Traditional Irish Blessing
May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of his hand. May God be with you and bless you; May you see your childrenâs children. May you be poor in misfortune, Rich in blessings, May you know nothing but happiness from this day forward. May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home and may the hand of a friend always be near. May green be the grass you walk on, May blue be the skies above you, May pure be the joys that surround you, May true be the hearts that love you.
Buddhist Blessing
Do not deceive, do not despise each other anywhere. Do not be angry nor bear secret resentments; for as a mother will risk her life and watches over her child, so boundless be your love to all, so tender, kind, and mild. Cherish good will right and left, early and late, and without hindrance, without stint, be free of hate and envy, while standing and walking and sitting down, whatever you have in mind, the rule of life that is always best is to be loving-kind.
The "Song of Solomon" from the Old Testament
Ecclesiastes 4.9-12
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other; but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A threefold cord is not quickly broken."
The Prayer" by St. Francis
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is discord, union; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy; O, Divine Master, Grant that we may not so much seek To be consoled as to console, To be understood as to understand, To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? A lot of people assume that poetry is boring or inaccessible, but there many beautiful readings out there for the modern reader, and so many wonderful love poems! One of the simplest ways to personalize a wedding ceremony is to include a reading that is meaningful to you. There are a lot of great reasons to have a reading as part of your ceremony⌠but there are also some good reasons not to. If youâre not sure whatâs right for you, the following may help you get a better idea of when itâs a good idea to include a reading in your ceremony.
A Reading Can be a Wonderful Way to Include Friends or Family Members:
Here are a few things youâll want to consider:
First, is the friend or family member youâve asked to read comfortable with reading in front of everyone? Youâll want to ask them well ahead of time.
Will this person do a good job? Even if theyâre willing, if theyâre likely to mumble through the reading so that no one can understand what theyâre saying you may want to find a different way to honor them. If youâve heard them read out loud before you should have an idea of how it will go. You may even want to have them read it to you beforehand so you can give them tips such as, "Thatâs great! I think it might sound even better if you slow down a little."
Is this person likely to go off the rails? If they are, are you okay with that? Weâve all got that one uncle whoâs just waiting to steal the spotlight⌠and thatâs probably not who you want to ask to do a reading. If for some reason you really feel like theyâre the right one for the job, anyway, make sure you warn your officiant ahead of time so that they can step in with a "Thank you, that was beautiful" at your nod, if needed.
Have I communicated with my officiant about who will bring the printed reading? At Oak City Ceremonies we keep a copy of the reading in our script binder, which we hand to the reader when they reach the front. But we only started doing this after Rebecca officiated a wedding where she assumed the reader had a copy, until the reader got to the front empty-handed. Fortunately Rebecca had an extra copy in her purse just in case, but first there was an awkward pause while a coordinator ran to the kitchen to grab it. Not a mistake weâll let happen again, but itâs a good idea to check!
A Reading Can Be a Way to Express Your Love Uniquely:
Do you have a poem or a passage from a book that speaks to you of love and of the way you feel about your soon-to-be spouse? A scripture or other passage that is particularly meaningful? It will probably fit perfectly in your ceremony! Love is an incredible emotion, so extraordinary and yet perfectly ordinary that it can be really difficult to express in words. So if youâve found something that really hits the nail on the head for you, use it! Personally I love when people have something picked out because it helps me to understand the idea theyâre trying to convey, and build their ceremony around that. If youâve already got something like this, even if you donât have a loved one who seems like the right person to read it, I suggest asking your officiant to include it, reading it herselfâ you already know sheâs got a great reading voice and isnât going to cause drama!
Things youâll want to consider:
How will this go over with my guests? Read it out loud, and imagine it being read at your ceremony. Will everyone else feel the magic of it, too? Most of the time itâs going to be just as beautiful as when you first read it on the page, but every once in a while itâs just too niche or too personal and itâs a flop. Your officiant should be able to advise you on that if you ask, too.
How long is it? Your reading may be beautiful, but if itâs super long or meandering itâs going to get awkward.
