Readings for Weddings
A Reading from ‘The Notebook’ by Nicholas Sparks
Then, finally merging. Under the sun.
Good luck holding
A future unfolding. That can’t be undone.
I didn’t plan on falling in love with you and I doubt you planned on falling in love with me. But once we fell, it was clear neither of us could control what was happening to us.
We fell in love despite our differences and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created. For me, love like this has only happened once and that’s why every minute we have spent together is seared in my memory. I’ll never forget a single moment of it.
I love you, I am who I am because of you. You are my every reason, every hope and every dream I’ve ever had. And no matter what happens to us in the future, every day we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours.
The best kind of love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that’s what you’ve given me, that is what I hope to give you forever. I want you, I want all of you, you and me, every day.
The Art of Marriage by Wilferd Arlan Peterson
Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage must be created. In the art of marriage, the little things are 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 never 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 humour.
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.
Marriage Joins Two People in the Circle of its Love by Edmund O’Neill
Marriage is a commitment for 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 life’s most important relationships. A wife and a husband are each other’s 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 for a 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 and 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 fulfil.
Excerpt from Captain 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 eternal passion. That is just being “in love”, 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.
Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground,
and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches,
they find that they are one tree and not two.
Today I Marry My Friend by Bertrand Russell
Today I marry my friend,
The one I have laughed and cried with,
The one I have learned from and shared with
The one I have chosen to support and encourage, And give myself to, through all
The days given us to share.
Today I marry the one I love.
Excerpt from the Bridge Across Forever by Richard Bach
A soulmate 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 we’re pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we’re safe in our own paradise. Our soulmate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we’re two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we’ve found the right person. Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life.
From A Natural History Of Love by Diane Ackerman
Love. What a small word we use for an idea so immense and powerful. It has altered the flow of history, calmed monsters, kindled works of art, cheered the forlorn, turned tough guys to mush, consoled the enslaved, driven strong women mad, glorified the humble, fuelled national scandals, bankrupted robber barons and made mincemeat of kings. How can love’s spaciousness be conveyed in the narrow confines of one syllable? Love is an ancient delirium, a desire older than civilization, with taproots spreading into deep and mysterious days. The heart is a living museum. In each of its galleries, no matter how narrow or dimly lit, preserved forever like wondrous diatoms, are our moments of loving and being loved.
The Promise by Heather Berry
Within this blessed union of souls, where two hearts intertwine to become one, there lies a promise. Perfectly born, divinely created and intimately shared, it is a place where the hope and majesty of beginnings reside. Where all things are made possible by the astounding love shared by two spirits. As you hold each other’s hands in this promise and eagerly look into the future in each other’s eyes, may your unconditional love and devotion take you to places where you’ve both only dreamed. Where you’ll dwell for a lifetime of happiness, sheltered in the warmth of each other’s arms.
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
You were born together and together you shall be for evermore.
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 the lute are alone though they quiver with the same music Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.
I Promise by Dorothy R. Colgan
I promise to give you the best of myself and to ask of you no more than you can give.
I promise to respect you as your own person and to realize that your interests, desires and needs are no less important than my own.
I promise to share with you my time and my attention and to bring 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,
in the only way I know how.
Completely and forever.
The Perfect Love, The Perfect Friend by Renee Duvall
Because you are my love... I know the joy that comes from feeling closer to someone than I’ve ever felt before.
Because you are my love... I know the passion of wanting to share everything I have, everything I am with you and only you.
Because you are my friend... I know that I can count on you to hold my hand through the rough times and to be there to share the good times too.
Because you are my friend... I’ll always have someone to make me smile just when I need it most and to encourage me when I’m feeling confused or doubtful.
I know that I must be one of the luckiest people in the world to have someone like you. The perfect love, the perfect friend.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo.
“When they looked into each others eyes, they learned the most important part of the
language that all the world seeks — the language that everyone on earth was
capable of understanding in their heart and soul. It was love. Something older
than humanity, but with absolute feeling and trust. With what that woman felt at
that moment, she was in the presence of the only man in her life, and, with no
need for words, he recognised the same thing. Fore when you know the
language, it’s easy to understand that someone in the world awaits you, whether
in the silence of night or the power of the ocean. 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 future and dreams would
have no meaning.”
Love Is Friendship Caught Fire by Laura Hendricks
Love is friendship caught fire; it is quiet, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present, hopes for the future and does not brood over the past. It is the day-in and day-out chronicles of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you do not have it, no matter what else there is, it is not enough.
