If anyone knows of any other good websites with ceremony readings, please post the web-address and I'll add the link to the list below.
Thanks


www.bible-reading.com/wedding-readings.html
www.birmingham101.com/101weddingreadings.htm
www.chicagomarriage.com/Bible_readings.htm
www.documentsanddesigns.com/index_pages/vows_verses_index.htm
www.foreverwed.com/Religious_Ceremonies/
www.foreverwed2.com/Religious_Ceremonies/Poems.html
www.hitched.co.uk/plan/readings/index.asp
www.romancestuck.com/wedding/wedding-prayers.htm
www.todays-weddings.com/planning/readings.html
www.weddings.co.uk/info/bible.htm

a little poetry from an english teacher:

Dance me to the End of Love - lyrics by Leonard Cohen


Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love


On Marriage - Ogden Nash
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow. Kahil Gilbran
Genuises of Countless Nations
Have told their love for generations
Till all their memorable phrases
Are common as goldenrod or daisies.
Their girls have glimmered like the moon,
Or shimmered like a summer moon,
Stood like a lily, fled like a fawn,
Now the sunset, now the dawn,
Here the princess in the tower
There the sweet forbidden flower.
Darling, when I look at you
Every aged phrase is new,
And there are moments when it seems
I've married one of Shakespeare's dreams


somewhere i have never traveled - e.e. cummings

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me,i and
my life will shut very beautifully,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands


Walt Whitman:
I do not offer the old smooth prizes,
But offer rough new prizes,
These are the days that must happen to you:
You shall not heap up what is called riches,
You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve.
However sweet the laid-up stores,
However convenient the dwellings,
You shall not remain there.
However sheltered the port,
And however calm the waters,
You shall not anchor there.
However welcome the hospitality that welcomes you
You are permitted to receive it but a little while
Afoot and lighthearted, take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before you,
The long brown path before you,
leading wherever you choose.
Say only to one another:
Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love, more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law:
Will you give me yourself?
Will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?

okay, i have another one:

Leonardo da Vinci's "Notes on the Construction of Arches"

"WHAT IS AN ARCH?
The arch is nothing else than a force originated by two weaknesses,
for the arch in buildings is composed of two segments of a circle, each of which being very weak in itself tends to fall; but as each opposes this tendency in the other, the two weaknesses combine to form one strength.

OF THE KIND OF PRESSURE IN ARCHES.
As the arch is a composite force it remains in equilibrium because
the thrust is equal from both sides; and if one of the segments
weighs more than the other the stability is lost, because the
greater pressure will outweigh the lesser.

ON THE STRENGTH OF THE ARCH.
The way to give stability to the arch is to fill the spandrils with
good masonry up to the level of its summit."



http://kvetch.indiebride.com/index.php?t...340d4e86cb7e151

These are the ones I think we've decided on -

The Art of a Good Marriage -Wilferd Arlan 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 never 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.


A Red, Red Rose - Robert Burns (gotta satisfy the Scots!)

O my luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly play’d in tune.

As fair thou art, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will love 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 love thee still, my Dear
While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve!
And fare thee weel, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile!


http://www.a-weddingday.com/aboutAnnie.html

True Love
Author Unknown
True love is a sacred flame
That burns eternally,
And none can dim its special glow
Or change its destiny.
True love speaks in tender tones
And hears with gentle ear,
True love gives with open heart
And true love conquers fear.
True love makes no harsh demands
It neither rules nor binds,
And true love holds with gentle hands
The hearts that it entwines.

FIDELITY
Dorothy Colgan
Man and woman are like the earth, that brings forth flowers
in summer, and love, but underneath is rock.
Older than flowers, older than ferns, older than foraminiferae,
older than plasm altogether is the soul underneath.
And when, throughout all the wild chaos of love
slowly a gem forms, in the ancient, once-more-molten rocks
of two human hearts, two ancient rocks,
a man's heart and a woman's,
that is the crystal of peace, the slow hard jewel of trust,
the sapphire of fidelity.
The gem of mutual peace emerging from the wild chaos of love.

TREAT YOURSELVES…

Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficult and fear assail your relationship - as they threaten all relationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong. In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.

“Blessing of the Hands"

“These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day, 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 or grief fills your mind. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes; tears of sorrow, and tears of joy. These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children. These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one. These are the hands that will 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.”


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.

