Choosing the Ideal Wedding Reading: Adding Meaning to Your Ceremony

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One of the most touching moments in a wedding ceremony is the reading. Whether it’s a passage from a favorite book, a beloved poem, or a piece of spiritual wisdom, a wedding reading can deeply resonate with both the couple and their guests. It serves as a beautiful pause in the ceremony, allowing everyone to reflect on the meaning of love and the journey the couple embarks on together.

 

Wedding readings add a personal touch to the ceremony. They can reflect the couple's unique relationship, shared values, and vision for the future. Moreover, readings allow you to involve l oved ones in the ceremony. Asking a friend or family member to read gives them a special role in your wedding, creating a memory that they, too, will cherish.

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Here are some popular categories:

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Literary Readings: Excerpts from novels, plays, or poetry can add a classic or whimsical touch to your ceremony. Think of passages that capture the essence of love and commitment. 

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Religious Readings: For those having a religious ceremony, including scripture or sacred texts can align your wedding with your faith.  offer spiritual depth and a connection to your beliefs.

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Poetic Readings: Poetry often expresses deep emotions in a way that resonates with the heart, capturing the essence of love, commitment, and the beauty of the moment.

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Contemporary Readings: If you prefer something more modern, consider passages from contemporary books or movies, or even song lyrics. These can bring a fresh, relatable vibe to your ceremony.

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If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are a few timeless and popular wedding readings:

 

Extract from A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway

At night, there was the feeling that we had come home, feeling no longer alone, waking in the night to find the other one there, and not gone away; all other things were unreal. We slept when we were tired and if we woke the other one woke too so one was not alone. Often a man wishes to be alone and a woman wishes to be alone too and if they love each other they are jealous of that in each other, but I can truly say we never felt that. We could feel alone when we were together, alone against the others. We were never lonely and never afraid when we were together.

 

Every Day - David Levithan

“This is what love does: It makes you want to rewrite the world. It makes you want to choose the characters, build the scenery, guide the plot. The person you love sits across from you, and you want to do everything in your power to make it possible, endlessly possible. And when it’s just the two of you, alone in a room, you can pretend that this is how it is, this is how it will be.”

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The Evolution of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin

If I were to live a thousand years, I would belong to you for all of them.  If we were to live a thousand lives, I would want to make you mine in each one. 

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Like You - Sandol Stoddard Warburg

I like you and I know why

I like you because you are a good person to like

I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it’s special

And you remember it a long, long time

You say, Remember when you told me something special

And both of us remember

When I think something is important you think it’s important too

We have good ideas

When I say something funny, you laugh

I think I’m funny and you think I’m funny too

Hah-hah!

I like you because you know where I’m ticklish

And you don’t tickle me there except just a little tiny bit sometimes

But if you do, then I know where to tickle you too

You know how to be silly - that’s why I like you

If I am getting ready to pop a paper bag,

then you are getting ready to jump

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I Belong in Your Arms - Deborah Brideau

I belong in your arms
Finally, I have found a place
Into which I fit perfectly, safely
And securely with no doubts,
No fears, no sadness, no tears.

This place is filled with happiness and laughter
Yet it is spacious enough, to allow me
The freedom to move around,
To live my life and be myself.
This wonderful place, which I never believed really existed,
I have found finally
Inside your arms, Inside your heart, inside your love.

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Blessing of the Hands by Rev. Daniel L. Harris

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.

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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.

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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.

 

Corinthians 13:4-12

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.  For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

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Tarzan

‘Cause you’ll be in my heart,

Yes, you’ll be in my heart,

From this day on,

Now and forever more,

You’ll be in my heart,

No matter what they say,

You’ll be here in my heart,

Always…
 

Beverly Hills 90210 - Donna Martin

I look at you, and I see my best friend. Your energy and passion inspire me in ways I never thought possible. Your inner beauty is so strong that I no longer fear being myself. I no longer fear at all. I never thought that I could find someone to love who would love me back unconditionally. And then I realized that although we are often apart, you are always with me, that you are my soul mate. You give me purpose when I feel I have none. Without you, my soul would be empty, my heart broken, and my being incomplete. I thank God every day that you were brought into my life, and I thank you for loving me.

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Grey's Anatomy - Dr. Preston Burke

So this, I am sure. You are my partner. My lover. My very best friend. My heart. My heart beats for you. And on this day, the day of our wedding, I promise you this. I promise you to lay my heart in the palm of your hands; I promise you...me.

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Shall We Dance - Beverly Clark

We need a witness to our lives. There are a billion people on the planet...I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things. All of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness.

 

Twilight - Edward

It's an extraordinary thing to meet someone who you can bare your soul to, and who will accept you for what you are. I've been waiting, what seems like a very long time, to get beyond what I am. And [now] I feel like I can finally begin...No measure of time with you will be long enough. But let's start with forever. 
 

Bambi

Love is a song that never ends

Life may be swift and fleeting

Hope may die yet love's beautiful music

Comes each day like the dawn

Love is a song that never ends

One simple theme repeating

Like the voice of a heavenly choir

Love's sweet music flows on.

 

​​Whether you choose something classic, modern, or entirely personal, let your reading reflect your unique journey together. After all, the words spoken on your wedding day will echo through your life as a couple, reminding you of the vows you’ve taken and the love you share.