Along with vows and music, your choice of reading/s plays a significant role in setting the mood for the ceremony. In certain religious services these may well be long-standing traditional texts or you may be limited to a certain shortlist- in most Anglican ceremonies, for instance, at least one of your readings must be Biblical and any other secular readings approved by the minister.
Most of the following readings contain no reference to faith, God, heaven, angels or a spiritual world of any kind so should be suitable for a civil ceremony, but do check with your registrar first before making any final decisions.
Even though these extracts are not religious, some ministers may be happy for you to include one of these secular readings in your religious service too, although they may stipulate that you include a religious text, psalm or biblical reading as well.
The Beauty of Love
The question is asked: ‘Is there anything more beautiful in life than a young couple clasping hands and pure hearts in the path of marriage? Can there be anything more beautiful than young love?' And the answer is given: ‘Yes, there is a more beautiful thing. It is the spectacle of an old man and an old woman finishing their journey together on that path. Their hands are gnarled but still clasped; their faces are seamed but still radiant; their hearts are physically bowed and tired but still strong with love and devotion. Yes, there is a more beautiful thing than young love. Old love.
Anon
You can give without loving
You can give without loving but you can never love without giving.
The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. We pardon to the extent that we love. Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be truly alone again. And great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Loved for ourselves. And even loved in spite of ourselves.
Victor Hugo, from Les Miserables
To my bride
To my bride, I give you my heart
Sharing love each day, from the very start.
To my bride, I give you my kiss
Filling each day with joy and bliss.
To my bride I give you my being
To love, to play, to work and to sing
To my bride I give you my mind
Learning each day to be more kind.
To my bride I give you my soul
Growing together to be more whole.
To my bride I give you my life
Rejoicing each day that you are my wife.
Steven Reiser
You are my husband
You are my husband
You are my wife
My feet shall run because of you
My feet dance because of you
My heart shall beat because of you
My eyes see because of you
My mind thinks because of you
And I shall love because of you
Eskimo Love Song
Our great adventure
We are today still dizzy with the astonishment of love.
We are surrounded by affection - by smiles and kindliness,
by flowers and music and gifts and celebration.
Yet they enclose a silence
where we are close with one another.
My eyes see only you.
I hear nothing but the words
we speak to one another
This is the day we start out life together.
This is our new beginning.
Pamela Dugdale
Married love
You and I
Have so much love
That it burns like a fire
In which we bake a lump of clay
Moulded into a figure of you
And a figure of me
Then we take both of them
And break them into pieces
And mix the pieces with water
And mould again a figure of you
And a figure of me
I am in your clay
You are in my clay
In life we share a single quilt
In death we will share one coffin
Kuan Tao-Sheng
A dedication to my wife
To whom I own the leaping delight
That quicken my senses in our waking time
And the rhythm that governs the repose
Of our sleeping time
The breathing in unison
Of lovers whose bodies smell of each other.
Who think the same thoughts
Without the need of speech
And babble the same speech
Without need of meaning
No peevish winter wind
Shall chill
No sullen wither
The roses in the rose garden which
Is ours and ours only
But this dedication is for others to read:
These are my private words
Addressed to you in public.
TS Eliot
But when two people are at one
in their inmost hearts
They shatter even the strength of iron or bronze.
And when two people understand each other
in their inmost hearts
Their words are sweet and strong,
like the fragrance of orchids.
I Ching
True Love
True love is a sacred flame
That burns eternally
And none can dim its special glow
Or change its destiny
True love speaks in tender tones
And hears with gentle ear
True love gives with open heart
And true love conquers fear
True love makes no harsh demands
It neither rules nor binds
And true love holds with gentle hands
The heart that it entwines
Author unknown
These I can promise
I cannot promise you a lifetime of sunshine
I cannot promise riches, wealth or gold
I cannot promise you an easy pathway
That leads away from change or growing old
But I can promise all my heart's devotion
A smile to chase away your tears of sorrow
A love that's ever true and ever growing
A hand to hold in yours through each tomorrow.
Anon
On Your Wedding Day
Today is a day you will always remember
The greatest in anyone's life
You'll start off the day just two people in love
And end it as husband and wife.
It's a brand new beginning, the start of a journey
With moments to cherish and treasure
And although they'll be times when you both disagree
These will surely be outweighed by pleasure
You'll have heard many words of advice in the past
When the secrets of marriage were spoken
But you know that the answers lie hidden inside
Where the bond of true love lies unbroken
So live happy forever as lovers and friends
It's the dawn of a new life for you
As you stand there together with love in your eyes
From the moment you whisper ‘I do'
And with luck all your hopes and your dreams can be real
May success find its way to your hearts
Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys
But today is the day it all starts
Anon
Doves Poem
Two doves meeting in the sky
Two loves hand in hand, eye to eye
Two parts of a loving whole
Two hearts and a single soul
Two stars shining big and bright
Two fires bringing warmth and light
Two songs played in perfect tune
Two flowers growing into bloom
Two doves gliding in the air
Two loves free without a care
Two parts of a loving whole
Two hearts and a single soul
Two dreams found before too late
Two lives together bound by fate
Two people cling to one another
Two people in love with each other
Two doves, can you see them soar?
Two loves - who could ask for more?
Two parts of a loving whole
Two hearts and a single soul
Author unknown
A Good Wedding Cake
4lb of love
1/2lb of sweet temper
1lb of butter of youth
1lb of blindness of faults
1lb of pounded wit
1lb of good humour
2lbs of sweet argument
1 pint of rippling laughter
1 wine glass of common sense
A dash of modesty
Put the love, good looks and a sweet temper into a well-furnished house. Beat the butter of youth into a cream and mix well together with the blindness of faults. Stir the pounded wit and good humour into the sweet argument, then add the rippling laughter and common sense. Work the whole together until everything is well mixed and bake gentle for ever.
Author unknown
Marriage
A marriage is a promise
That two hearts gladly make
A promise to be tender
To help, to give and take
A marriage is a promise
To be kind and understanding
To be thoughtful and considerate
Fair and undemanding
A marriage is a promise
To share one life together
A love-filled promise meant to be
Kept lovingly forever
Anon
The Art of Marriage
A good marriage must be created,
In marriage, the little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say ‘I love you' at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together and facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is not only marrying the right person -
It is being the right partner.
Anon
True Love
True love is a sacred flame
That burns eternally,
And none can dim its special glow
Or change its destiny.
True love speaks in tender tones
And hears with gentle ear,
True love gives with open heart
And true love conquers fear.
True love makes no harsh demands,
It neither rules nor binds,
And truelove holds with gentle hands
The hearts that it entwines
Anon
Photo Paul Cudmore