FOUNDATIONS OF MARRIAGE
Regina Hill
Love, trust, and forgiveness are the foundations of marriage. In marriage, many days will bring happiness, while other days may be sad. But together, two hearts can overcome everything...In marriage, all of the moments won't be exciting or romantic, and sometimes worries and anxiety will be overwhelming. But together, two hearts that accept will find comfort together. Recollections of past joys, pains, and shared feelings will be the glue that holds everything together during even the worst and most insecure moments. Reaching out to each other as a friend, and becoming the confidant and companion that the other one needs, is the true magic and beauty of any two people together. It's inspiring in each other a dream or a feeling, and having faith in each other and not giving up... even when all the odds say to quit. It's allowing each other to be vulnerable, to be himself or herself, even when the opinions or thoughts aren't in total agreement or exactly what you'd like them to be. It's getting involved and showing interest in each other, really listening and being available, the way any best friend should be. Exactly three things need to be remembered in a marriage if it is to be a mutual bond of sharing, caring, and loving throughout life: love, trust, and forgiveness.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Louis de Bernieres
Love is a temporary madness,
it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides.
And when it subsides you have to make a decision.
You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together
that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.
Because this is what love is.
Love is not breathlessness,
it is not excitement,
it is not the promulgation of eternal passion.
That is just being "in love" which any fool can do.
Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away,
and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.
Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground,
and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches,
they find that they are one tree and not two

Hands of the Bride and Groom

BRIDE
[Bride's name], please face [Groom's name], and hold his hands, palms up, so you may see the gift that they are to you.
These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and vibrant with love, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as he promises to love you all the days of his life.
These are the hands that will work along side yours, as together you build your future, as you laugh and cry, as you share your innermost secrets and dreams.
These are the hands that will work long hours for you and your life together.
These are that hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness.
These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes: tears of sorrow and tears of joy.
These are the hands that will comfort you in illness, and hold you when fear or grief worry your mind.
These are the hands that will tenderly lift your chin and brush your cheek as they raise your face to look into his eyes: eyes that are filled completely with his overwhelming love and desire for you.


GROOM
[Groom's name], please hold [Bride's name]'s hands, palms up, where you may see the gift that they are to you.
These are the hands of your best friend, smooth, young and carefree, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as she pledges her love and commitment to you all the days of her life.
These are the hands that will massage tension from you neck and back in the evenings after you've both had a long hard day.
These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times.
These are the hands that will comfort you when you are sick, or console you when you are grieving.
They are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness.
These are the hands that will hold you in joy and excitement and hope.
These are the hands that will give you support as she encourages you to chase down your dreams. Together as a team, everything you wish for can be realized.

Marriage Joins Two People In The Circle Of Its Love
Edmund O'Neill (b.1929)
Marriage is a commitment to life, the best that two people can find and bring out in each other. It offers opportunities for sharing and growth that no other relationship can equal. It is a physical and an emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.
Within the circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life's most important relationships. A wife and a husband are each other's best friend, confidant, lover, teacher, listener, and critic. And there may come times when one partner is heartbroken or ailing, and the love of the other may resemble the tender caring of a parent for a child.
Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life. Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher, commitment is stronger, even anger is felt more strongly, and passes away more quickly.
Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes life is unable to avoid. It encourages and nurtures new life, new experiences, and new ways of expressing a love that is deeper than life.
When two people pledge their love and care for each other in marriage, they create a spirit unique unto themselves which binds them closer than any spoken or written words. Marriage is a promise, a potential made in the hearts of two people who love each other and takes a lifetime to fulfil


Let's grow old together... beginning with today.
Braxton Brown and Peggy Smith

Let's work slowly with each other and build a relationship that we can both enjoy being a part of.
Let's share love and understand that neither of us is perfect; we are both subject to human frailties.
Let's hold each other close and whisper though the night--pledging our love, honoring our commitment.
Let's encourage each other to pursue our dreams, even when we're weary from trying.
Let's expect the best that we both have to give and still love when we fall short of our expectations.
Let's be friends and respect each other's individual personality and give one another room to grow.
Let's be candid with each other and point out strengths and weaknesses.
Let's understand each other's personal philosophy, even if we don't agree.
Let's lie awake long into the night sharing our innermost secrets.
Let's be friends as well as lovers.
Let's laugh at time and plan with each other and wonder how we ever got along without this love we've found.
Let's never take for granted these moments that we've shared, but always be reminded of how intensely we have learned to live, how completely we have learned to love.
Let's grow old together...
and look back on life and smile.

May Your Marriage Be Blessed
with a Lifetime of Happiness

Marriage is the joining of two people-
the union of two hearts.
It lives on the love you give each other
and never grows old,
but thrives on the joy of each new day…..
Marriage is love.

