Wedding Ceremony Readings, Poems, Quotes & Scripture

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:

Oh, 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 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.

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 dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;

Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel…
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.

But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East and Juliet is the sun!

See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!

O that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being an Ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old grief’s, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,–I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!– and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

If ever two were one, then surely we.

If ever man were lov’d by wife, then thee.

If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.

I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.

My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.

Thy love is such I can no way repay.
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.

Then while we live, in love let’s so persevere
That when we live no more, we may live ever.

A strong relationship is not built in a single moment.
It is built in the quiet decisions made every day.

It is found in the way you listen when the other speaks,
in the way you show up when it matters,
and in the way you choose each other—again and again.

Marriage is not about perfection.
It is about commitment.

It is about learning, growing, and moving forward together,
even when the path is not always clear.

Today is not just a celebration of where you are,
but a promise of how you will continue—
side by side,
building a life that reflects who you are together.

Love is not only found in the big moments—
the celebrations, the milestones, the days like today.

It is found in the ordinary.

In shared routines.
In quiet conversations.
In the small acts of care that often go unnoticed.

It is in the patience you show one another,
the understanding you offer,
and the support you give without being asked.

Over time, these small moments become something greater—
a foundation built on trust, respect, and shared experience.

And it is from this foundation
that a lasting and meaningful life together is created.

Love begins in a moment,
but it is sustained through choice.

A choice to be present.
A choice to be patient.
A choice to understand, even when it is difficult.

Today, you are not only celebrating love—
you are choosing it.

You are choosing to stand together
in both the expected and the unknown.

You are choosing to grow,
to adapt,
and to remain connected through whatever life may bring.

And in that choice, made day after day,
your love will continue to deepen and endure.

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.

You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
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.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.

Where there is hated, let us sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, Grant that we may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

Two are better than one;
because they have a good reward for their labour.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow:
but woe to him that is alone when he falleth;
for he hath not another to help him up.

Again, if two lie together, then they have heat:
but how can one be warm alone?

And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him;
and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

There shall once more be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing.

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable companion to help him.” Then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. The man exclaimed: “This at last is bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh! Woman is her name.” That is why a man leaves his own father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body.

Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise ye the Lord!

Those who are hot-tempered stir up strife, but those who are slow to anger calm contention. The way of the lazy is overgrown with thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway. A wise child makes a glad father, but the foolish despise their mothers. Folly is a joy to one who has no sense, but a person of understanding walks straight ahead. Without counsel, plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed. To make an apt answer is a joy to anyone, and a word in season, how good it is! For the wise the path of life leads upward.

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.

Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.

Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl: Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven. Praise ye the Lord.

I come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I gather my myrrh with my spice, I eat my honeycomb with my honey, I drink my wine with my milk. Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love.

I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the fields, and lodge in the villages; let us go out early to the vineyards, and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love.

Who can find a virtuous woman?

For her price is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her,
So that he shall have no need of spoil.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
Strength and honour are her clothing;
And she shall rejoice in time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom;
And in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of her household,
And eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children arise up, and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously,
But thou excellest them all.
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain:
But a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands;
And let her own works praise her in the gates.

A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will never be poor.