If you’re looking to do something a little different at your civil ceremony. You want your ceremony to reflect your relationship and how you view love, which means that the readings should also be specific and special. Here are some beautiful wedding readings that might be perfect for your civil wedding.
23 Beautiful Civil wedding readings
- A lovely Story by Edward Monkton
- A Love knot by Frances Nagle
- A Dream by Robert C.O.Benjamin (1855 – 1900)
- Always Marry An April Girl by Ogden Nash
- Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her by Christopher Brennan
- He never leaves the seat up Author Unknow
- I Carry you heart with me By Edward Estlin Cummings
- I love you by Roy Croft
- I promise by Dorothy R.Colga
- I will be here by Steven Curtis Chapman
- Marriage Fulfills the Dreams and Love Two People Share by Glenda Wilm
- May be Author Unknown
- On Marriage by Kahil Gibran
- On your wedding day (poem) Author Unknown
- Our Great Adventure by Pamela Dugdale
- She walks in beauty by Lord Byron
- To Be One With Each Other by Geirge Eliot
- The Art Of A Good Marriage by Wilfred Arlan Peterson
- The Colour Of My Love by David Foster and Arthur Janov
- The key to love Author Unknown
- True love (poem) Author Unknown
- What is love? Author Unknown
- Yes, I’ll marry your (poem) Pam Ayres
Hi , I’m looking for a wedding reading called “The beauty of love” I can’t find on your site. Please can you please indicate where is? Many thanks Ellie xx
Hi Ellie,
I was happy when I found this reading, which we’re going to use at our.
The Beauty of Love
The question is asked: -Is there anything more
beautiful in life than a young couple clasping
hands and pure hearts in the path of marriage?
Can there be anything more beautiful than
young love?’ And the answer is given: -Yes,
there is a more beautiful thing. It is the
spectacle of an old man and an old woman
finishing their journey together on that path.
Their hands are gnarled but still clasped;
their faces are seamed but still radiant;
their hearts are physically bowed and tired
but still strong with love and devotion.
Yes, there is a more beautiful thing than young love. Old love.
Thank you so much Charlotte 🙂
Ninize xoxo
Hi I take you Editor!
I’m looking for some inspiration!
We are having a civil ceremony this November and my best friend is going to do a reading for us during the ceremony! i’m looking for something sweet but not too soppy and just haven’t found anything that suited yet!
Please can you help.
Kind regards
Holly
Hi Holly,
Have a look at this page funny wedding readings
https://www.itakeyou.co.uk/funny-wedding-readings/
Hope this help. 🙂
Kind regards
Ninize
We’re having 3 readings:
1st reading.
On Your Wedding Day Author Unknown
Today is a day you will always remember
The greatest in anyone’s life
You’ll start off the day just two people in love
And end it as Husband and Wife
It’s a brand new beginning the start of a journey
With moments to cherish and treasure
And although there’ll be times when you both disagree
These will surely be outweighed by pleasure
You’ll have heard many words of advice in the past
When the secrets of marriage were spoken
But you know that the answers lie hidden inside
Where the bond of true love lies unbroken
So live happy forever as lovers and friends
It’s the dawn of a new life for you
As you stand there together with love in your eyes
From the moment you whisper ‘I do’
And with luck, all your hopes, and your dreams can be real
May success find its way to your hearts
Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys
But today is the day it all starts
2nd rading
Gayan, Vadan, Nirtan – Hazrat Inayat Khan
Is love pleasure, is love merriment?
No.
love is longing constantly;
love is persevering unweariedly;
love is hoping patiently;
love is willing surrender;
love is regarding constantly the pleasure and displeasure of the beloved,
for love is resignation to the will of the possessor of one’s heart;
it is love that teaches us: Thou, not I.
Last
Yes, I’ll Marry You – Pam Ayres
Yes, I’ll marry you, my dear, and here’s the reason why; So I can push you out of bed when the baby starts to cry, and if we hear a knocking and it’s creepy and it’s late, I hand you the torch you see, and you investigate.
Yes I’ll marry you, my dear, you may not apprehend it, but when the tumble-drier goes it’s you that has to mend it. You have to face the neighbour should our labrador attack him, and if a drunkard fondles me it’s you that has to whack him.
Yes, I’ll marry you, you’re virile and you’re lean, my house is like a pigsty you can help to keep it clean. That tasty little dinner which you served by candlelight, as I do chipolatas, you can cook it every night!
