What is the point of readings in a wedding ceremony?

Well, you want to keep it interesting and personalized, yes?

Yes, haha. We're going to do them, but I guess I'm wondering how they originated.

In religious ceremonies the readings come from Scriptural texts. For example, in a Catholic Mass, the ceremony follows the traditional liturgical reading set up. In non-religious ceremonies it can be anything to showcase your personality as a couple, or something that's meaningful to you.

To inspire, to entertain, to express your relationship.

Thank you for your input, everyone!

Sorry, I know you're trying to cut this off, Patricia, forgive me for adding my two cents. "To make the ceremony seem long enough to justify traveling across the country for the wedding." We didn't do any, I swear our whole ceremony was probably 20 minutes start to finish, and I wouldn't be surprised if it left some people with a, "Wait! That's ALL?" feeling.

Forgive my ignorance but...can someone explain what readings are?

Usually a bible passage? poem?

What Celia said. They don't have to be Bible passages, just something that represents you and your FH, and your relationship. If you google non-traditional wedding readings, you can find a lot. I have a file saved of some of the ones I like so FH and I can look at them later to decide.

One of my couples wanted the bare minimum of a ceremony. I pointed out that guests were traveling many miles to their destination wedding. If someone sneezed, they'd miss the whole ceremony. Couple was adamant, so I did a very brief ceremony for them. They were so happy, they left a review here for me.

Zoe, some of the guests did comment on how short it was. I replied, "Short & sweet -- just like the bride and groom requested."

Ours was short...no readings but my pastor did put some words in there and we did a prayer. The whole "Please cater your ceremony to how far people are traveling to be there" thing is...not right to me. They are there to see us get married, period. I don't think that warrants putting on a longer show you don't feel comfortable with just so people can feel "justified" for how long it took them to get there. The ceremony is the only part of the wedding day that really is just about you two. It's YOUR wedding ceremony. Make it what you want and don't worry about whether or not people are satisfied with the length.

But by all means, if you want readings, have them!

We asked our officiant to keep our ceremony under 10 minutes (not including the processional). No readings at all; just the I Dos, the Vows and Now I Pronounce You. I feel really good about my decision, so do whatever feels right for you! If you want readings, think of your favorite poems, a monologue from a play or a paragraph from a special book. You can also ask someone to sing a meaningful song instead. What do you want to hear in that special moment? ETA: To me, the kick ass food, open bar, band, DJ and hula show are a better Thank You for my guests who will be traveling a long way for the wedding!

We are having two readings in our non-religious ceremony.

1. It is a way to include some beautiful words that describe and inspire our relationship.

2. It is a way to include our mothers in the ceremony to help them feel loved and involved (I feel mothers don't get too much attention during the ceremony according to our tradition).

3. I get to spend a little bit longer standing with my FH on one of the most important days in our lives together

My ceremonies typically run 10-15 minutes, but I can do shorter or longer on request. The ceremony I mentioned above probably was not even 5 minutes. For a beach ceremony, usually with guests standing, 10-15 minutes feels just right.

Well, I'd assume that without the religious aspects of weddings, it would be a pretty brief ceremony filled with info that will likely be disclosed during the speeches at the reception (how they met, etc.) and an exchange of the vows. The readings, and there are enough of them to appeal to every couple under the sun, are the vehicle by which words are put to the ceremony the guests are witnessing. They say something about these two people as a couple. I love them. They're usually unique, and the couple was allowed to choose something that spoke to them as opposed to accepting nothing more than by-the-book religious verbiage that does not vary from one wedding to the next (and since every couple is unique, wedding ceremonies should vary from couple to couple).

If a couple is very uncomfortable with standing in front of people for more than ten minutes, do a private ceremony. There is nothing wrong with that, it's just that people invited to a ceremony expect to see one; not a license signing.

Twenty minutes is the golden length as far as I'm concerned.

Most ceremonies that I do, do not have readings (although my couples have the option to include readings). I only do non-religious, secular ceremonies. The ceremonies are about ten minutes.

Readings make the ceremony longer, if you want longer than ten minutes.

I had one couple have each mother do their own readings; one adapted a Dr Seuss book; the other had various people each read a line or two. Very cool.

So my answer would be: in a traditional christian religious ceremony, there are likely readings from the bible. If you are having a secular ceremony, it could be a poem, or something that reflects you as a couple. Or skip it all together.

Legally (in California) you have to have the Declaration of Intent (the I dos) and be legally pronounced. Every thing else is optional. You can dance around a May pole if you like