Would you like a family member or friend to be included in your ceremony?
One great way to include them can be by asking them to perform a reading during your ceremony. This can be a poem, blessing, scripture, quote, extract from a book - it really can be whatever you want it to be.
I have included examples below, but don't be limited by these!
To Be One With Each Other by George Eliot
What greater thing is there for two human souls
than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen
each other in all labour, to minister to each other in all sorrow,
to share with each other in all gladness,
to be one with each other in the
silent unspoken memories?
I Love You by Roy Croft
I love you
Not only for who 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 heart
And passing over all the foolish, weak things that you can’t help.
Dimly seeing there and drawing out, into the light all the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked quite far enough to find.
You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign.
To Love Is Not to Possess by James Kavanaugh
To love is not to possess,
To own or imprison,
Nor to lose one's self in another.
Love is to join and separate,
To walk alone and together,
To find a laughing freedom
That lonely isolation does not permit.
It is finally to be able
To be who we really are
No longer clinging in childish dependency
Nor docilely living separate lives in silence,
It is to be perfectly one's self
And perfectly joined in permanent commitment
To another--and to one's inner self.
Love only endures when it moves like waves,
Receding and returning gently or passionately,
Or moving lovingly like the tide
In the moon's own predictable harmony,
Because finally, despite a child's scars
Or an adult's deepest wounds,
They are openly free to be
Who they really are--and always secretly were,
In the very core of their being
Where true and lasting love can alone abide.
I’ll Be There for You by Louise Cuddon
I’ll be there my darling, through thick and through thin
When your mind’s in a mess and your head’s in a spin
When your plane’s been delayed, and you’ve missed the last train.
When life is just threatening to drive you insane
When your thrilling whodunit has lost its last page
When somebody tells you, you’re looking your age
When your coffee’s too cool, and your wine is too warm
When the forecast said “Fine”, but you’re out in a storm
When your quick break hotel, turns into a slum
And your holiday photos show only your thumb
When you park for five minutes in a resident’s bay
And return to discover you’ve been towed away
When the jeans that you bought in hope or in haste
Just stick on your hips and don’t reach round your waist
When the food you most like brings you out in red rashes
When as soon as you boot up the bloody thing crashes
So my darling, my sweetheart, my dear…
When you break a rule, when you act the fool
When you’ve got the flu, when you’re in a stew
When you’re last in the queue, don’t feel blue’cause
I’m telling you, I’ll be there.
Untitled by R.M. Drake
You will be the clouds
and I will be the sky.
you will be the ocean
and I will be the shore.
you will be the trees
and I will be the wind.
whatever we are, you and I
will always collide.
Love by McKuen
Love,
Puts the music in laughter
the beauty in song
the warmth in a shoulder
the gentle in strong
Love,
Puts the magic in memories
the sunshine in skies
the gladness in giving
the starlight in eyes
Love,
Puts the fun in together
the sadness in apart
the hope in tomorrow
the joy in the heart
Marriage is Adapted by Lisa Ann Trainor
Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens.
A good marriage must be created.
In the art of marriage, 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 each day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted;
the courtship shouldn't end with the honeymoon,
it should continue through all the years.
Marriage is about 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.
Marriage 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 the wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding,
and a sense of humour.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
Marriage about is giving each other an atmosphere
in which each can grow.
It is finding room for 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, the dependence is mutual,
and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.
Friendship by Judy Bielicki
It is often said that it is love that makes the world go round. However, without doubt, it is friendship, which keeps our spinning existence on an even keel. True friendship provides so many of the essentials for a happy life. It is the strong foundation on which to build an enduring relationship, it is the mortar which bonds us together in harmony, and it is the calm, warm protection we sometimes need when the world outside seems cold and chaotic.
True friendship holds a mirror to our foibles and failings, without destroying our sense of worthiness. True friendship nurtures our hopes, supports us in our disappointments, and encourages us to grow to our best potential.
<Party 1> and <Party 2> came together as friends. Today, they pledge to each other not only their love, but also the strength, warmth and, most importantly, the fun of true friendship.
Blessing For A Marriage by James Dillet Freeman
May you always need one another, not so much to fill the emptiness as to help each other know your fullness. May you want one another, but not out of lack. May you embrace one another, but not encircle one another. May you succeed in all important ways with each other, and not fail in the little graces. May you have happiness, and may you find it in making one another happy. 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 have love, and may you find it in loving one another.
Marriage Advice by Jane Wells
Let your love be stronger than your hate or anger.
Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little than to break.
Believe the best rather than the worst.
People have a way of living up or down to your opinion of them.
Remember that true friendship is the basis for any lasting relationship.
The person you choose to marry is deserving of the courtesies.
and kindnesses you bestow on your friends.
Please hand this down to your children and your children's children.
The Promise by Heather Berry
Within this blessed union of souls, where two hearts intertwine to become one, there lies a promise.
Perfectly born, divinely created and intimately shared, it is a place where the hope and majesty of
beginnings reside. Where all things are made possible by the astounding love shared by two spirits.
As you hold each other’s hands in this promise and eagerly look into the future in each other’s eyes,
may your unconditional love and devotion take you to places where you’ve both only dreamed.
Where you’ll dwell for a lifetime of happiness, sheltered in the warmth of each other’s arms.
Note: private ceremonies hold a copyright exemption but the author must always be cited.