It’s you who has to work the drill and put up curtain track, and when i am in a mood it’s you who gets the flak. i do see great advantages, but none of them for you, and so before you see the light, I do,I do,I do
We ‘re having I Love You by Roy Croft and Union by Robert Fulghum
I also adore this, A Lovely Love Story ~ by Edward Monkton ~
https://www.itakeyou.co.uk/lovely-love-story-edward-monkton-wedding-reading/
We’re having I’ll marry you too and also having “to Keep Your Marriage Brimming – Ogden Nash”
To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you’re wrong admit it;
Whenever you’re right shut up.
Hi,
I like this one
“Oh the Places You’ll Go – Dr Seuss”
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the couple who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look -em over with care.
About some you will say, ???????We don’t choose to go there.???????
With your heads full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down, any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.
It’s opener there
in the wide open air,
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.
OH! THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to great heights!
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have all the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang, and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly you’ll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because sometimes, you won’t.
You’ll get mixed up of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with so many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with great care and great tact
and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will indeed!
(98 and ???? percent guaranteed.)
KIDS, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So, be your name Buxbaum or Dowrie or Bass
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to great places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So … get on your way!
Who else having this?
Yes me too 🙂
and also ‘Us Two’ from When we are six I think it’s very sweet and reflect a childhood kind of thing.
We’re having the velveteen rabbit and I like you by Sandol stoddard Warburg
I like you because you are a good person to like.
I like you because when I tell you something special,
you know it???s special.
And you remember it a long, long time.
You say, Remember when you told me something special
And both of us remember?
When I think something is important
you think it???s important too.
We have good ideas.
When I say something funny,
you laugh. I think I???m funny
and you think I???m funny too. Hah-hah!
I like you because you know where I???m ticklish.
And you don???t tickle me there,
except just a little tiny bit sometimes.
But if you do, then I know where to tickle you too.
You know how to be silly
That???s why I like you.
Boy are you ever silly.
I never met anybody sillier than me
till I met you. I like you because
you know when it???s time to stop being silly.
Maybe day after tomorrow.
Maybe never.
Too late, it???s a quarter past silly.
Sometimes we don???t say a word.
We snurkle under fences.
We spy secret places.
If I am a goofus on the roofus hollering my head off,
You are one too.
If I pretend I am drowning,
you pretend you are saving me.
If I am getting ready to pop a paper bag,
then you are getting ready to jump.
HOORAY!
That???s because you really like me.
You really like me, don???t you?
And I really like you back.
And you like me back and I like you back.
And that???s the way we keep on going every day.
If you go away, then I go away too;
or if I stay home, you send me a postcard.
You don???t just say,
Well see you around sometime, bye!
I like you a lot because of that.
If I go away, I send you a postcard too.
And I like you because
if we go away together,
And if we are in Grand Central Station,
And if I get lost
Then you are the one that is yelling for me.
And I like you because
when I am feeling sad
You don???t always cheer me up right away.
Sometimes it is better to be sad.
You can???t stand the others
being so googly and gaggly every single minute.
You want to think about things.
It takes time.
I like you because if I am mad at you,
Then you are mad at me too.
It???s awful when the other person isn???t.
They are so nice and hoo-hoo
you could just about punch them in the nose.
I like you because if I think I
am going to throw up,
then you are really sorry.
You don???t just pretend you are busy
looking at the birdies and all that.
You say, maybe it was something you ate.
You say, the same thing happened to me one time.
And the same thing did.
If you find two four-leaf clovers,you give me one.
If I find four, I give you two.
If we only find three, we keep on looking.
Sometimes we have good luck,
and sometimes we don???t. If I break my arm,
and if you break your arm too,
Then it???s fun to have a broken arm.
I tell you about mine, you tell me about yours.
We are both sorry.
We write our names and draw pictures.
We show everybody
and they wish they had a broken arm too.
I like you because
I don???t know why
but Everything that happens is nicer with you.
I can???t remember when I didn???t like you.
It must have been lonesome then.
I like you because because because
I forget why I like you, but I do.
So many reasons.
On the 4th of July
I like you because it???s the 4th of July. On the fifth of July,
I like you too. If you and I had some drums
and some horns and some horses,
If we had some hats and some flags
and some fire engines,
We could be a HOLIDAY.
We could be a CELEBRATION.
We could be a WHOLE PARADE.
