Not everyone includes readings or poetry within their ceremony, so don’t feel you have to! It can though, be a lovely way to involve a few of your guests, and is a great way to ‘punctuate’ your ceremony and make your day even more memorable.
My advice would be to choose something that really fits with you as a couple – i.e. if you absolutely love your dog, something like ‘Falling in Love is like Owning a Dog’ by Taylor Mali (below) might be ideal. If you’re big film buffs, why not go along the lines of a quote from a favourite movie? Into music? – have a think about including some song lyrics instead. If you’ve got kids, there are even some fantastic quotes from kids’ books too! Below are just a few …
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 can wake you up all hours of the night with its needs.
Love can give you a sense of security:
When you’re walking down the street late at night and you have a leash on love, no one is going to mess with you.
Love needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.
Love does not like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
Love may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life, but you can never be mad at love for long.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love makes messes.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper and swat love on the nose,
But then love gives you big kisses, and you laugh at the little things. Sometimes love just wants to play.
Running you around the block, leaving you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once, or winds around and around you, until you’re all wound up and can’t move.
And love brings you together.
People who have nothing in common but love stop and talk and greet each other on the street.
Most importantly, love needs love, and lots of it.
And in return, love loves you, and never stops.
Quote from ‘Grey’s Anatomy‘
“Today’s the day my life begins. All my life I’ve been just me. Just a smart mouth kid. Today I become a man. Today I become a husband. Today I become accountable to someone other than myself. Today I become accountable to you. To our future. To all the possibilities that a marriage has to offer. Together, no matter what happens, I’ll be ready. For anything. For everything. To take on life, to take on love. To take on possibility and responsibility. Today Izzie Stevens, our life together begins. And I for one can’t wait.”
Rainbow Connections – Garfunkel & Oates lyrics
Just after the storm breaks, with the perfect amount of light,
You can catch a glimpse of magic, if the timing is right.
Rainbows are improbable, beautiful, and rare,
But so are you, and so is this, the love that we share.
Too vast to hold, and too small to name, it’s no wonder why
You have to stand between the rain and the sun to see a rainbow in the sky.
All the things that had to go right, all the things that had to go wrong
That lead us to the place where we were going all along.
Right now they fall away,
Right now it’s just us two,
Right now we make a promise:
If you do, then I do too.
Don’t know how we found it, but we did somehow.
All the moments of our lives, were leading up to now.
I used to feel uncertain, but now I realise
When I wanna see my future, I just look into your eyes.
Too vast to hold, and too small to name, it’s no wonder why
You have to stand between the rain and the sun to see a rainbow in the sky.
All the things that make you – you, all the things that make me – me,
That lead us to the place where we were always meant to be.
Right now they fall away,
Right now it’s just us two,
Right now we make a promise:
If you do, then I do too.
On the power of the spark: 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 — 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, it’s easy to understand that someone in the world awaits you, whether it’s 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, one’s dreams would have no meaning.”
Everyone Searches
Everyone searches for one special person
they can share their lives with.
The other half who makes them whole,
Like two notes blending together to make a beautiful song,
Or the colours that complement each other to form a rainbow
It is everyone’s wish to have a lifetime of sunny days
A lifetime of loving and living, and growing and giving,
Of sharing and caring; a lifetime of days together,
Learning form the bad times and cherishing the good times.
Marriage is everything your heart desires
And the strength, courage and determination to work for it.
In marriage you take care of each other’s heart
And hold on to what you share.
You hold it gently so it doesn’t smother
And firmly so it doesn’t slip away.
Hold it so that it can grow
And you can grow together
And live and laugh and love together always.