Wedding Vows & Ceremony Discussions

Ceremony Readings

My FI and I are having my MOH perform our ceremony which we are writing ourselves. My MOH thinks we should include some readings. Neither my FI nor I are religious so we do not want biblical passages. I have found some classic literary passages and poems, but nothing that I really love. Does anyone have any suggestions of passages/sayings they like?

Re: Ceremony Readings

  • We used the poem The Art of Marriage
     
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  • I'm not sure I completely understand your MOH's role in your wedding (besides serving as your honor attendant).  Is she going to be officiant ("perform our ceremony"), act as a reader or all three?  But that might not be here nor there ...

    How about Shakespeare?  Pull out some of your old poetry or literature text books -- find themes on love and companionship. That might be a good start.  Good luck!

  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_ceremony-readings-20?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:82379a13-9c51-49be-aec3-aea87cf7fe5aPost:98f82c98-5fbe-4008-8161-1057f1df14ff">Re: Ceremony Readings</a>:
    [QUOTE]I'm not sure I completely understand your MOH's role in your wedding (besides serving as your honor attendant).  Is she going to be officiant ("perform our ceremony"), act as a reader or all three?  But that might not be here nor there ... How about Shakespeare?  Pull out some of your old poetry or literature text books -- find themes on love and companionship. That might be a good start.  Good luck!
    Posted by Lisa50[/QUOTE]

    She is running the ceremony, but not technically officiating (CT does not accept a "justice of the peace for a day" etc.). Luckily, another guest, who is a close family friend, is a CT justice of the peace and has agreed to solemnize our marriage at the end of the ceremony- he will ask those magical questions and sign our license.

    Thanks for the Shakespeare tip- but maybe we will just include a few lines instead of having someone else get up and recite an entire sonnet or soliloquy. I don't want to put a lot of pressure onto someone to try to stumble through Shakespeare in front of a crowd. I remember how hard that was in high school!
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_ceremony-readings-20?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:82379a13-9c51-49be-aec3-aea87cf7fe5aPost:99b1cbf0-e696-450a-b8a1-04537374b9d6">Re: Ceremony Readings</a>:
    [QUOTE]We used the poem The Art of Marriage
    Posted by HobokenBride2012[/QUOTE]

    Just found it online- I love it!! Thank you!!!!
  • We are using the following:

    From “Instructions For Life In The New Millennium”
    by His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama
    Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
    And that a loving atmosphere in your home
    is the foundation for your life.
    Be gentle with the earth,
    be gentle with one another.
    When disagreements come
    remember always to protect the spirit of your union.
    When you realize you’ve made a mistake,
    take immediate steps to correct it.
    Remember that the best relationship is one
    in which your love for each other
    exceeds your need for each other.
    So love yourselves, love one another,
    love all that is your life together
    and all else will follow.
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  • SKPMSKPM member
    250 Love Its 100 Comments Second Anniversary First Answer
    We had a close friend read "Union" by Robert Fulghum, also non religious.

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  • We used an except from Captain Correlli's Mandolin
    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 roots have 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 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 the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.

    and an excert from the Veleveteen Rabbit
    "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" 

    "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but Really loves you, then you become Real." 

    "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. 

    "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." 

    "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" 

    "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get all loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
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  • Thank you all, for your suggestions!!
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