Wedding Readings
Find wording that fits the room, the moment, and the two of you.
A reading should add a pause, not become a speech.
Use the filters to narrow the tone, then open a card to check whether the wording suits the room and the moment.
The best choice usually feels calm, clear, and easy to hear without losing the thread.
Unique readings
Unexpected choices that tend to be remembered long after the ceremony.
How Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog
By Taylor Mali — a witty, warm extended metaphor comparing love to owning a dog.
Mirrors
By Justin Timberlake — a song about seeing yourself reflected in the person you love.
Forever and Ever, Amen
By Randy Travis — a country song about faithful, lasting love that holds past time and change.
From Beginning to End
By Robert Fulghum — a meditation on how all the small conversations before a wedding are the real ceremony.
Boy Meets World — Cory's Declaration
From Boy Meets World — Cory Matthews describing what Topanga means to him.
I Choose You
By Sara Bareilles — an honest declaration of imperfect, chosen love.
I Wanna Be Yours
By John Cooper Clarke — an irreverent poem built on domestic objects and total devotion.
The Wedding Singer — Grow Old With You
From The Wedding Singer — a tender song about growing old together, read as a spoken piece.
When Harry Met Sally — Declaration
From the film When Harry Met Sally — Harry's declaration of the specific things he loves about Sally.
A Chinese Wedding Poem
Traditional Chinese verse — a promise of friendship that outlasts all natural change.
Friends — Monica's Vow
From Friends — Monica's vow to Chandler at their wedding.
Nothing Else Matters
By Metallica — an unexpected rock anthem that works beautifully at modern weddings.
The Book of Love
By Stephen Merritt — a wry, tender song about the endless impracticality of love.
Delirium
By Lauren Oliver — a sharp definition of love as the edge that divides before and after.
There Will Be Time
By Baaba Maal featuring Mumford and Sons — a spare, powerful lyric about devotion.
Wild Awake
By Hilary T. Smith — a metaphor about love as the thing that lets you find hidden places in another person.
Extract from Every Day
By David Levithan — on what love makes you want to do to the world.
His Hello Was the End of Her Endings
From Sex and the City — a compact, lyrical declaration of recognition.
Soul Mates
By Lang Leav — on the uncanny sense that you have always known this person.
Albert Einstein on Relativity
Attributed to Albert Einstein — a scientist's observation on the experience of time when in love.
Bob Marley on Love
Widely attributed to Bob Marley — a tender note on holding on to imperfect love.
Extract from Blue-Eyed Devil
By Lisa Kleypas — a quiet observation about finding exactly the right person.
Letter from Johnny Cash to June Carter (1994)
From a real letter by Johnny Cash to June Carter on her birthday.
Spiritual readings
Words drawn from scripture, prayer, and sacred traditions.
Ancient Hawaiian Marriage Prayer
A Hawaiian prayer on two halves finally joined, the journey to find each other, and loving best of all.
1 Corinthians 13 — Love is Patient
From the first letter to the Corinthians — the most-read passage at wedding ceremonies worldwide.
Colossians 3 — Clothe Yourselves in Love
From the letter to the Colossians — love as the garment that binds all virtues together.
John 2:1-10 — The Wedding at Cana
From the Gospel of John — the story of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana.
A Hindu Love Poem
A Hindu poem of devotion — the elements of one body joining the world of the beloved.
Song of Solomon — I Am My Beloved's
From the Song of Solomon — mutual belonging, the vineyards, and the gift of love freely given.
Song of Solomon 4 — Thou Art All Fair
From the Song of Solomon — a lyrical declaration of the beloved's beauty using the older English tradition.
1 John 4 — No One Has Ever Seen God
From the first letter of John — on how love between people makes God's love visible in the world.
Ephesians 4 — Walk Worthy
From the letter to the Ephesians — a call to humility, gentleness, and unity in love.
Song of Solomon 8 — Love Strong as Death
From the Song of Solomon — love described as a flame that neither water nor flood can quench.
The Apache Wedding Prayer
A Native American blessing — shelter, warmth, companionship, and a long life together.
Children's stories
Beloved passages that carry more weight than they first appear to.
Oh, the Places You'll Go!
By Dr Seuss — a joyful address to the couple about the adventure and balancing act of life ahead.
The Little Prince — Because She Is My Rose
By Antoine de Saint-Exupéry — the little prince on what makes one rose more important than all the others.
The Velveteen Rabbit — What Is Real
By Margery Williams — the Skin Horse explains that being Real is what happens after you are loved.
Frozen — Everyone's a Bit of a Fixer-Upper
From the film Frozen — on how love, not perfection, is what brings out the best in each other.
Cinderella — So This Is Love
From the Disney film Cinderella — a moment of recognition that this is what makes life divine.
Winnie the Pooh — If Ever There Is Tomorrow
By A.A. Milne — Pooh's reassurance that the most important thing is always being with you.
Winnie the Pooh — If You Live to Be a Hundred
By A.A. Milne — the classic line about living one day less than the person you love.
Romantic readings
Poetry and prose about love, commitment, and being truly known.
Mere Christianity — On Promises
By C.S. Lewis — on why lovers naturally make promises, and why those promises must bind even after the feeling changes.
The Art of Power — Four Elements of True Love
By Thich Nhat Hanh — the four elements of true love: kindness, compassion, joy, and nondiscrimination.
Maybe
Author unknown — a series of gentle observations on love, luck, and seeing someone imperfect perfectly.
True Friendship
By Judy Bielicki — on friendship as the foundation of all enduring love.
Buried Light
By Beau Taplin — home is not where you are from, it is where you belong.
My First Love Story
By Rumi — on looking for the beloved before knowing it, and lovers always having been within each other.
Untitled — You Will Be the Clouds
By R.M. Drake — on two elements that will always collide, no matter what they become.
I Carry Your Heart With Me
By E.E. Cummings — perhaps the best-known love poem of the twentieth century.
Les Misérables — You Can Give Without Loving
By Victor Hugo — on giving, pardon, and the conviction of being loved for yourself.
Untitled — Don't Be Afraid of Love
By R.M. Drake — a single-sentence reassurance that love is only magic.
What we recommend
Pick something that means something to you and keep the language easy to read aloud.
Pick something that means something to you.
Keep the language readable aloud.
Use these examples to guide a final choice or inspire something fresh.