We are having ‘Maybe’
Maybe…We are supposed to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one so that, when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift Maybe…it is true that we don’t know what we have got until we lose it, but it is also true that we don’t know what we have been missing until it arrives Maybe…the happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way Maybe…the best kind of love is the kind you can sit on a sofa together and never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you’ve ever had Maybe…you shouldn’t go for looks; they can deceive. Don’t go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Maybe…you should hope for enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, and enough hope to make you happy Maybe… Love is not about finding the perfect person, it’s about learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.’
Hi girls,
We are planning on having ‘What is Love’ as one of our readings.
‘What is love? To solve that riddle with just one answer is beyond me, for love is many different and contradictory things. In the early stages love is excitement and breathlessness, it is the ache of separation and the comfort of togetherness, and it builds inexorably to that moment when ‘I’ becomes ‘we’. Later, if blessed, love becomes a stronger, less transitory thing, a foundation for two lives lived as one. It is all around us, there for the taking, yet to seek it out is futile. It cannot be bought or stolen or given. It cannot be avoided or denied. Love is the beautiful, wonderful, mysterious mortar that binds two souls together and I first heard its voice on the day I met you. It has been with me every moment since. This is what love is’
How about reading from poetry. I love this one
A House of Stone – by Carmen Bugan
In the village where I was born, we wish
A house of stone to shelter the heart of the marriage
So here too, I wish you
Obstinate, strong love, unyielding and unending.
May you be in reach of each other when all seems lost,
May your tears and your smiles happen always face to face.
When you imagine that you have shared everything
May you know that you still have the rest of your lives
To do all of it again and again.
But now listen to the hurry of bells and
Look how petals of roses about the vineyard
Bring you the words husband and wife:
First words in your house of stone.
We’re having the Velveteen Rabbit. It’s one of my favourite books of all time.
wowwww
What a great response.
I’ve got so many amazing ideas now! thanks everyone!
All the best
Holly xx
Hi everyone,
Could anyone help with ideas for a reading at my wedding. Not in a church though, or any inspiration.
Thanks xx
These are the two we’re having!
Yes, I’ll Marry You – Pam Ayres
Yes, I’ll marry you, my dear, and here’s the reason why; So I can push you out of bed when the baby starts to cry, and if we hear a knocking and it’s creepy and it’s late, I hand you the torch you see, and you investigate.
Yes I’ll marry you, my dear, you may not apprehend it, but when the tumble-drier goes it’s you that has to mend it. You have to face the neighbour should our labrador attack him, and if a drunkard fondles me it’s you that has to whack him.
Yes, I’ll marry you, you’re virile and you’re lean, my house is like a pigsty you can help to keep it clean. That tasty little dinner which you served by candlelight, as I do chipolatas, you can cook it every night!
It’s you who has to work the drill and put up curtain track, and when i am in a mood it’s you who gets the flak. i do see great advantages, but none of them for you, and so before you see the light, I do,I do,I do
A Lovely Love Story, 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.
We’re having the Apache Blessing and this one
I love You by Roy Croft
I love you
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.
I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.
I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can’t help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find
I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple.
Out of the works
Of my every day life
Not a reproach
But a song.
I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good.
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.
You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.
Good luck.
Liz xx
We are having 3 readings
1. Blessing for a Marriage – James Dillet Freeman
May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding.
May you always need one another – not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness. A mountain needs a valley to be complete; the valley does not make the mountain less, but more; and the valley is more a valley because it has a mountain towering over it. So let it be with you and you.
May you need one another, but not out of weakness.
May you want one another, but not out of lack.
May you entice one another, but not compel one another.
May you embrace one another, but not out encircle one another.
May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces.
May you look for things to praise, often say, “I love you!” and take no notice of small faults.
If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back.
May you enter into the mystery which is the awareness of one another’s presence – no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when you are side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or even distant cities.
May you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy.
May you have love, and may you find it loving one another!
2. Apache Blessing
Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no more loneliness for you,
For each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two bodies,
But there is only one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place,
To enter into the days of your togetherness.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.
May the sun bring you new energy by day,
May the moon softly restore you by night,
May the rain wash away your worries
And the breeze blow new strength into your being,
And all of the days of your life may you walk
Gently through the world and know its beauty.
And 3rd still not sure but we are thinking of having shakespeare
SONNET 116 – 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 even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
A Dedication To My Wife – T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)
I am thinking of doing the Dinosaur one myself!
