As part of the customisation of your ceremony you may choose readings to have as part of your special day. Readings must be non-religious, and you will need to choose which of your guests will read them. The script you have already chosen will indicate where we suggest that readings take place within your ceremony.
You can have up to three readings at your ceremony if you wish and you need to nominate which guests will read them. You may either select your own readings or choose some of the following selection of standard readings which have been already approved suitable for civil ceremonies.
Pooh and Me by AA Milne
Wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
Whatever I do, he wants to do,
"Where are you going today?" says Pooh:
"Well that's very odd 'cos I was too.
Let's go together," says Pooh, says he.
"Let's go together," says Pooh.
'What's twice eleven? 'I said to Pooh,
'Twice what?' said Pooh to Me.
'I think it ought to be twenty-two.'
'Just what I think myself,' said Pooh.
'It wasn't an easy sum to do,
But that's what it is,' said Pooh, said he.
'That's what it is,' said Pooh.
'Let's look for dragons,' I said to Pooh.
'Yes, let's,' said Pooh to Me.
We crossed the river and found a few--
'Yes, those are dragons all right,' said Pooh.
'As soon as I saw their beaks I knew.
That's what they are,' said Pooh, said he.
'That's what they are,' said Pooh
"Let's frighten the dragons," I said to Pooh.
"That's right," said Pooh to Me.
"I'm not afraid, " I said to Pooh,
And I held his paw and I shouted, "Shoo!
Silly old dragons!" -- and off they flew.
"I wasn't afraid," said Pooh, said he,
"I'm never afraid with you.
So wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
'What would I do?' I said to Pooh,
'If it wasn't for you,' and Pooh said: 'true,
It isn't much fun for One, but Two
Can stick together,' says Pooh, says he.
'That's how it is,' says Pooh
The Art of a Good Marriage by Wilfred Arlan Peterson
A good marriage must be created
In the 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 each day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is having a mutual sense of values
And common objectives.
It is standing together and facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers
In the whole family.
It is speaking words of appreciation and
Demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere
In which each can grow.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is not only marrying the right person.
It is being the right partner.
Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate;
Rough winds to shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;
Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometimes declines
By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st’
So long as men can breath, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear
The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat
They took some honey and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five pound note
The Owl looked up to the stars above
And sang to a small guitar
“O lovely Pussy, O Pussy my love
What a beautiful Pussy you are!
You are! You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!”
Pussy said to the Owl, “You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O, let us be married, too long we have tarried:
But, what shall we do for a ring?”
They sailed away for a year and a day
To the land where the Bong-Tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-Wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose
His nose, his nose
With a ring at the end of his nose
“Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?”, Said the Piggy, “I will!”
So they took it away and were married next day
By the turkey who lives on the hill
They dined on mince and slices of quince
Which they ate with a runcible spoon
And hand in hand, at the edge of the sand
They danced by the light of the moon
The moon, the moon
They danced by the light of the moon!
He’s Not Perfect by Bob Marley
He’s not perfect.
You aren’t either,
and the two of you will never be perfect.
But if he can make you laugh at least once,
causes you to think twice,
and if he admits to being human and making mistakes,
hold onto him and give him the most you can.
He isn’t going to quote poetry,
he’s not thinking about you every moment,
but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break.
Don’t hurt him, don’t change him,
and don’t expect for more than he can give.
Don’t analyze.
Smile when he makes you happy,
yell when he makes you mad,
and miss him when he’s not there.
Love hard when there is love to be had.
Because perfect guys don’t exist,
but there’s always one guy that is perfect for you.”
Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare
Let me not to the Marriage of true minds admit impediments.
Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds
Or bends with the remover to remove;
O,no! It is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken,
It is the star to every wand’ring bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken,
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come,
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom;
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Once in a Lifetime by Anon
Once in a lifetime you find someone
Who touches, not only your heart, but
Also your soul
Once in a lifetime you discover someone who
Stands beside you
Not over you
You find someone
Who loves you for who you are
And not for who you could be.
Once in a lifetime, you find someone …
As you/we have found each other
Come With me by Fran Landesman
Come with me, go with me
burn with me, glow with me
Write me a sonnet or two;
Sleep with me, wake with me
Give with me, take with me
Love me the way I love you.
Let me get high with you,
Laugh with you, cry with you,
Be with you when I am blue;
Rest with you, fight with you
Day with you, night with you
Love me whatever I do.
Work with me, play with me
Run with me, stay with me
Make me your partner in crime;
Handle me, fondle me,
Cradle me tenderly
Say I’m your reason and rhyme.
Pray with me, sin with me,
Lose with me, win with me,
Love me with all of my scars;
Rise with me, fall with me
Hide from it all with me
Nothing is mine now – it’s ours.
Apache Ceremony by Anon
Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be the shelter for each other.
Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be the warmth for the other.
Now there will be no more loneliness.
Now you are two persons,
But there is only one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place
To enter into the days of your life together.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth.
The Bargain by Sir Philip Sydney
My true love hath my heart and I have his
By just exchanging one for the other given.
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,
There never was a better bargain driven.
My true love has my heart and I have his.
His heart in me keeps me and him in one,
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own,
I cherish him because in me it bides
My true love has my heart and I have his.
Nature Boy by Eden Ahbez
There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far, very far
Over land and sea
A little shy
And sad of eye
But very wise was he.
And then one day
A magic day – he passed my way
And as we spoke of many things
Fools and Kings
This he said to me
“The greatest thing, you’ll ever learn,
Is just to love. And be loved in return”
Wise Words by Ogden Nash
To keep the marriage brimming
With love in the loving cup.
Whenever you’re wrong admit it,
Whenever you’re right, shut up!
An Extract from ‘The Prophet' by Kahlil Gibran
“Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, and the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.”
An Extract from ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ by Louis de Bernieres
“Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is.
Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.”