What are you having for readings?

I don't know that there is anything 'traditional' about having two readings; most of my weddings have at least three or four.

I don't think the 'falling in love is like having a dog" is overly 'city' oriented, if you like it.

Really 3 or 4? Wow, most wedding I have gone to are 2. Most weddings I've gone to are Catholic though so maybe that's it? I I dunno. I do like it! FH is not overly fond of it, but there is nothing he likes better.

Lol I LOVE Investigation Discovery channel!! FH thinks I'm so nerdy because of it...

I agree, where I'm from 2 readings is traditional. I could NOT imagine 3 or 4!! We are doing one traditional reading, 1 Corinthians 13:4-6, 13. Then we're doing "Union" by Robert Fulghum. I love it, it really spoke to me and you may enjoy it because its more contemporary.

We're only doing one reading. We probably wouldn't have had any but FH's grandfather wrote poetry and he had a few on marriage and weddings. I'm not particularly fond of the poems because they're in a very formal style and most of them are overly religious in my point of view, but it means a lot to FH to have one read. Hey, at least he let me choose the poem. I know I've seen lists of non-traditional readings on Buzzfeed or Off Beat Bride before. I bet if you google it you'll find some good options.

Here are mine:

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 promises 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.

and

“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 promises and agreements in an informal way. All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks — all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and continued with “I will” and “you will” and “we will” — 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 we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed — well, I meant it all, every word.”

@annakay not only are we getting married on the same day but we will have the same reading "Union" by Robert Fulghum here too. I'm only having one reading though since it's lengthy.

It depends on how well they are integrated into the ceremony and how much stuff is required by your church or temple. Since I'm not bound by any of that, and I don't include a lot of 'traditional' parts, I usually start off with a reading, I have one before the vows, and if there are guests, we weave them into the ceremony script, so they feel more organic rather than, "Now here is a reading from Paul's letter to the Corinthians".

I've used m's first reading (from Corelli's Mandolin) often, and the second one, (Union, from Fulgham) many times too.

The bottom line is that readings need to serve a purpose and move the ceremony along gracefully, rather than being plopped in because you 'need' a reading.

We are doing Ephesians 5:22-31 as one reading:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

And the officiant has a poem called "Marriage Joins Two People in the Circle of Its Love" by Edmund O’Neill that he suggested. I'm unsure about the poem still. My favorite book is Les Miserables, and it has some nice love quotes, and I was named after a book/movie that is a love story, so that's another option.

Celia, can you share the Game of Thrones reading FMD mentioned? I'm sure you have posted many times, but I haven't seen it before. FH and I are big GOT fans.

As far as our readings, we have to talk to our officiants about the specifics, but we want to do one non traditional one (pending they are ok with it) and are considering something from Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

"The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation."

@FutureMrsDickinson ahh that's so funny!! We must have a lot in common

Thanks, everyone! @Celia I am trying to find an additional reading that serves a purpose and fits in, not just a filler. FH has a lot of opinions too which is good, but it is also challenging.

@annakay ID is the BEST!! Glad I am not alone! I looked up Union and I do like that!

@m I had looked at the second reading you shared, and liked it. Really like that first one!

We have been going back and forth, but so far:

I belong in Your Arms - by Deborah Bridea

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

I Carry Your heart by E.E Cummings

Blessing of the Hands Author Unknown (Hand fasting)

Matt 19:4 - 6 (God's Knot)

John 13:14-17 (Foot washing)

We will be using part of the closing from Justice Kennedy's majority opinion on same sex marriage

No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than they once were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it; they respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves.

We also like the Corelli passage that m quoted, and are on the lookout for another literary reading that has some meaning to us.

@rjmargo, I came across the GOT quote last night, it's Danerys (sp) talking about him being her moon and stars.

@jacqui- I love Justice Kennedy's closing, I want to use it as well, but the last couple sentences seem to not fit. how are you using it?

@OP- I googled wedding readings last night and saw many options, fun, serious, religious, etc...

Celia - I would also love to see the GOT one!!

Jacqui; many of my couples use that one, and the one from the judge in Massachusetts. they are stirring, beautiful readings in any context.

Here is the Game of Thrones reading;

"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”

This one is good too;

“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)

I don't think any of my couples would agree to anyone 'submitting' to anyone.....

@Jacqui I love that and had wanted to use that! I am with @tara where the last couple of lines did not quite fit.

I had googled before taking to WW. I read the offbeat bride, buzzfeed, the knot etc. and was just curious what other people were doing as I was not completely in love with the ones I had found.

Yea i was at a wedding where one of the readings said something about a wife "submitting" to the husband...all I could think about was 50 Shades of Grey...

Just notice that I am not part of the 5 star club- woot!

@Tara and @FutureMrsD I'm using it just as I typed it near the beginning of the ceremony. Most of my guests will recognize it and understand. My side of the family has a handful of queer people so all generations and political persuasions are more aware and open. We are very lucky. I think it fits for us because in the beginning of the ceremony our officiant will be talking about us, our relationship, marriage, and how we approach it. We love the sentiment, words chosen, and feel strongly about marriage equality. I left of the last few sentences of the opinion that more specifically refer to the decision. You can use only the first three sentences I typed here, which are more about marriage in general and don't refer to "petitioners" (but that doesn't bother us).

A good friend of mine used the Massachusetts same sex decision a few years ago and I loved it. They are a hetero couple and both work in law/government. I thought it was perfect for them.