Is it ok for a bride to do that?
My fiance would like me to do a speech but I really can’t face that so he said if I did a reading that would count. I don’t think I will get through it without crying though!
we’re having this one..i love it!!
The Invitation
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon…
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
???????Yes.???????
It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.
We are also having ‘On your wedding day’ and here are a couple of others that I really like.
The One
When the one whose hand you’re holding
Is the one who holds your heart
When the one whose eyes you gaze into
Gives your hopes and dreams their start,
When the one you think of first and last
Is the one who holds you tight,
And the things you plan together
Make the whole world seem just right,
When the one whom you believe in
puts their faith and trust in you,
You’ve found the one and only love
You’ll share your whole life through.
What is a soul mate?
If you have found a smile
That is the sweetest one you’ve known;
If you have heard, within a voice,
The echoes of your own.
If you have felt a touch
That stirs the longings of your heart,
And still can feel that closeness
In the moments you’re apart.
If you have filled with wonder
At the way two lives can blend
To weave a perfect pattern
That is seamless, end to end.
If you believe some things in life
Are simply meant to be,
Then you have found your soul mate,
And that is plain to see.
I’ve tons of wedding readings and these two I particular love
Consider Love” It’s Moods and Many Ways ~ Sandra Boynton
Consider love.
Look here and there.
Consider love.
It’s everywhere.
Consider love.
Observe a while.
it comes in every shape, and style.
There’s simple love and love mysterious.
Frivolous love and love too serious.
There’s hopeful love and love despairing.
Cautious love and love that’s daring.
There’s tiny love and love unbounded.
Logical love and love unfounded.
Love that’s shallow.
Love that’s deep.
Love extravagant.
Love….well, cheap.
Love that is clever.
Love perhaps foolish.
Love oh so hot.
Love rather coolish.
Young love.
Old love.
Meek love.
Bold love.
Eloquent love and never-told love.
Love that’s inspiring.
Love that is tiring.
Love overzealous.
Love over-jealous.
Comfortable love and love problematic.
Love wistful and weary.
Love gently ecstatic.
Theatrical love that can suffer or smile, make grand declarations, and exit with style.
Now consider one love in the midst of the crowd –
an affectionate love, neither timid nor loud.
a love that appreciates fire, and grace.
A love that adores one remarkable face.
A love that is steady devoted, and true –
Consider my love for incredible you.
Love Me by Walter Rinder
Love me because I try to touch life within the framework of uncertainty.
Love in me the shadows of my indecision as I strive to gain knowledge.
Love in me the silence of my hurts and the noise of my confusions.
Love me for the feeling of my heart not the fears of my mind.
Love me in my search for the truth though I may stumble upon fallacy.
Love me as I pursue my dreams sometimes hampered by illusions.
Love me as I grow to know myself even during times of stagnation.
Love me because I seek God’s harmony not man’s discord.
Love me for my body that I wish to share with affection, wrapping you in warmth.
Love me because we are different, as we are the same.
Love me that our time together will be spent in growing, kindling the world with understanding.
Love me not with expectations but with hope.
I will love you the same.
There are two of us, Tell Her So
Amid the cares of married strife
In spite of toil and business life
If you value your sweet wife
Tell her so!
When days are dark and deeply blue
She has her troubles same as you
Show her that your love is true
Tell her so!
There was a time you thought it bliss
To get the favor of one kiss;
A dozen now won’t come amiss –
Tell her so!
Don’t act if she has passed her prime,
As though to please her were a crime;
If ever you loved her, now’s the time –
Tell her so!
She’ll return, for each caress,
A hundred fold of tenderness;
Hearts like hers were made to bless
Tell her so!
You are hers and hers alone;
Well you know she’s all your own:
Don’t wait to carve it on a stone –
Tell her so!
Never let her heart grow cold –
Richer beauties will unfold;
She is worth her weight in gold
Tell her so!
Thanks for all the ideas, They’re all so lovely. I’ve no idea how I’m going to pick only a couple of them. xx
Hi Emily,
So far we are having
A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns
O, my lurve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June;
O, my lurve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly play’d in the tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in lurve am I;
And I will lurve 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;
I will lurve thee still, my dear,
While the sands of life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only lurve!
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my lurve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile.
All the best
Charlie xx
Hi, anyone having/had I promise by Dorothy R.Colgan?