For those of you looking to incorporate readings into your ceremony that are not as traditional as most others, here are some ideas:

Image by Photography by Anne

The Colour of My Love

David Foster, Arthur Janov

I’ll paint a sun to warm your heart? knowing that we’ll never part.

I’ll draw the years all passing by? so much to learn, so much to try.

I’ll paint my mood in a shadow blue, paint my soul to be with you.

?I’ll sketch your lips in shaded tones, draw your mouth to my own.

I’ll trace a hand to wipe your tears and trace a look to calm your fears.?

A silhouette of dark and light? to hold each other oh so tight.

I’ll paint the stars in the evening sky, draw the light into your eyes,?

A touch of love, a touch of grace,? to softly fall on your moonlit face.

And with this ring our lives will start, let nothing keep our love apart.

?I’ll take your hand to hold in mine,? and be together through all time.

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!

The Art of Marriage

Wilferd A. Peterson

The little things are the big things.

It is never being too old to hold hands.

It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day.

It is never going to sleep angry.

It is at no time taking the other for granted;

the courtship should not end with the honeymoon,

it should continue through all the years.

It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.

It is standing together facing the world.

It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice,

but in the spirit of joy.

It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating

gratitude in thoughtful ways.

It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.

It is not looking for perfection in each other.

It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is finding room for the things of the spirit.

It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal. 

It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

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 time 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 tru 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.

How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways…

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.?

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height?

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight?

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.?

I love thee to the level of every day’s ?

Most quiet need, by sun and candle light.?

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;?

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.?

I love thee with the passion put to use?

In my old griefs, and my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose?

With my lost saints, – I love thee with the breath,?

Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and, if God choose,?

I shall love thee better after death.

Hindu Marriage Poem

You have become mine forever.

Yes, we have become partners.

I have become yours.

Hereafter, I cannot live without you.

Do not live without me.

Let us share the joys.

We are word and meaning, unite.

You are thought and I am sound.

May the nights be honey-sweet for us.

May the mornings be honey-sweet for us.

May the plants be honey-sweet for us.

May the earth be honey-sweet for us.