Share your ceremony readings/poems/songs!

redheadbride15 · February 2015

I'm looking for a little more inspiration, and I'm also a total sap and love these things. Thanks!

dcbride86 · February 2015

We have 2 reading. The first is e.e. Cummings, "I Carry Your Heart" and the 2nd is a bit of Bob Dylan, "Wedding Song"

"I Carry Your Heart," by e.e. Cummings:

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in

my heart) I
am never without it (anywhere

I go you go,
my dear; and whatever is done

by only me
is your doing, my darling)

I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) I want

no world
(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it’s you
are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever
a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the
root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky
of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than
soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is
the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart
(I carry it in my heart)

"Wedding Song," by Bob Dylan:

I love you more than ever, more than time and more than love

I
love you more than money and more than the stars above

Love
you more than madness, more than waves upon the sea

Love you more
than life itself, you mean that much to me

You breathed on me and made my life a richer one to live

When I was deep in poverty you taught me how to give

Dried the tears up from my dreams and pulled me from the hole

Quenched my thirst and satisfied the burning in my soul

Oh, can’t you see that you were born to stand by my side

And I was born to be with you, you were born to be my bride

You’re the other half of what I am, you’re the missing piece

And I love you more than ever with that love that doesn’t cease<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

You turn the tide on me each day and teach my eyes to see

Just bein’ next to you is a natural thing for me

And I could never let you go, no matter what goes on

‘Cause I love you more than ever now that the past is gone

Maggie0829 · February 2015

We had no readings or special songs. The only person who spoke at our ceremony was our officiant/close friend and well of course H and I.

theartistformerlyknownas · February 2015

We had "To Love is Not to Possess" by James Kavanaugh, read by H's godmother per his family's tradition.

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.

[Deleted User] · February 2015

Not finalized yet, but I'm leaning toward these two:

Prayer for a Marriage

When we are old one night and the moon

arcs over the house like an antique

China saucer and the teacup sun

follows somewhere far behind

I hope the stars deepen to a shine

so bright you could read by it

if you liked and the sadness

we will have known go away

for awhile – in this hour or two

before sleep – and that we kiss

standing in the kitchen not fighting

gravity so much as embodying

its sweet force, and I hope we kiss

like we do today knowing so much

good is said in this primitive tongue

from the wild first surprising ones

to the lower dizzy ten thousand

infinitely slower ones—and I hope

while we stand there in the kitchen

making tea and kissing, the whistle

of the teapot wakes the neighbors.

The Changed Man

If you were to hear me imitating Pavarotti
in the shower every morning, you'd know
how much you have changed my life.

If you were to see me stride across the park,
waving to strangers, then you would know
I am a changed man—like Scrooge

awakened from his bad dreams feeling feather-
light, angel-happy, laughing the father
of a long line of bright laughs—

"It is still not too late to change my life!"
It is changed. Me, who felt short-changed.
Because of you I no longer hate my body.

Because of you I buy new clothes.
Because of you I'm a warrior of joy.
Because of you and me. Drop by

this Saturday morning and discover me
fiercely pulling weeds gladly, dedicated
as a born-again gardener.

Drop by on Sunday—I'll Turtlewax
your sky-blue sports car, no sweat. I'll greet
enemies with a handshake, forgive debtors

with a papal largesse. It's all because
of you. Because of you and me,
I've become one changed man.

ohannabelle · February 2015

sylveonplath said:
Not finalized yet, but I'm leaning toward these two:

Prayer for a Marriage

When we are old one night and the moon

arcs over the house like an antique

China saucer and the teacup sun

follows somewhere far behind

I hope the stars deepen to a shine

so bright you could read by it

if you liked and the sadness

we will have known go away

for awhile – in this hour or two

before sleep – and that we kiss

standing in the kitchen not fighting

gravity so much as embodying

its sweet force, and I hope we kiss

like we do today knowing so much

good is said in this primitive tongue

from the wild first surprising ones

to the lower dizzy ten thousand

infinitely slower ones—and I hope

while we stand there in the kitchen

making tea and kissing, the whistle

of the teapot wakes the neighbors.

