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Humanist Wedding Suggestions?

  • 29-11-2013 2:20pm
    #1
    Popinjay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 507 ✭✭✭


    Well...

    After proposing over a year ago, I've finally decided to make a proper honest woman of my partner of 6 years and we will be getting married next November (51 weeks from today in fact) in a vintage farmstead in the mountainous hinterland of the Sunshine Coast in Oz.

    I mention location for two reasons:
    1. To boast, it's effing beautiful (provided it's not underwater or on fire).
    2. To show that it is remarkably easy for us to avoid religion entirely for the whole shebang.

    I suppose we will be having a humanist ceremony but I don't think the wording has even occurred to anybody over here as most of the people I hae spoken to have just assumed 'celebrant', rather than holy-man, preacher, witch-doctor or similar.

    However, I am responsible for picking most of the music (walking up the aisle and the first dance will be a collaboration in the finset traditons of the word; her choice). I will also be selecting the shortlist of our options for readings, etc.

    So now I ask for lots of help. What would, or did, any of you use as wedding music or readings? What sappy music do you guys love the most?

    Irish and English language are preferred but French would also be ok even if a definite third place as Ms Popinjay can't speak it.

    To give some idea of where we are already headed, the walk down the aisle will likely be 'Love Looks so Well on You' by Sinatra and I will possibly be quoting some of Ann Druyan's words on the death of Carl Sagan, the piece that ends:
    The way he treated me & the way I treated him, the way we took care of each other & our family, while he lived. That is so much more important than the idea I will see him someday. I don’t think I’ll ever see Carl again. But I saw him. We saw each other. We found each other in the cosmos, and that was wonderful.

    I ask you people both because of the humanist nature of the ceremony and because you have all already pointed me to some wonderful poignant and interesting music and writing in the past.


Comments

  • #2
    smacl
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 15,776 Mod ✭✭✭✭smacl


    Popinjay wrote: »
    So now I ask for lots of help. What would, or did, any of you use as wedding music or readings? What sappy music do you guys love the most?

    Not a humanist so can't help you there, but the choons we had at the registry office;

    From her for myself;

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4H9yZBjgSI


    and my choice for her;

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xeBsnrFvzc


    Enjoy your big day!!


  • #3
    Popinjay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 507 ✭✭✭Popinjay


    smacl wrote: »
    Not a humanist so can't help you there, but the choons we had at the registry office

    Thanks!

    Not strictly a humanist myself (sounds a bit too much like sexist or racist :D), but it seemed the best description of the overall stye of ceremony. Civil with the option for some fancy bits that used to be reserved for the god-botherers.

    I also have the usual challenge of showing the religious family (mainly mine) that a ceremony doesn't have to be religious to be significant, although everyone is being very open minded.

    Except for asking if a celebrant was a 'left-footer or a right-footer'. They couldn't get used to the idea that you didn't need a nervous grey-haired man in some kind of fancy dress to tie the knot.

    ETA: The Ramones are definitely a good choice. We will possbily be breaking from the Sinatra song into 'Dirty Glass' by the Dropkick Murphys as it's the first song we ever 'danced' to.


  • #4
    Mr_A
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 501 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    My wife and I came up with out own wedding ceremony which we had on a beach in Greece. My brother did the ceremony for us (we quietly did a civil ceremony at home to reduce hassle and increase flexibility). We didn't refer to the ceremony as humanist but I guess it pretty much was.

    She walked down the 'aisle' to a version of this:



    We had a sand ceremony to this:



    A reading included the first half of this: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/180605

    At the end we also had this:



    We gave into tradition and had a first dance, but it broke into the Ghostbusters theme after about a minute and a half. :)


  • #5
    Sarky
    Closed Accounts Posts: 31,967 ✭✭✭✭Sarky


    For my brother's civil wedding we had some friends who were rather talented guitarists sitting in the corner. They played some Radiohead by way of introduction, and the bit with the rings was presided over by a wonderful acousitc version of You Shook Me All Night Long. ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man had the honour of being the first dance.

    I was at Sycopta's wedding too not long ago. His lovely bride walked down the aisle as a string quartet fairly belted out the Star Wars Imperial March. Took until after the opening prayers for the back half of the church to stop giggling...


  • #6
    Popinjay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 507 ✭✭✭Popinjay


    Sarky wrote: »
    His lovely bride walked down the aisle as a string quartet fairly belted out the Star Wars Imperial March.

    She's not a Star Wars fan so might not get it. Do you think she'd be ok with finding out later that day what I'd done??? :p


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  • #7
    Sarky
    Closed Accounts Posts: 31,967 ✭✭✭✭Sarky


    Well it's too late by then, right? >_>


  • #8
    Popinjay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 507 ✭✭✭Popinjay


    Sarky wrote: »
    Well it's too late by then, right? >_>

    There's always time to murder your new husband and tip his body into a river.


  • #9
    lazygal
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,644 ✭✭✭✭lazygal


    Had a humanist wedding myself, so ask away.


  • #10
    Popinjay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 507 ✭✭✭Popinjay


    lazygal wrote: »
    Had a humanist wedding myself, so ask away.

    Fantastic!

    What readings did you use? Were there any you thought about using but didn't and why? What music did you use? How long did the ceremony go on? How did the religious guests find it? How did th enon-religious guests find it? How have I been convinced to pay for booze at the reception (Granted it's self serve booze so it's more of an oversized offy run, but still)???


  • #11
    lazygal
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,644 ✭✭✭✭lazygal


    Popinjay wrote: »
    Fantastic!

    What readings did you use? Were there any you thought about using but didn't and why? What music did you use? How long did the ceremony go on? How did the religious guests find it? How did th enon-religious guests find it? How have I been convinced to pay for booze at the reception (Granted it's self serve booze so it's more of an oversized offy run, but still)???


    I'll send a pm some time over the weekend when I've a chance.


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  • #12
    Obliq
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,371 ✭✭✭Obliq


    Am on a rubbish netbook and can't link to youtube, but if you want mushy niceness in a song IMO you can't go wrong with "To build a home" by the Cinematic Orchestra with Patrick Watson singing. Totally gooey without straying into 'pass the bucket' territory, if you know what I mean.

    Actually, feck no. Just listened to it again and it's a bit more depressing than I remembered. Still nice though, but NOT for a wedding. Try some Parov Stellar to dance to btw - you're safe with that :D


  • #13
    Popinjay
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 507 ✭✭✭Popinjay


    Thanks everyone for all the awesome suggestions so far. We also found out yesterday that one of the guests is an amazing violinist who used to play at weddings professionally and she has offered her services for some key points for free (And she can play the Imperial March :cool:)!

    We don't want to over use her though as we'd like her to also actually enjoy herself and relax on the day.


  • #14
    Banbh
    Registered Users Posts: 1,037 ✭✭✭Banbh


    Try replacing that Imperial March with Carolan's Dowry - a fanfare piece that he wrote for his daughter's wedding. Might remind you of the old sod - and Ireland.


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