reading for wedding

[want2findout]

We're looking for a suuitable reading for our wedding. I've checked out all the wedding websites but nothing jumps out at us. We don't want anything too soppy and no rhyming poems.

We're having one welsh reading - 'mi gerddaf gyda thi' which means 'i'll walk with you' it's lovely! we're now looking for an english reading. Any suggestions?

[starmack]

1. Have a look at text of "Meeting Point" by the poet Louis McNiece.

2. On a different tack look at the Paul's Song by Scottish singer Heather Heywood.

Good luck and long life to you both.

[starmack]

A reference for text and explanation of Louis MacNiece poem is attached below:-

www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1301.html

[starmack]

CLIVE JAMES wrote the following about "Meeting Point:"

�Meeting Point� is the poem that every young man should learn to recite by heart if he wants to pull classy girls, and every classy girl should have on the tip of her tongue when she bumps into a scruffy poetic type that she feels the urge to civilize. �Time was away and somewhere else� runs the refrain. The two lovers are alone together in a public place. It�s a coffee shop, expensive enough to have a waiter, but fortunately he does not show up to interrupt them. (�The waiter did not come, the clock/Forgot them and the radio waltz/Came out like water from a rock.�) By the power of their combined imaginations, the little table in between them becomes all the world. (�The camels crossed the miles of sand/That stretched around the cups and plates��)

[pingping]

my sister read this at a friend's wedding:

Love's Philosophy -- Percy Bysshe Shelley

The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix forever
With a sweet emotion:

Nothing in the world is single;
All things by law divine
In one another's being mingle;
Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high heaven
And the waves clasp one another
No sister flower would be forgiven
If it disdained its brother:

And sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;
What are all these kissings worth
If thou kiss not me?

lovely without being mushy.

[want2findout]

thanks starmack. You're on the right track. Sorry, I forgot to mention though that we're having a civil wedding so cannot have any reference to god! Any other suggestions?

Many thanks

[pingping]

oh, and my best mate had this at her's:

The Meaning by Kellie Spehn (most of it's corny so I've copied only the best verse):

To love is to have someone special
one who you can always depend
to be there through the years
sharing laughter and tears
as a partner, a lover, a friend.

full version here though: http://www.lovepoemsandquotes.com/LovePoem20.h tml

[pingping]

forgot to say 'llongyfarchiadau'!

[want2findout]

diolch pingping!

[starmack]

You might think of the poetry of RUMI as an alternative. Some fine ideas in there.

[NJOK]

The quicker you get through the ceremony, the quicker you get to the reception which, let's face it, is the reason everyone's there.

If you must have a reading, keep it short and sweet.

[mycats]

I love "Why Marriage"
:


Why Marriage?

Because to the depths of me, I long to love one person,
With all my heart, my soul, my mind, my body...

Because I need a forever friend to trust with the intimacies of me,
Who won't hold them against me,
Who loves me when I'm unlikable,
Who sees the small child in me, and
Who looks for the divine potential of me...
Becasue I need to cuddle in the warmth of the night
With someone who thanks God for me,
With someone I feel blessed to hold...

Because marriage means opportunity
To grow in love in friendship...

Because marriage is a discipline
To be added to a list of achievements...

Because marriages do not fail, people fail
When they enter into marriage
Expecting another to make them whole...

Because, knowing this,
I promise myself to take full responsibility
For my spiritual, mental and physical wholeness
I create me, I take half of the responsibility for my marriage
Together we create our marriage...
Because of this understanding
The possibilities are limitless

[Octavius]

For something a bit offbeat�.(you can extract and embellish as you see fit)

The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice.
The language is not Klingon or Human or Centauri or Jedi.

It speaks in the language of hope. It speaks in the language of trust.
It speaks in the language of strength, and the language of compassion.
It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul.
But always it is the same voice.

It is the voice of our ancestors speaking through us.
And the voice of our inheritors waiting to be born.
It is the small, still voice that says we are One.

No matter the blood, no matter the skin,
No matter the world, no matter the star,
We are One.
No matter the pain, no matter the darkness,
No matter the loss, no matter the fear.
We are One.

Here, gathered together in common cause
We agree to recognize this singular truth and this singular rule:
That we must be kind to one another.

Because each voice enriches us and ennobles us,
And each voice lost diminishes us.
We are the voice of the universe, the soul of creation,
The fire that will light the way to a better future.

We are One.