Nonreligious Wedding Readings

Hi Ohkae! When my husband and I got married we wanted a non-religious ceremony and were lucky to find an amazing officiant with ceremony options we loved! Check out her ceremony page on her website for some ideas. There are some religious readings listed, but there are plenty of non-religious readings and we found a bunch of readings and/or poems that we loved and had read at our wedding

http://mddcweddings.com/ceremony/

Rachel Langerhans

Rachel Langerhans Photography

I liked the readings we found here:

http://www.bustle.com/articles/25069-36-non-religious-wedding-readings-that-show-off-your-literary-side

Celias pinterest has a TON of wedding readings.

The above Bustle article is where we chose our reading from Les Mis from

Go to my pinterest page

https://www.pinterest.com/Celiamilton/wedding-vows-and-readings/

There are 10 officiants who contribute to that, and I try to do one every Wednesday; this week's was from the Game of Thrones. It's mostly non religiuos, and the usual suspects are there (Union....Love by Roy Croft) but there are some really innovative, cool things too.

Here are some to get you started;

Opening Reading (choose one)

?I hereby give myself. I love you. You are the only being whom I can love absolutely with my complete self, with all my flesh and mind and heart. You are my mate; my perfect partner, and I am yours. You must feel this now, as I do. It was a marvel that we ever met. It is some kind of divine luck that we are together now. As we look at each other we verify, we know, the perfection of our love, we recognize each other. Here is my life. (Iris Murdoch)

OR

Never, ever, try to impress somebody. Be exactly the person you would be if you were alone or with somebody it was safe to burp around. Be that person. Be the person you are right now alone, reading this book. And then meet people. Then hold out until you meet somebody who is utterly impressed. Because then? You will not have impressed them. They will have been impressed by you.

The difference may seem just a matter of semantics. But it’s not. The difference is finding a person who’s right for you. Not one you think is correct. The other ways won’t work. Even if they work for a while…they will fail. You will always slide back into being who you actually are. And the person you are with will want a refund.

But. If you meet somebody and they love you when you are your true, awful, not-ready-yet, boring, not cool enough, not handsome enough, not pretty enough, too fat, too poor self? And if you love them back so much it makes you calm? And they have flaws and you do not mind a single one of them? If you can say yes, you have found…..IT. From author Augusten Burroughs

OR

Building a wedding -- the bridal party, the families, the guests, the minister, writing the vows, selecting the food -- is like an outdoor sculpture . You're trying to make something beautiful out of unruly and unpredictable elements -- the weather, the nuttier relatives, rivalries, disorders, dreams. Out of mostly old neurotic family and friends, you hope to create something of beauty, a whole. You create it as an act of faith, that for a brief period of time, the love and commitment of two people will bring everyone together, and it will sort of work. Even if the weather or personalities are worrisome, these breezes and water will flow through the structure of your wedding, will sanctify and change it, and it will hold.

That's what's so touching about weddings: Two people fall in love, and decide to see if their love might stand up over time, if there might be enough grace and forgiveness and memory lapses to help the whole shebang hang together.. And the ceremony adds so much hope to it all, but also so much more discomfort, and expense, and your only hope is that here on the big day, all that energy will run through the lightest elements and the heaviest, the brightest, the dullest, the funniest, the most annoying, and the whole range will converge within a ring of celebration.

You celebrate what works -- it's a miracle that so much still does -- and you take tender care of what doesn't and yes, Weddings are about families, and families can be a bit of a mess under stress. But the love that will gathers here is much more important than anything else on earth, and bigger than anything else on earth, too. Because finally, that love is sovereign." These words are from author Anne Lamott, in her book Plan B.

OR

"Life isn't measured by the number of breaths we take, ?but by the number of moments that take our breath away.

Whether married, partnered or single you can live the life that you love. You just have to get over the jitters and let the dreams show you the way. Tie your kite to reality… Check your gut when ever it says, “hey, wait”… Take action when the time is right… Remember and treasure what life shows you… But don’t ever stand in the way of what you really love.

As far as we can tell, dreams are nothing more than love trying to take wing and soar. Imagine for just a moment thrilling distracting wonderful odd unusual sensation of new love. You immediately begin dreaming of life together of where you will go of what life will mean for the two of you. Live in that moment every day. Fall in love with new ideas new opportunities and new places all the time trust it, live it, don’t say no to love or crush a dream that wants to live. It isn’t that hard to give yourself over to it. You just have to say yes to life and love. Love will never lead you astray.

Will you live an unusual life together? Will you live the life you love? We all hope so. Anyone with a heart filled by dreams is already halfway there. So breathe deep. Jump in. Swim, or just float on the lands of life of laughter and love.” From Bob and Melinda Blanchard authors and entrepreneurs.

