It’s really nice to hear something read at a wedding that totally resonates with the two lives being joined that day. A choice of one, two, or even three can be a nice addition to your wedding if carefully placed in the ceremony order. You can also have a family or friend share the reading if you like. Enjoy!

photo: islandphotography.us

Feel free to call 252 216 6676 or email me jay@yourOBXwedding.com with any questions and concerns you may have about your special day.

16. “I PROMISE”
by Dorothy Colgan

I promise to give you the best of myself and to ask of you no more than you can give.

I promise to respect you as your own person and to realize that your interests, desires and needs are no less important than my own.

I promise to share with you my time and my attention and to bring joy, strength and imagination to our relationship.

I promise to keep myself open to you, To let you see through the window of my world into my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams.

I promise to grow along with you, to be willing to face changes in order to keep our relationship alive and exciting.

I promise to love you in good times and in bad, With all I have to give and all I feel inside in the only way I know how,

Completely and Forever.

17. “TRUE LOVE”

True love is a sacred flame

That burns eternally,

And none can dim its special glow

Or change its destiny.

True love speaks in tender tones

And hears with gentle ear,

True love gives with open heart

And true love conquers fear.

True love makes no harsh demands

It neither rules nor binds,

And true love holds with gentle hands

The hearts that it entwines.

18. KHAHIL GIBRAN WRITING ON LOVE

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise on your lips.

19. ANOTHER KHAHIL GIBRAN WRITING ON LOVE

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

20. NATIVE AMERICAN PRAYER BY SIOUX CHIEF 'YELLOW HAWK'

Oh Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds, and whose breath gives life to all the world – hear me – I come before you, one of your children. I am small and weak. I need your strength and wisdom. Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset. Make my hands respect the things you have made, my ears sharp to hear your voice. Make me wise, so that I may know the things you have taught my People, the lesson you have hidden in every leaf and rock. I seek strength not to be superior to my brothers, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy, myself. Make me ever ready to come to you, with clean hands and straight eyes, so when life fades as a fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame.

21. THE LITTLE THINGS

There are no cards to tell you

What I feel inside

It's not the places that we go

Or the big things we've been through

The little things are the reason why

I love you like I do

The little things you do for me,

The little things you say,

Your tender smile, your teasing grin

You bring sunshine to my day.

The thoughtful little gifts you give,

The little things we share

Your gentle touch, your perfect kiss

Are the things that show you care.

Our road through life is bumpy,

And it isn't always straight.

But I'm glad it's you who's by my side

With each twist and turn of fate

So remember all these little things,

As we live our day to day

Forever in our heart, this moment Will always stay!

22.  EPHESIANS 5

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of His body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about christ and the church.

23.   SONG OF SOLOMON 2

8 Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.

9 My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.

10 My lover spoke and said to me, "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.

11 See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.

12 Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.

13 The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me."

14 My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

16 My lover is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies.

Go To Readings page five...