, mine is from the Wizard of Oz (book, not movie).

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