Readings
now there are two of us
Now there
are two of us, instead of only one,
two times as many things get left half undone.
We’re twice as half-asleep when the new day has begun
and maybe twice as on the run,
’cause some of them will still be making fun of us.
They’ll say the two of you will never be one of us.
But even if that’s true,
they’ll have twice as much to do
when there are two of us,
and one of them is you.
They’ll find the two of us much harder to restrain,
outsmarted by our impressive double brain
If one of us runs dry, still another will remain,
and it’s twice as hard to pull the chain
of two of us, against a ton of them:
but two of us outnumber every single one of them.
Two lives are semi-rough
with half the rent and twice the stuff.
There are two of us, and that should be enough.
Look at everybody.
Everybody’s always
falling apart or breaking up.
But the two of us never will be one of those,
and I should know– I have had a run of those
Our love’s not guaranteed,
but it’s growing like a weed.
There are two of us,
I think that’s all we need.
From the ‘Mr T Experience
Re: Readings
http://weddingcabaret.blogspot.com/2009/03/ceremony-reading-to-love-is-not-to.html?m=1
I love readings! I think it gives a little something extra about the couple.
We're just starting researching our ceremony as we are doing on non-religious one as well and can basically write it from scratch but we have nothing to really base it off! We know we want to include a reading to make the ceremony a bit more involved then just a quick Do you?, do you? Married. kind of thing.
OK, fail on pasting the text.
LINK
He is now talking about writing a reading. I think he wants to do this because he said he wanted to write our vows- I didn't want to, but I agreed as long as they were actually vows and not just a pontification about love. When he started sharing vow ideas I pointed out those weren't vows, they were his thoughts on love. I told him that could be a reading, but they weren't vows. So now he's writing vows AND the reading he wants.
I've been looking for something unique to have read that our guests haven't heard 8 billion times before (another reason I was lobbying against Corinthians), but I may end up with this, which is not very unique, but since my fiance and I are always asking each other if we're weird, it seems appropriate.
We're all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness - and call it love- true love. ~Dr. Seuss
ETF: Spacing
I find a lot of writing about love is a little...off. Lots of talk of people "completing" each other or that god-awful Wuthering Heights notion: "He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same… my great thought in living is himself." I don't feel that way, and I wouldn't want anyone to feel that way about me. My great thought in living is a lot of things, and "he" is ranked very highly, but the idea of unwavering, worship-like devotion is too much for me. It leaves no room for partnership or mutual respect.
I am sure I will have a hard time finding things I like, but that won't stop me from searching!
We're doing a reading from Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the decision legalizing gay marriage in Massachusetts. I'm a lawyer and law nerd and we live here, so it seemed to fit. We're also likely doing Song of Songs--I want a bit of a religious element to our wedding but FI is Jewish and we're having our private Catholic ceremony the next day, so this is about as biblical as we're going to get at our legal wedding.
We may also do a third reading. We have two grooms' sisters and my half-sister who are not in the bridal party, but we would like to acknowledge them in the ceremony in some way. I feel like three readings is a bit much, though, so we may have one of them do something different--NOT program passer-outer/guest book attendant/some fake crappy made-up "honor," but something that is actually meaningful. So far we've thought of asking one to do a toast at the reception, or to participate by reading the "seven blessings" that are traditionally recited at a Jewish wedding.
Readings below:
Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
Marriage also bestows enormous private and social advantages on those who choose to marry. Civil marriage is at once a deeply personal commitment to another human being and a highly public celebration of the ideals of mutuality, companionship, intimacy, fidelity, and family.... Because it fulfils yearnings for security, safe haven, and connection that express our common humanity, civil marriage is an esteemed institution, and the decision whether and whom to marry is among life's momentous acts of self-definition.
Marriage is a vital social institution. The exclusive commitment of two individuals to each other nurtures love and mutual support; it brings stability to our society. For those who choose to marry, and for their children, marriage provides an abundance of legal, financial, and social benefits. In return it imposes weighty legal, financial, and social obligations....Without question, civil marriage enhances the "welfare of the community." It is a "social institution of the highest importance."
Song of Solomon 2:10-13
My beloved responded and said to me,
'Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
'For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
'The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
'The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!'
Edited to attempt to fix funky formatting
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.
I think these two are also cute and not too cringe-worthy. It's tough cuz neither of us are the type to like overly sappy things. And we don't take ourselves too seriously either. I'm gonna have to find some way to convince FI to actually read through these and help me pick lol
"All I Ever Really Needed to Know I
Learned in Kindergarten," by Robert Fulgham
All of what I really need to know about how to
live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not
at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery
school.
These are the things I learned…
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Give them to someone who feels
sad.
Live a balanced life.
Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and
work every day.
Take a nap every afternoon.
Be aware of wonder.
Remember the little seed in the plastic cup?
The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but
we are all like that.
Everything you need to know is in there
somewhere.
And it is still true,
no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold
hands and stick together.
The Book of Love
BY STEPHEN MERRITT (THE MAGNETIC FIELDS) FROM THE ALBUM 69
LOVE SONGS
The book of love is long and boring
No one can lift the damn thing
It’s full of charts and facts and figures
and instructions for dancing
But I, I love it when you read to me
And you, you can read me anything
The book of love has music in it
In fact that’s where music comes from
Some of it is just transcendental
Some of it is just really dumb
But I, I love it when you sing to me
And you you can sing me anything
The book of love is long and boring
And written very long ago
It’s full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes
And things we’re all too young to know
But I, I love it when you give me things
And you, you ought to give me wedding rings
I, I love it when you give me things
And you, you ought to give me wedding rings
ETF Formatting?
Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your root was so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is.
Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being in love, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.
Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all t he pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/238894
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, 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, 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.
I love this one! It's very fitting of us. I'm trying to convince FI but he thinks our ceremony should be a quick "do you? And do you?" I'm working on him.
We wanted a short ceremony, but not too short. My best friend's ceremony was less than 5 minutes, and it left us all feeling like the actual wedding part of the day was an afterthought. Our ceremony clocked in at 10 minutes, which was long enough that people felt like there had been a wedding, but not so long people felt like it drug on and on.
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 fills your mind.
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.
These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one.
These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.
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.
ETA: I tried SO hard to find a reading from Harry Potter, but the only one was the "Always" thing, and that didn't make sense out of context.
ETAA: My best friend had a reading from the Velveteen Rabbit in hers. It was sweet.
Art of Marriage- Wilferd
Arlan Peterson
Happiness
is not something that just happens
A
good marriage must be created
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 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 doing things for each other, not in attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in
the spirit of joy
It
is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitute in thoughtful
ways.
It
is not looking for perfection in each, it is cultivating flexibility, patience,
understanding, and a sense of humor.
It
is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow,
It
is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal,
Dependence
is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It
is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.
It
is discovering what marriage can be, at its best.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.