Readings and Music

daisywithak · July 2011

Are you having readings as part of your ceremony? If so, what are you using? Also, what is your ceremony music? We can't seem to decide and I want to work on programs in the next month!

2dBride · July 2011

Here is the reading we used:
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from Letters To A Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke

The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries; on the contrary, a good marriage is one in which each partner appoints the other to be the guardian of his solitude, and thus they show each other the greatest possible trust. A merging of two people is an impossibility, and where it seems to exist, it is a hemming-in, a mutual consent that robs one party or both parties of their fullest freedom and development. But once the realization is accepted that even between the closest people infinite distances exist, a marvelous living side-by-side can grow up for them, if they succeed in loving the expanse between them, which gives them the possibility of always seeing each other as a whole and before an immense sky.

That is why this too must be the criterion for rejection or choice: whether you are willing to stand guard over someone else's solitude, and whether you are able to set this same person at the gate of your own depths.

So those who love must try to act as if they had a great work to accomplish: they must go into themselves and gather and concentrate themselves; they must work; they must become something. For the more we are, the richer everything we experience is. And those who want to have a deep love in their lives must collect and save for it, and gather honey.

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And here is a link to a page with all our ceremony music, with videos so you can hear what it sounds like.

daisywithak · July 2011

Thanks for sharing! Did you both walk down the aisle or was one at the front?

K&J64 · July 2011

We had two readings:

For the Scripture passage an excerpt from Corinthians 13:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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. Love never fails.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

For the secular reading an excerpt 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 breathless, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. . . . That is just being in love which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

May your roots grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms fall from your branches, you find out that you are one tree, and not two.

For our bridal party processional the string trio played Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring". We both walked down the aisle to Pacabel's "Canon in D Major" and for the recessional we had the musicians arrange a string version of Alicia Keys' "No One".

2dBride · July 2011

daisywithak: We walked together down the aisle. Our bouquets were presentation bouquets (think Miss America) rather than traditional wedding bouquets. Hers was set up to be carried on her left arm, and mine was set up to be carried on my right. That way, we could hold hands as we walked.

In a Jewish ceremony, traditionally both the groom and the bride walk down the aisle. Traditionally, the groom comes before the bride. However, since we're not really a butch/femme couple, we didn't want to put either of us in the position of the groom. Thus, we both wore dresses and veils, carried flowers, and walked together in the "bridal" processional.

indiggo · July 2011

I wanted to pick a reading from the bible that reflected both the love of God and of two people, and how the two should be the same. I like the Corinthians 13 verse, but it is a verse that is done alot in weddings. I found 1John4:7-18:

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. ¹³ This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. ¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ¹⁷ This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We also picked classical music to walk down the aisle and throughout the ceremony. I hope this helps. God bless on your union. Hope you have a wonderful day.

Kerry

bpark2011 · July 2011

We are having two readings, both poetry. The first is "Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog" by Taylor Mali. It's lighthearted yet serious, and we are both animal/dog people. The second reading is "somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond" by e.e. cummings. This reading is much more serious and traditionally "poetic." I love e.e. cummings, but we didn't want something expected of his like "i carry your heart with me." I think this reading speaks more to us and our relationship.

We are walking down the aisle (together, both in dresses, hand in hand with no bouquets) to "First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes. We're having the cocktail hour before the ceremony, so "prelude" music will just flow from cocktail hour into ceremony seating. Our recesssional music is "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

SaranacLake · July 2011

I'm an Organist (I play a pipe organ - it's awesome!) and Director of Music in a (obviously very liberal) Episcopal church. I end up having to tread the pseudo-classical line and find other not-so-predictable solutions to the standard wedding stuff quite a bit - If you need any advice I can provide, just holler.

(Oddly enough, this is not a problem I have. LOL Our ceremony is private and at the courthouse in Manhattan, and the reception is the big event for guests.)

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