Here are some readings that couples have used to make their ceremony even more special and personal.

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Madeline Perry
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1 From Wedding Custom Ceremonies Wedding 416 Ceremonies Here are some readings that couples have used to make their ceremony even more special and personal. From this day forward (Author unknown) From this day forward, let us laugh together, and plan together, let us find our favorite places, and go together... Let us enjoy the sunshine, and the rain, being alone together, and in crowds together... From this day forward, together, Let us love! Let us walk together Let us walk together yet not as one, but such that our shadows are separate and distinct, such that our souls are unbound and free Let us share our time, yet do not give all your time, nor take all of mine for in order to develop to the fullest, to be free, we must have solitude and individuality. Let me wander in solitude, when I need to be alone, yet be near, when I need you. Let us share our love. Give freely of your love, but do not smother me, my soul must breathe a free air. Take my love, but do not demand it, for love given of obligation, is stale and without life. Let us share our lives. Share my life, but do not try to shape it. Let me share your life, but do not let it revolve around me. Let us share ourselves. Accept me as I am, do not attempt to change me to fit your dreams. Respect me for what I am, not for what I was or one day may be. Share yourself with me, but do not allow me to limit your freedom or bind your soul. Let us share our minds, thoughts, goals, values and dreams. Let us develop these within ourselves without restriction or loss of freedom Thus our two free souls may wander together as they develop in freedom. As we share our lives, as we walk through life together, know my love is yours, but not my soul for it must be free.

2 !"#$%&'()**%#)+,#(-.&*/+#'0#$1/2/#'+#)#+&/(')*# 3*/++'45#$1/%#6-.*7#*',/#$-#1/)28#9-:/$':/+;# )+,'45#)4#</*7/2;<#0):'*%#:/:3/2;#-2#)#02'/47# $-#2/)7#$1/#3*/++'45#)77+#)#+&/(')*#/*/:/4$;# -2#$1/#3*/++'45#-0#)4#/*7/2#:)%#3/#)4# /++/4$')*#2'$.)*#0-2#%-.8##"#1)=/#0-.47#:)4%# (-.&*/+#*',/#$1'+#0'2+$#3*/++'458>#?)$1/2'4/# A Favourite Blessing May you love deeply, laugh heartily, practise patience, and smile often. May you dream together, grow, be crazy, give, give in, and trust to take. May you see many sunrises, listen to the rain, savour special moments, walk gently through the world and know its beauty. May you discover each other, listen carefully, and always have open hearts. May happiness be your companion, and together may your days be good and long upon the earth From Captain Corelli's Mandolin Louis de Bernières 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 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 blossoms have fallen from their branches They find that they are one tree and not two. 2

3 The Elements of Love May your Love be like the earth Rich, natural, and deeply rooted Strong as rock yet soft as sand Always growing And always patient May your Love be like fire Passionate, intense, and energetic A flame that never dies As radiant as the morning sun And as warm as an evening embrace May your Love be like water Moving, constantly changing Never still, never stagnant As vast as the ocean And as fresh as a spring's rain May your Love be like air The sharing of dreams, thoughts, and emotions Always fragrant, always carefree Found in the breeze of a whisper, Or in the breath of a kiss May your Love be like all four elements physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually intertwined To create the perfect balance, And to craft the perfect ribbon For to bind these two hearts into one Instructions for Life in the New Millenium By His Holiness, the 14 th Dalai Lama Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. And that a loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life. Be gentle with the earth, be gentle with one another. When disagreements come remember always to protect the spirit of your union. When you realize you ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other. So love yourselves, love one another, love all that is your life together and all else will follow. 3

4 Sonnet 18 By William Shakespeare!! Shall I compare thee to a summer s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer s lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature s changing course, untrimmed. But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade When in eternal lines to time thou growest. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee. 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 wandering bark, Whose worth s unknown, although its 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. 4

5 Congratulations! Today is your day. You re off to Great Places! You re off and away! You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the couple who ll decide where to go. You ll look up and down streets. Look em over with care. About some you will say, We don t choose to go there. With your heads full of brains and your shoes full of feet, You re too smart to go down, any not-so-good street. And you may not find any you ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you ll head straight out of town. It s opener there in the wide open air, Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you. And when things start to happen, don t worry. Don t stew. Just go right along. You ll start happening too. OH! THE PLACES YOU LL GO! You ll be on your way up! You ll be seeing great sights! You ll join the high fliers who soar to great heights! You won t lag behind, because you ll have all the speed. You ll pass the whole gang, and you ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly you ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest. Except when you don t. Because sometimes, you won t. You ll get mixed up of course, as you already know. You ll get mixed up with so many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with great care and great tact and remember that Life s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left. And will you succeed? Yes! You will indeed! (98 and! percent guaranteed.) Oh the Places You ll Go - Dr Seuss (A variation is to create your own Dr. Seuss-inspired wedding poem.) 5

6 An Apache Blessing Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be a shelter to the other Now you will feel no cold for each of you will be warmth to the other Now there is no loneliness for you, now there is no more loneliness Now you are two bodies, but there is only one life before you [now there are three lives, his life, her life and your life together] Go now to your dwelling place to enter into your days together And may your days be good and long upon the earth. 6

7 Let s grow old together Let's grow old together... beginning with today. Let's work slowly with each other and build a relationship that we can both enjoy being a part of. Let's share love and understand that neither of us is perfect; we are both subject to human frailties. Let's hold each other close and whisper through the night-- pledging our love, honouring our commitment. Let's encourage each other to pursue our dreams, even when we're weary from trying. Let's expect the best that we both have to give and still love when we fall short of our expectations. Let's be friends and respect each other's individual personality and give one another room to grow. Let's be candid with each other and point out strengths and weaknesses. Let's understand each other's personal philosophy, even if we don't agree. Let's lie awake long into the night sharing our innermost secrets. Let's be friends as well as lovers. Let's laugh at time and plan with each other and wonder how we ever got along without this love we've found. Let's never take for granted these moments that we've shared, but always be reminded of how intensely we have learned to live, how completely we have learned to love. Let's grow old together... and look back on life and smile. 7

Directions: Read the following Shakespearean Sonnet. Mark the rhyme scheme next to the line of the poem. Then answer the questions below.

Directions: Read the following Shakespearean Sonnet. Mark the rhyme scheme next to the line of the poem. Then answer the questions below. SONNET 18 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the