A Reading Can Add Interest and Variety:
In a world of Tiktoks and Reels, attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. If your officiant is planning to stand in front of your guests and talk for fifteen minutes about love⌠you may lose peopleâs attention, no matter how beautiful the selected words are. Adding a reading can break things up a bit, especially if someone other than your officiant is reading. Variety is the spice of life, and a beautiful reading might be the variety you need! Now, if youâve booked us for a Custom Ceremony I can guarantee you that this is not going to be an issue because the Custom keeps people engaged without extras, but if youâve chosen the Standard Ceremony Iâm more likely to recommend a reading to break things up a bit.
When NOT to do a reading:
Most of the time a reading is a great idea, but there are a few exceptions. The biggest one being, if nothing feels right, donât force it. If you ask your officiant for suggestions or read lists on the internet and nothing speaks to you, just go without. This is your wedding, and it should express who you are as a couple!
Another great reason not to do a reading is if youâre doing it out of obligation just because you feel like your ceremony needs to be longer or because someone else says you should. Once again, your wedding, do it your way! I promise youâll be happiest if you look back and know you chose to do the things that felt authentic and right to you.
I want to end by sharing a poem thatâs a little more non-traditional, which is one of my favorites for weddings. Itâs called "All I Know About Love", by Neil Gaiman
This is everything I have to tell you about love: nothing.
This is everything I've learned about marriage: nothing.
Only that the world out there is complicated,
and there are beasts in the night, and delight and pain,
and the only thing that makes it okay, sometimes,
is to reach out a hand in the darkness and find another hand to squeeze,
and not to be alone.
It's not the kisses, or never just the kisses: it's what they mean.
Somebody's got your back.
Somebody knows your worst self and somehow doesn't want to rescue you
or send for the army to rescue them.
It's not two broken halves becoming one.
It's the light from a distant lighthouse bringing you both safely home
because home is wherever you are both together.
So this is everything I have to tell you about love and marriage: nothing,
like a book without pages or a forest without trees.
Because there are things you cannot know before you experience them.
Because no study can prepare you for the joys or the trials.
Because nobody else's love, nobody else's marriage, is like yours,
and it's a road you can only learn by walking it,
a dance you cannot be taught,
a song that did not exist before you began, together, to sing.
And because in the darkness you will reach out a hand,
not knowing for certain if someone else is even there.
And your hands will meet,
and then neither of you will ever need to be alone again.
And that's all I know about love.
âFrom Beginning to End' 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 yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way. All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walksâall those sentences that began with âWhen we're marriedâ and continued with âI will and you will and we willââthose late night talks that included âsomedayâ and âsomehowâ and âmaybeââand 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, âYou know all those things we've promised and hoped and dreamedâwell, I meant it all, every word.â Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one anotherâacquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few 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, thisâis my husband, thisâis my wife.
âCaptain Corelli's Mandolin' by Louis De Bernieres
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 promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. No, don't blush, I am telling you some truths. That is just being âin love,â 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.
âOne Hundred Years of Solitude' by Gabriel GarcĂa MĂĄrquez
Madly in love after so many years ⌠they enjoyed the miracle of loving each other as much at the table as in bed, and they grew to be so happy that even when they were two worn-out old people they kept on blooming like little children and playing together like dogs.
âJasper Jones' by Craig Silvey
One of those sweet, significant moments that leaves a footprint in your mind. A photograph couldn't ever tell its story. It's like something you have to live to understand.
The Book of Ecclesiasticus
A loyal friend is a safe shelter: whoever finds one has indeed found a treasure.
A loyal friend is something beyond price, there is no measuring his worth.
A loyal friend is the elixir of life, and those who respect the Lord will find one.
Whoever respects the Lord makes true friends, for as a person is, so is his friend too.
âLove Sonnet 17â by Pablo Neruda
I donât love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
Secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that doesnât bloom and carries
hidden within itself the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I donât know any other way of loving
but this, in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.
I love you as the plant that doesnât bloom and carries hidden within itself the light of those flowers, and thanks to your love, darkly in my body lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.
âUntitledâ by R.M. Drake
You will be the clouds
and I will be the sky.
you will be the ocean
and I will be the shore.
you will be the trees
and I will be the wind.
whatever we are, you and I
will always collide.
âUntitledâ by R.M. Drake
but dear,
don't be
afraid of
love, it's
only magic.
âThe Art of Marriageâ by Wilferd A. Peterson
The little things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say âI love youâ at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
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 having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice,
but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating
gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. 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.