May you always be blessed in your hearts
with the wonder of your marriage.

May you always be able to talk things over,
to confide,
to laugh with each other
and enjoy life together,
to share moments of quiet peace
when the day is done.

May you be blessed
with a lifetime of happiness.

- Jill Ryynanen


MARRIAGE MEANS BEING IN LOVE
FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE
Chris Ardis
Marriage is love
walking hand in hand together.
It’s laughing with each other
about silly little things,
and learning to discuss big things
with care and tenderness.
In marriage,
love is trusting each other
when you’re apart.
It’s getting over disappointments
and hurts,
knowing that these are present
in all relationships.
It is the realization that
there is no one else in this world
that you’d rather be with
than the one you’re married to.
It’s thinking of new things
to do together;
it’s growing old together.
Marriage is being in love
for the rest of your life.

MARRIAGE IS TWO PEOPLE
SHARING EVERYTHING IN LIFE
Susan Polis Schutz
In marriage
two people share
all their dreams and goals
their weaknesses and strengths
In marriage
two people share
all the joys and sadnesses of life
and all the supreme pleasures
In marriage
two people share
all of their emotions and feelings
all of their tears and laughter

Marriage is the most
fulfilling relationship
one can have
and the love you share
as husband and wife
is beautifully forever.


MARRIAGE IS A PROMISE TO LOVE
Edith Schaffer Lederbergh

Marriage is a covenant
between two people
who deeply sense that their lives are,
and always will be, shared as one.

Marriage is the fulfillment of a dream
and an awareness that reality also
can bring us the beauty of dreams.

Marriage is a promise that today
is the beginning of a future
that will nurture love, respect, honor,
and mutual faith as the greatest
strengths for its foundation.

Marriage is an understanding between
two sensitive, intelligent,
and caring people
who have evidenced that that true love
can survive all obstacles and grow
stronger with the passage of time.

MARRIAGE IS THE GREATEST HAPPINESS OF ALL
Michele Gallagher

In marriage, two people
become as one,
yet they are individuals,
each with their own ideas and goals.
In a marriage, two people
share their thoughts.
They give advice, sharing their feelings,
being open and loving.
They must trust each other
and hold on to faith
while going through ups and downs.
They have their smiles,
and they have their tears.
When one is low, it is up to the other
to support them, to get them
back on the right track.
Communication is the key.
Two people united learn so much.
They learn to depend
yet be independent,
sometimes letting each other
have time to themselves.
They care for each other and protect;
they make a family and become a lifeline.
They begin their dreams, their future,
loving and growing together.
With their commitment and true love,
they find happiness.

MARRIAGE IS A LIFETIME OF LOVE
Sherry Jill Shaw-Levine

Marriage embraces two people in love
for a lifetime of sharing.
Marriage is a unique sharing
of day-to-day events.
It’s having someone with you in spirit
to give support and love at all times.
Happiness in marriage doesn’t just happen.
A good marriage requires time
and devotion;
it’s often filled with compromise
and sacrifice,
as two people learn
to live together in harmony

In marriage,
little things become big.
It’s important to never take one another
for granted
and to always be able to hold each other.
Marriage is having a mutual sense
of values and common objectives.
Being married means having
a lifetime best friend,
someone to laugh with, dream with,
and cry with.
The true foundation of marriage
is giving love continuously
and unconditionally from one’s heart.

MARRIAGE FULFILLS THE DREAMS
AND LOVE TWO PEOPLE SHARE
Glenda Willm

Everyone searches
for one special person
they can share their lives with;
the other half who makes
them whole,
like two notes blending together
to make a beautiful song,
or the colors that complement
each other to form a rainbow.
It is everyone’s wish
to have a lifetime
of sunny days,
a rainbow after every storm;
a lifetime of loving and living
and growing and giving,
of sharing and caring;
a lifetime of days together,
learning from the bad times
and cherishing the good times.

Marriage is everything your heart desires,
and the strength, courage, and
determination to work for it.
In marriage you take care of each other’s heart
and hold on to what you share.
you hold it gently, so it doesn’t smother,
and firmly, so it doesn’t slip away.
Hold it so that it can grow,
and you can grow together,
and love and laugh and love together always.

There are lots and lots of readings listed on this forum:
Indiebride

I'm thinking about having my mother read this rather unusual one:

Dr Seuss: "Oh, the Places You'll Go."

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 ones who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head 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 high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

(This isn't the whole text, but it seemed like a good place to stop.)