Many brides want to know what are the most popular wedding ceremony readings, so I have complied a list of scriptural readings and poems I have provided to brides at weddings.
Scriptural Readings
Colossians 3:12-14
12. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved , bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering;
13. Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
1 Corinthians 13:4-13
4. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9. For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10. but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
11. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
12. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
9. Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:
10. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
11. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?
12. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Genesis 1:26-31
26. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29. Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
30. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day.
Mark 10:6-9
6. "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.'
7. 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,
8.and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one.
9. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
Other Ceremony Readings
The Couple’s Tao Te Ching: “See Clearly”
Lau Tzu, sixth century B.C.E./Interpreted by William Martin
Your love is a great mystery.
It is like an eternal lake
whose waters are always still and clear like glass.
Looking into it you can see
the truth about your life.
It is like a deep well
whose waters are cool and pure.
Drinking from it you can be reborn.
You do not have to stir the waters
or dig the well.
Merely see yourself clearly
And drink deeply.
The Couple’s Tao Te Ching: “Always Return”
Lau Tzu, sixth century B.C.E./Interpreted by William Martin
It is good to know your strength
but always reteurn to your flexibility.
If you can cradle your beloved in your arms
in nurturing gentleness,
love will flow through you
It is good to achieve things
but always return to anonymity.
Your beloved does not need your achievements
but needs your uncomplicated soul.
It is good to work for change,
but always return to what is.
If you accept all things whether painful or joyful,
you will always know
that you belong to each other
and to the Tao.
The Couple’s Tao Te Ching: “A Sacred Space”
Lau Tzu, sixth century B.C.E./Interpreted by William Martin
Your love requires space in which to grow.
This space must be safe enough
to allow your hearts to be revealed.
It must offer refreshment for your spirits
and renewal for your minds.
It must be a space made sacred
by the quality of your honesty,
attention, love, and compassion.
It may be anywhere,
inside or out,
but it must exist.
The Couple’s Tao Te Ching: “Transforming Power”
Lau Tzu, sixth century B.C.E./Interpreted by William Martin
Your love contains the power
of a thousand suns.
It unfolds as naturally and effortlessly
as does a flower,
and graces the world with its blooming.
Its beauty radiates a transforming energy
that enlivens all who see it.
Because of you, compassion and joy
are added to the world.
That is why the stars sing together
because of your love.
My Favorite Shakespeare Love Poem
From “The Passionate Pilgrim” number XX
Live with me, and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dales and fields,
And all the craggy mountains yields.
There will we sit upon the rocks,
And see the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers, by whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
There will I make thee a bed of roses,
With a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroider’d all with leaves of myrtle.
A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs;
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Then live with me and be my love.
Also from Shakespeare – Love’s Answer
If that the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.
