Wedding Ceremony Readings/Poetry

davej

Hu guys,

I'm looking to find some readings/poetry for a wedding ceremony. Any suggestions / recommendations ?

davej

Dades

Just to be sure - are you looking specifically for something 'non-religious', or are you in the wrong forum?

davej

I'm looking for something non-religious. I've already found some good pieces (found a nice discussion of love by A.C Grayling). I'm not looking for anything "in your face" atheistic. I just thought this would be a good place to ask for some recommendations...

Pompey Magnus

William Blake's The Garden of Love might suit the wedding occasion (it doesn't have a happy ending though so maybe not) plus it has a thinly vieled criticism of organised religion's repression of sexuality. Romantic period ftw.

The Garden of Love - William Blake

I laid me down upon a bank,
Where Love lay sleeping;
I heard among the rushes dank
Weeping, weeping.

Then I went to the heath and the wild,
To the thistles and thorns of the waste;
And they told me how they were beguiled,
Driven out, and compelled to the chaste.

I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen;
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.

And the gates of this Chapel were shut
And "Thou shalt not," writ over the door;
So I turned to the Garden of Love
That so many sweet flowers bore.

And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tombstones where flowers should be;
And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joys and desires.

Zillah

Oscar Wilde once said "Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same."

aidan24326

Charco wrote: »

William Blake's The Garden of Love might suit the wedding occasion (it doesn't have a happy ending though so maybe not) plus it has a thinly vieled criticism of organised religion's repression of sexuality. Romantic period ftw.

The Garden of Love - William Blake

I laid me down upon a bank,
Where Love lay sleeping;
I heard among the rushes dank
Weeping, weeping.

Then I went to the heath and the wild,
To the thistles and thorns of the waste;
And they told me how they were beguiled,
Driven out, and compelled to the chaste.

I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen;
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.

And the gates of this Chapel were shut
And "Thou shalt not," writ over the door;
So I turned to the Garden of Love
That so many sweet flowers bore.

And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tombstones where flowers should be;
And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joys and desires.

You think that's suitable for a wedding??? Bloody hell. Why bother taking a stab at the church if you're not getting married in a church anyway? And if you were I couldn't see the priest approving that as a reading!

Zillah wrote: »

Oscar Wilde once said "Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same."

Gotta love Oscar. As usual he was probably right.

Zamboni

davej wrote: »

Hu guys,

I'm looking to find some readings/poetry for a wedding ceremony. Any suggestions / recommendations ?

davej

Same dilemma mate. I haven't found anything decent yet.

Emmi

I was at a wedding last wend in UK. It was a civil service and they had a reading called An Apache Blessing. You can find it online if you just google that. It was so nice

brianthebard

Zillah wrote: »

Oscar Wilde once said "Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same."

You forgot the footnote "when you are more interested in men".