The Changed Man

If you were to hear me imitating Pavarotti
in the shower every morning, you'd know
how much you have changed my life.

If you were to see me stride across the park,
waving to strangers, then you would know
I am a changed man—like Scrooge

awakened from his bad dreams feeling feather-
light, angel-happy, laughing the father
of a long line of bright laughs—

"It is still not too late to change my life!"
It is changed. Me, who felt short-changed.
Because of you I no longer hate my body.

Because of you I buy new clothes.
Because of you I'm a warrior of joy.
Because of you and me. Drop by

this Saturday morning and discover me
fiercely pulling weeds gladly, dedicated
as a born-again gardener.

Drop by on Sunday—I'll Turtlewax
your sky-blue sports car, no sweat. I'll greet
enemies with a handshake, forgive debtors

with a papal largesse. It's all because
of you. Because of you and me,
I've become one changed man.

Damn. Number one is good writing. Number two is good, but number one is the kind of poetry that really makes my heart full. I love the old couple who have become fragile and eggshell crackled like antique china, and the eternity of them in the sun and moon. That's not just good, that's fucking good.

I have to find out who wrote that.

(You better not say you did, or I will be deeply and bitterly jealous.)

ohannabelle · February 2015

dcbride86 said:
We have 2 reading. The first is e.e. Cummings, "I Carry Your Heart" and the 2nd is a bit of Bob Dylan, "Wedding Song"

"I Carry Your Heart," by e.e. Cummings:
I carry your heart with me (I carry it in

my heart) I
am never without it (anywhere

I go you go,
my dear; and whatever is done

by only me
is your doing, my darling)
I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) I want

no world
(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it’s you
are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever
a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the
root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky
of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than
soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is
the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
I carry your heart
(I carry it in my heart)

"Wedding Song," by Bob Dylan:
I love you more than ever, more than time and more than love
I
love you more than money and more than the stars above
Love
you more than madness, more than waves upon the sea
Love you more
than life itself, you mean that much to me
You breathed on me and made my life a richer one to live

When I was deep in poverty you taught me how to give

Dried the tears up from my dreams and pulled me from the hole

Quenched my thirst and satisfied the burning in my soul
Oh, can’t you see that you were born to stand by my side

And I was born to be with you, you were born to be my bride

You’re the other half of what I am, you’re the missing piece

And I love you more than ever with that love that doesn’t cease

You turn the tide on me each day and teach my eyes to see

Just bein’ next to you is a natural thing for me

And I could never let you go, no matter what goes on

‘Cause I love you more than ever now that the past is gone

e e cummings is a god. I think that's one of the most beautiful things ever written.

[Deleted User] · February 2015

ohannabelle I wish! It's by Steve Scafidi, the second is by Robert Phillips. I found them both in the "Good Poems" anthology by Garrison Keillor.

mrscomposer · February 2015

dcbride86 said:
We have 2 reading. The first is e.e. Cummings, "I Carry Your Heart" and the 2nd is a bit of Bob Dylan, "Wedding Song"

"I Carry Your Heart," by e.e. Cummings:
I carry your heart with me (I carry it in

my heart) I
am never without it (anywhere

I go you go,
my dear; and whatever is done

by only me
is your doing, my darling)
I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) I want

no world
(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it’s you
are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever
a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the
root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky
of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than
soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is
the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
I carry your heart
(I carry it in my heart)

***SIB***

Thank you for my next tattoo. I love e e cummings, and have 'this amazing day' tattooed on my wrist for his 'I thank you God for most this amazing day'.
I'm tearing up reading through all of these. We had the standard Ephesians 5:21-33.

redheadbride15 · February 2015

sylveonplath said:
ohannabelle I wish! It's by Steve Scafidi, the second is by Robert Phillips. I found them both in the "Good Poems" anthology by Garrison Keillor.

Oh I love this anthology! I hadn't thought to look through it for reading ideas but I'm pulling it off my shelf right now!!! I also love the first (Steve Scafidi).

DiamondFan · March 2015

We aren't having a technical reading, but i've incorporated "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 ye, indeed, you have been making
promises and agreements in an informal way. All of those conversations that
were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks – all those sentences
that began 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 of 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, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from
one another in these last 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.

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