âAlwaysâ by Lang Leav
You were you
and I was I;
we were two
before our time
I was yours,
before I knew
and you have always
been mine too.
âHow Do I Love Theeâ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,âI love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!âand, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
âLove's Philosophyâ by Percy Bysshe Shelley
The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean;
The winds of heaven mix forever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single:
All things by a law divine
In another's being mingleâ
Why not I with thine?
See, the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower could be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?
âUntitledâ by Christina Rossetti
What is the beginning? Love. What the course. Love still. What the goal. The goal is Love. On a happy hill Is there nothing then but Love? Search we sky or earth There is nothing out of Love Hath perpetual worth; All things flag but only Love, All things fail and flee; There is nothing left but Love Worthy you and me.
âBuried Lightâ by Beau Taplin
Home is not where
you are from
it is where
you belong.
Some of us
travel the whole
world to find it.
Others,
find it in a person.
âA Marriageâ by Mark Twain
A marriage makes of two fractional lives a whole;
It gives two purposeless lives a work,
And doubles the strength of each to perform it.
It gives to two questioning natures a reason for living
And something to live for.
It will give new gladness to the sunshine,
A new fragrance to the flowers, a new beauty to the earth
And a new mystery to life.
âWhen Harry Met Sally'
I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
âThe Wedding Singer'
I want to make you smile whenever you're sad. Carry you around when your arthritis is bad. All I want to do is grow old with you. I'll get your medicine when your tummy aches. Build you a fire if the furnace breaks. Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you. I'll miss you, Kiss you, Give you my coat when you are cold. Need you, Feed you, Even let you hold the remote control. So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink. Put you to bed if you've had too much to drink. I could be the man who grows old with you. I want to grow old with you.
âLes Miserablesâ by Victor Hugo
The future belongs to hearts even more than it does to minds. Love, that is the only thing that can occupy and fill eternity. In the infinite, the inexhaustible is requisite. Love participates of the soul itself. It is of the same nature. Like it, it is the divine spark; like it, it is incorruptible, indivisible, imperishable. It is a point of fire that exists within us, which is immortal and infinite, which nothing can confine, and which nothing can extinguish. We feel it burning even to the very marrow of our bones, and we see it beaming in the very depths of heaven ⌠What a grand thing it is to be loved! What a far grander thing it is to love! The heart becomes heroic, by dint of passion. It is no longer composed of anything but what is pure; it no longer rests on anything that is not elevated and great. An unworthy thought can no more germinate in it, than a nettle on a glacier.
âSex and the City'
His hello was the end of her endings.
Her laugh was their first step down the aisle.
His hand would be hers to hold forever.
His forever was as simple as her smile.
He said she was what was missing.
She said instantly she knew.
She was a question to be answered.
And his answer was âI do.
âTo Love Is Not To Possessâ by James Kavanaugh
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 anotherâand to one's inner self.
The Bridge Across Forever by Richard Bach
A soul mate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who weâre pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person weâre safe in our own paradise. Our soul mate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When weâre two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are weâve found the right person. Our soul mate is the one who makes life come to life.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
âTwo are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.â
Song of Solomon 8:6-7
"Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm;⨠for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. â¨Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If one offered for love all the wealth of oneâs house, it would be utterly scorned.â
Colossians 3:12-17
"As Godâs chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Romans 12:9-18
"Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all."
âI Choose Youâ by Sara Bareilles
Let the bough break, let it come down crashing. Let the sun fade out to a dark sky. I canât say Iâd even notice it was absent. âCause I could live by the light in your eyes
Iâll unfold before you, What I have strung together. The very first words of a lifelong love letter
Tell the world that we finally got it all right. I choose you I will become yours and you will become mineâŚ
There was a time when I would have believed them, If they told me that you could not come true. Just loveâs illusion But then you found me And everything changed And I believe in something again.
My whole heart. Will be yours forever. This is a beautiful start, To a lifelong love letter
Tell the world that we finally got it all right. I choose you. I will become yours and you will become mineâŚ
We are not perfect weâll learn from our mistakes, And as long as it takes I will prove my love to you. I am not scared of the elements I am underprepared, But I am willing. And even better I get to be the other half of you.
