Non Religious Readings during Ceremony

For those of you getting married without some form of an officiant from a religious affiliation will you be having any reading during your ceremony and if so what will it be?

Re: Non Religious Readings during Ceremony

I am getting married by in a religious ceremony in a Church, but I wanted to pipe in that we will have 1 Bible reading, PLUS a poetry reading, which will be a love poem that my sister (MOH) will write for us.

Re: Non Religious Readings during Ceremony

I didn't have any one 'read', but I did have the officiant (a friend of ours) read a passage that could be used as a reading...T


his passage is entitled 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 a day.
It is never going to sleep angry. It is at no time 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.

Re: Non Religious Readings during Ceremony

we had a reading by Kahlil Gibran (Marriage)
and a reading by Shakesphere (Sonnet 116) both done by friends
Then we read the Cherokee Blessing to our guests

Re: Non Religious Readings during Ceremony

We are having a nondenominational type of ceremony written by Rev. April (from The Church of Ancient Ways). We are having 2 nonreligious readings from the book The Language of Marriage - a book by Blue Mountain Arts. These are the ones we're leaning towards, I hope they help you...

1. What is a marriage?

It is the most beautiful thing that can happen between two people in love.

A marriage is more than just a husband and a wife. It is a bridge which allows the love of two very special people to give meaning and worth and wonder to life. It is a continual process of building; of shaping; of communicating; and caring. It is the deepest and sweetest understanding. It is sharing todays and tomorrows together and making each one more treasured and more complete than anyone could make them alone. A marriage is a home interwoven with hopes and memories and dreams. The thankfulness and love it can bring have no comparison.

Being happily married is the most beautiful thing that can happen...to anyone.

~Collin McCarty

2.
A marriage...
make of two fractional lives a whole;
it gives to two purposeless lives a work,
and doubles the strength
of each to perform it;
it gives to two
questioning natures
a reason for living,
and something to live for;
it will give a new gladness
to the sunshine,
a new fragrance to the flowers,
a new beauty to the earth,
and a new mystery to life.

~Mark Twain

Re: Non Religious Readings during Ceremony

these readings are great. We have to think about what we would like incorporated in our ceremony. Too much to decide on!!!