What is your favourite wedding reading?

I really don't have a favourite, It really depends on what the couple want 

quite a lot piece of string as there are literally thousands. If you pm me I can send you some pdf's of suggestions

The Art of Marriage by Arlan Peterson. It says everything I want my coupkes to remember about marriage. 

Wedding readings are a very subjective thing.  Like music.  What some people enjoy, others don't.  Your friend might say...Listen to this great song....you listen and don't like it.   My advice is for the Bride and Groom to hunt through readings until they find something they love and can relate to.  Don't ever let the reader choose the reading.......you might hate it on the day.

Love Monkey by Edward Monkton

It was once custom that every monkey would carve for himself a wooden heart. And the heart that love monkey carved was the most beautiful of all. Its contours were soft and rounded, like an ancient pebble sculpted by the oceans. Its surface was smooth and shiny like liquid silk, and it shone as bright as a ruby in the desert sun. “Take your hearts with you wherever you go,” said their teacher. “Nurture them as a mother nurtures her new-born baby. For when you want to give of yourself fully, your heart is the only true gift you will have.”  

That night, Love Monkey had a dream. He dreamt of a monkey whose smile lit up his sole like sunshine. He held out his heart to her, so radiant, so splendid and so new. She took him in her arms and he felt truly, perfectly, at peace. When Love Monkey awoke he resolved that, from that day forward, he would search for his Dream Monkey until he could stand before her and give to her his perfect heart. 

He travelled through deserts…and climbed over mountains. He trekked across forests…and sailed many oceans. Love Monkey looked after his heart as best he could, but the storms that he endured on his travels chipped away at its surface and each new adventure reshaped it. By the time he arrived on the last distant shore, his heart was so changed by the patina of time that it barely resembled his old heart at all. 

And then, he saw her. Standing before him, as radiant and as beautiful as the sunshine, was his Dream Monkey. At first the cold not speak.  But then, from somewhere deep inside himself, he found a voice. “I have travelled the world over to find you, and to give you my heart,” he said. “But now that I am finally with you, I see how foolish I have been. You are so beautiful, so perfect.  And my heart that was once smooth, so bright and so new is now not something that I could even bring myself to show you,” and he turned to go. “Let me see it,” said Dream Monkey.  She took his heart and held it up to the light. “Nothing to me is more beautiful.  Every fissure tells a story. Every blemish makes you more real.  All my life I have been waiting for a heart like this; a heart that speaks the truth.” “Come here,” she said. “I have something for you too.” In her hand was a tiny golden heart.  It was as worn and as scratched as Love Monkey’s own…and it was the most precious thing that he had ever seen.

Love Monkey put his arms around her and they held each other for a long, long time. “I shall treasure this heart for as long as I live,” said Dream Monkey, running her fingers over its ridged and dimpled surface. Then they looked into each other’s eyes and, feeling the joy of truth in their souls for the first time, they began to laugh.  And often they sit together still, holding each other’s hearts in their warm hands, lifting them to the light…and laughing. Always laughing.

I have a book of readings etc that I share with my couples. While I have a couple of personal favourites, I don't like to influence my couples too much as the best reading is the one that suits their lives and history. That means every ceremony is different.

I always send a collection of readings and poems to my couples to have a look through, not necessarily to choose from, but so they get an idea of the type of reading they like/don't like.  My favourites change all the time! But I do really like 'A Lovely Love Story' by Edward Monkton - so cute :)  

Wendy x

I have a reading that I do after I perform the Celtic Traditional Handfasting ritual and it just says so much about the couple who are standing there holding hands anticipating what their new lives are going to be together.  Usually they have been bound together in a beautiful tartan or some coloured ribbons.  Handfasting, is the traditional Celtic ritual.  We bound the couple's hands together and finish off by tying a knot.  Hence the term "Tying the Knot" referring to getting married.  This ritual started in the 16th Century but I perform it in many different ways to modernise this lovely old fashioned tradition.   Here is the reading..... 

"These hands holding you on your wedding day are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and forever.

These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future.

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch, will comfort you like no other.

These are the hands that will hold you when fear and grief wracks your mind.   The hands that will wipe the tears from your eyes, tears of sorrow and tears of joy.

These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children and will help you hold your family as one, and give you strength when you need it.

And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.”

My favourite reading is the one which best reflects the couple's thoughts and feelings about marriage!

I always ask couples to tell me why they've chosen their reading and integrate the reason into the introduction so their guests understand the relevance.

Having said that, who wants to hear the same readings wedding after wedding? Readings tend to be 'popular' and years ago people chose from 'The Prophet' - more recently is was 'The Apache Wedding Blessing', and then 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin'. So, my advice is not to type 'wedding readings' into your favourite search engine or the 'popular' ones will come up and your guests (who might be going to lots of weddings) will hear the same ones on rotation.

You can choose your favourite song lyrics, something from your favourite book/play/TV show, something you wrote to one another years ago, something you loved at school, some advice from an older relative... or of course, you can ask your celebrant. Check out your own books  (your parents' or the library) and enjoy dipping back into some poetry or literature in your quiet time!

Quirky, romantic, contemporary, a haiku... there are thousands to choose from! Enjoy choosing yours!

Every Two Unique