âThere Will Be Timeâ by Mumford and Sons, featuring Baaba Maal
But in the cold light I live to love and adore you
Itâs all that I am, itâs all that I have
In the cold light I live, I only live for you
Itâs all that I am, itâs all that I have
âWinnie the Pooh' by A. A. Milne
If ever there is tomorrow when weâre not together⌠there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if weâre apart⌠Iâll always be with you.
âThe Velveteen Rabbit' by Margery Williams
âWhat is REAL?â asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room.
âDoes it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?â
âReal isn't how you are made,â said the Skin Horse. âIt'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.â
âDoes it hurt?â asked the Rabbit.
âSometimes,â said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. âWhen you are Real you don't mind being hurt.â
âDoes it happen all at once, like being wound up,â he asked, âor bit by bit?â
âIt doesn't happen all at once,â said the Skin Horse. âYou 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 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.â
"How Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog" by Taylor Mali
On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.
Love doesnât like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.
Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.
Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know, "Donât you ever do that again!"
Sometimes love just wants to go out for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise. It will run you around the block
and leave you panting, breathless. Pull you in different directions
at once, or wind itself around and around you
until youâre all wound up and you cannot move.
But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.
Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.
Letter from Johnny Cash to June Carter
âWe get old and get used to each other. We think alike. We read each othersâ minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit.
Maybe sometimes take each other for granted. But once in a while, like today, I meditate on it and realise how lucky I am to share my life with the greatest woman I ever met.â
Evelina by Frances Burney
"I revere you. I esteem and admire you above all human beings. You are the friend to whom my soul is attached as to its better half. You are the most amiable, the most perfect of women. And you are dearer to me than language has the power of telling⌠You are now all my own⌠How will my soul find room for its happiness? It seems already bursting!"
Marriage is a commitment to life,
the best that two people can find and bring out in each other.
It offers opportunities for sharing and growth
that no other relationship can equal.
It is a physical and an emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime. Within the circle of its love,
marriage encompasses all of lifeâs most important relationships.
A wife and a husband are each otherâs best friend,
confidant, lover, teacher, listener, and critic.
And there may come times when one partner is heartbroken or ailing,
and the love of the other may resemble
the tender caring of a parent or child.
Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life.
Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher,
commitment is stronger, even anger is felt more strongly,
and passes away more quickly.
Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes life
is unable to avoid. It encourages and nurtures new life,
new experiences, new ways of expressing
a love that is deeper than life.
When two people pledge their love and care for each other in marriage,
they create a spirit unique unto themselves which binds them closer
than any spoken or written words.
Marriage is a promise, a potential made in the hearts of two people
who love each other and takes a lifetime to fulfill.
Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith
"People are like cities: We all have alleys and gardens and secret rooftops and places where daisies sprout between the sidewalk cracks, but most of the time all we let each other see is is a postcard glimpse of a skyline or a polished square. Love lets you find those hidden places in another person, even the ones they didnât know were there, even the ones they wouldnât have thought to call beautiful themselves."
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
"Once upon a time, there was a boy. He lived in a village that no longer exists, in a house that no longer exists, on the edge of a field that no longer exists, where everything was discovered, and everything was possible. A stick could be a sword, a pebble could be a diamond, a tree, a castle. Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a house across the field, from a girl who no longer exists. They made up a thousand games. She was queen and he was king. In the autumn light, her hair shone like a crown. They collected the world in small handfuls, and when the sky grew dark, they parted with leaves in their hair.
Once upon a time, there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering."
"Love is an Adventure" by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
"Love is an adventure and a conquest. It survives and develops like the universe itself only by perpetual discovery. The only right love is that between couples whose passion leads them both, one through the other, to a higher possession of their being. Put your faith in the spirit which dwells between the two of you. You have each offered yourself to the other as a boundless field of understanding, of enrichment, of mutually increased sensibility. You will meet above all by entering into and constantly sharing one anotherâs thoughts, affections, and dreams. There alone, as you know, in spirit, which is arrived through flesh, you will find no disappointments, no limits. There alone the skies are ever open for your love; there alone lies the great road ahead."
Every Day by 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 itâs just the two of you, alone in a room, you can pretend that this is how it is, this is how it will be."
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
"At night, there was the feeling that we had to 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."
