Wedding Readings
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This page contains a selection of wedding readings. Some are religious others secular. Some could be read by anyone, others would be better read by eg. the bride's father. Please e-mail or fax. us your favourite readings for inclusion in this page! Send your copy to wdhendry@weddingorganist.com .
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My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose.- Robert Burns
The Owl and The Pussy Cat .... Edward Lear.
Sonnet CXVI -- Wm.
Shakespeare
Gather ye Rosebuds While
Ye May - Herrick
I Love You This Much (author unknown)
I Promise -- Dorothy R. Colgan
Solomon's Song Chapter 8 verses 6 and 7
On Marriage - Gibran
Then Almitra spoke again and said,
"And what of Marriage, master?"
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
My Love Is Like A Red, Red
Rose. - Burns
0' my
luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June.
0' my luve's like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I,
And I will luve thee still, my Dear,
Till a 'the seas gang dry.
Till a'
the seas gang dry, my Dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun!
And I will luve thee still, my Dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.
Desiderata
Max Ehrmann (1872-1945)
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in
silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and
ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you
compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for there will
always be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as
well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in
the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for
the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there
is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the
grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of
youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not
distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue & loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have
a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe
is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever
your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with
your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a
beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.
The Owl and The Pussy Cat .... Edward
Lear.
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat:
They took some honey, and plenty of money, wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above, and sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!
Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl, How charmingly sweet you sing!
Oh! let us be married; too long we have tarried: But what shall we do for a
ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the bong-tree grows;
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood,
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling Your ring?" Said the Piggy,
"I will."
So they took it away, and were married next day by the Turkey who lives on the
hill.
They dined on mince and slices of quince, which they ate with a runcible spoon;
-And
hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, 'They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.
Sonnet CX VI -- Wm. Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever~fixed mark
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out ev'n to the edge of doom.
If this be error, and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Gather ye Rosebuds While Ye May - Herrick
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime
You may for ever tarry.
Colossians 3:12-16.
You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you
must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and
patience. Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of
you has a complaint against another, just as the Lord has forgiven you. And to
all these add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity. The peace
that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this
peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful.
Christ's message in all its richness must live in your hearts.
I Love You This Much (author unknown)
I Love You This Much
Enough
to do anything for you, give my life, my love,
my heart and my soul to you and for you.
Enough to willingly give all of my time, efforts, thoughts, talents,
trust and prayers to you.
Enough to want to protect you, care for you, guide you, hold you,
comfort you, listen to you, and cry to you and with you.
Enough to be completely comfortable with you, act silly around you,
never have to hide anything from you, and be myself with you.
I love you enough to share all of my sentiments,
dreams, goals, fears, hopes, and worries, my entire life with you.
Enough to want the best for you, to wish for your successes,
and to hope for the fulfilment of all your endeavours.
Enough to keep my promises to you
and pledge my loyalty and faithfulness to you.
Enough to cherish your friendship,
adore your personality, respect
your values and see you for who you are.
I love you enough to fight for you,
compromise for you, and sacrifice myself for you if need be.
Enough to miss you incredibly when
we're apart, no matter what length
Enough to believe in our relationship, to stand by it through the worst of
times,
to have faith in our strength as a couple, and to never give up on us.
Enough to spend the rest of my life with you,
be there for you when you need or want me,
and never, ever want to leave you or live without you.
I love you this much.
Love
I may be able to speak the languages of men and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell. I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains - but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burnt -but if I have no love, this does me no good.
Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; 1ove is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues but they will cease. There is knowledge, but it will pass. For our gifts of knowledge and inspired massages are only partial; But when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear. When I was a child, my speech, my feelings, and thinking were those of a child; Now that I am a man, I have no more use for childish ways. What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; Then we shall see face to face. What I know now is only partial; Then it will be complete - as complete as God's knowledge of me.
Meanwhile these three remain; faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.
Genesis Chapter 2 verses 20 -25.
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air,
And to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet
for him.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and
He slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought
her unto the man.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: she shall be
called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his
wife: and they shall be one flesh.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
I Promise ~ Dorothy R.Colgan
I promise to give you the best of myself and ask of you no more than I can give.
I promise to respect you as your own person and to realise that your interests,
desires and needs are no less important than my own.
I promise to share with you my time and attention and to bring you joy, strength
and imagination to our relationship.
I promise to keep myself open to you, to let you see through the window of my
world
into my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams.
I promise to grow along with you, to be willing to face changes in order to keep
our
relationship alive and exciting.
I promise to love you in good times and in bad, with all I have to give and all
i feel inside the only way I know how.
Completely and forever.
Solomon's Song - Chapter 8 verses 6 and 7
Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly contemned.