OR

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Miracles are inside you and around you every day, waiting to be discovered. The question is not whether they are there; the question is whether you will see and seize them in a way that only you can. Open up the eyes of your heart and mind. Stay the course; you’re the only one who can!” Albert Einstein and artist Erik Wahl.

OR

"As you are the Moon of his life, he shall be your Sun and Stars. Your love shall be as ever present as those two celestial bodies... even though they are sometimes hidden from one another's sight. Your love will be the guiding force that charts the course of your tomorrows, holds your world together in difficult times and will make life itself shine bolder and brighter than we human beings have a right to dream of." From George RR Martin’s “Game of Thrones”

Our friends had the "What is real" excerpt from The Velveteen Rabbit at their wedding -- not a dry eye in the house:

"‘What is REAL?’ asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. ‘Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?’

‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When someone loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’

‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’

‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’

‘ It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You 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 your 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.’

‘I suppose you are real?’ said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse only smiled.

‘Someone made me Real,’ he said. ‘That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.’"

The only problem with the VR reading is that it is basically about smallpox. It's a little sad, even though I love it.

Same with the Giving Tree; the kid takes and takes, the tree gives....I hate that reading.....

@celia I think it's scarlet fever (not that that's better haha). The Giving Tree does seem too bittersweet for a wedding. FH are planning to use the bit from The Little Prince about what it means to tame something, which is also pretty bittersweet, but holds a lot of meaning for us.

What kind of reading are you looking for?

We did a reading from Game of Thrones (Here's a link from Celia's blog: http://www.500greatweddingideas.com/blog/wedding-reading-wednesday-game-of-thrones)

And then we had a poem read (that was actually written by our officiant) :

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/there-are-many-blessings-to-be-counted/

You could absolutely be right, Book! my bad.

I just remember because my cousin got scarlet fever as a kid, and was inconsolable because she thought that meant they'd have to burn all her toys! Okay, I'll stop hijacking the thread now!

Thank you all so much! I will check those websites out tonight!

Following

We chose to go with things based on our culture since we didn't want religion involved. If either of you is particularly passionate about your heritage you might look into pulling something from there.

Following

I don't understand the VR quote pertaining to a marriage?

We are doing Union 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 commitments in an informal way. All of those conversations that were held in a car, or over a meal, or during long walks—all those conversations that began with, “When we’re married,” and continued with “I will” and “you will” and “we will”—all those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe”—and 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, “You know all those things that we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed—well, I meant it all, every word.”

Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another—acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher, for you have learned much from one another these past few years. Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you will never quite be the same.

For after today you shall say to the world—“This is my husband.” “This is my wife.”

Also A Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton

The fierce Dinosaur was trapped inside his cage of ice.

Although it was cold he was happy in there. It was, after all, his cage.

Then along came the Lovely Other Dinosaur.

The Lovely Other Dinosaur melted the Dinosaur’s cage with kind words and loving thoughts.

I like this Dinosaur thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur.

Although he is fierce he is also tender and he is funny.

He is also quite clever though I will not tell him this for now.

I like this Lovely Other Dinosaur, thought the Dinosaur.

She is beautiful and she is different and she smells so nice.

She is also a free spirit which is a quality I much admire in a dinosaur.

But he can be so distant and so peculiar at times, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur.

He is also overly fond of things.

Are all Dinosaurs so overly fond of things?

But her mind skips from here to there so quickly thought the Dinosaur.

She is also uncommonly keen on shopping.

Are all Lovely Other Dinosaurs so uncommonly keen on shopping?

I will forgive his peculiarity and his concern for things, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur.

For they are part of what makes him a richly charactered individual.

I will forgive her skipping mind and her fondness for shopping, thought the Dinosaur.

For she fills our life with beautiful thoughts and wonderful surprises. Besides,

I am not unkeen on shopping either.

Now the Dinosaur and the Lovely Other Dinosaur are old.

Look at them.

Together they stand on the hill telling each other stories and feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs.

And that, my friends, is how it is with love.

Let us all be Dinosaurs and Lovely Other Dinosaurs together.

For the sun is warm.

And the world is a beautiful place.

@ Irp-I was JUST going to suggest that Monkton poem!

We're having a couple other poetry readings during the ceremony (including one my friend is writing for us-one of the things I'm most excited about!!! She is an incredible poet) but I love that Monkton Dinosaur poem. I plan to frame it and place either by guest book or dessert table.

We are using the Edward Monkton piece!

I cant handle the VR one because of the line about "having things that buzz inside you and a stick-handle" but thats because on the inside im a 12 year old boy with my mind in the gutter