Lament: The Faerie Queenâs Deception by Maggie Stiefvater
"Youâre like a song that I heard when I was a little kid but I forgot I knew until I heard it again."
god must have kneaded you and i
from the same dough
rolled us out as one on the baking sheet
must have suddenly realized
how unfair it was
to put that much magic in one person
and sadly split that dough in two
how else is it that
when i look in the mirror
i am looking at you
when you breathe
my own lungs fill with air
that we just met but we
have known each other our whole lives
if we were not made as one to begin with
"Iâll Be There For You" by Louise Cuddon
Iâll be there my darling, through thick and through thin
When your mindâs in a mess and your headâs in a spin
When your planeâs been delayed, and youâve missed the last train.
When life is just threatening to drive you insane
When your thrilling whodunit has lost its last page
When somebody tells you, youâre looking your age
When your coffeeâs too cool, and your wine is too warm
When the forecast said "Fine", but youâre out in a storm
When your quick break hotel, turns into a slum
And your holiday photos show only your thumb
When you park for five minutes in a residentâs bay
And return to discover youâve been towed away
When the jeans that you bought in hope or in haste
Just stick on your hips and donât reach round your waist
When the food you most like brings you out in red rashes
When as soon as you boot up the bloody thing crashes
So my darling, my sweetheart, my dearâŚ
When you break a rule, when you act the fool
When youâve got the flu, when youâre in a stew
When youâre last in the queue, donât feel blue âcause
Iâm telling you, Iâll be there.
"Variations On The Word Love" by Margaret Atwood
This is a word we use to plug
holes with. Itâs the right size for those warm
blanks in speech, for those red heart-
shaped vacancies on the page that look nothing
like real hearts. Add lace
and you can sell
it. We insert it also in the one empty
space on the printed form
that comes with no instructions. There are whole
magazines with not much in them
but the word love, you can
rub it all over your body and you
can cook with it too. How do we know
it isnât what goes on at the cool
debaucheries of slugs under damp
pieces of cardboard? As for the weed-
seedlings nosing their tough snouts up
among the lettuces, they shout it.
Love! Love! sing the soldiers, raising
their glittering knives in salute.
Then thereâs the two
of us. This word
is far too short for us, it has only
four letters, too sparse
to fill those deep bare
vacuums between the stars
that press on us with their deafness.
Itâs not love we donât wish
to fall into, but that fear.
This word is not enough but it will
have to do. Itâs a single
vowel in this metallic
silence, a mouth that says
O again and again in wonder
and pain, a breath, a finger
grip on a cliffside. You can
hold on or let go.
"Love Song" by Henry Dumas
Beloved,
I have to adore the earth:
The wind must have heard
your voice once.
It echoes and sings like you.
The soil must have tasted
you once.
It is laden with your scent.
The trees honor you
in gold
and blush when you pass.
I know why the north country
is frozen.
It has been trying to preserve
your memory.
I know why the desert
burns with fever.
It was wept too long without you.
On hands and knees,
the ocean begs up the beach,
and falls at your feet.
I have to adore
the mirror of the earth.
You have taught her well
how to be beautiful.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
"When he looked into her eyes, he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke â the language that everyone on Earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love. Something older than humanity, more ancient than the desert. What the boy felt at that moment was that he was in the presence of the only woman in his life, and that, with no need for words, she recognized the same thing. Because when you know the language, itâs easy to understand that someone in the world awaits you, whether itâs in the middle of the desert or in some great city. And when two such people encounter each other, the past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written by one hand only. It is the hand that evokes love, and creates a twin soul for every person in the world. Without such love, oneâs dreams would have no meaning."
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
"I have for the first time found what I can truly loveâI have found you. You are my sympathyâmy better selfâmy good angelâI am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely; a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wrap my existence about youâand, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one."
Now you will feel no rain, For each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold, For each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no more loneliness, For each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two bodies, But there is one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place, To enter into the days of your togetherness.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.
I hope you've found a few unique wedding ceremony readings that sparked joy in your heart today. We know they'll certainly encourage collective âawwwwsâ from your guests during this portion of the day, and ultimately become a moment you never forget. If you're still in ceremony planning mode, be sure to check out our recommendations for questions to ask your wedding officiant next!
âTil we meet again!
Xx,
Haley
You have good collection of ideas about wedding !! I appreciate !!