Are you a hopeless romantic? There are many beautifully romantic love poems that can help express your love for your partner on your wedding day. Read on, for a selection of our favourite romantic ceremony readings.
‘My True-Love Hath My Heart’, by Sir Philip Sidney
This poem, by Sir Philip Sidney, is the perfect choice for a romantic ceremony reading.
‘My true love hath my heart and I have his,
By just exchange one for another given,
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,
There never was a better bargain driven,
My true love hath my heart and I have his.
His heart in me keeps him and me in one,
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides,
He loves my heart, for once it was his own,
I cherish his because in me it bides,
My true love hath my heart and I have his.’
‘On Marriage’, by Kahlil Gibran
This popular poem by Kahlil Gibran, expresses the romance of marriage and the enjoyable work of keeping romance alive.
‘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 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’.
‘Blessing For A Marriage’, by James Dillet Freeman
Blessing For A Marriage, by James Dillet Freeman, is a gorgeous poem of well-wishes, one which beautifully expresses the joy and romance of married life. This is a great choice if you have been asked to pick a reading by the couple.
‘May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding. May you always need one another — not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness. A mountain needs a valley to be complete. The valley does not make the mountain less, but more. And the valley is more a valley because it has a mountain towering over it. So let it be with you and you. May you need one another, but not out of weakness. May you want one another, but not out of lack. May you entice one another, but not compel one another. May you embrace one another, but not out encircle one another. May you succeed in all-important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces. May you look for things to praise, often say, “I love you!” and take no notice of small faults. If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back. May you enter into the mystery that is the awareness of one another’s presence — no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when you are side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or even distant cities. May you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy. May you have love, and may you find it loving one another.’
‘Love Is Friendship Caught Fire’, by Laura Hendricks
Love Is Friendship Caught Fire, by Laura Hendricks, beautifully and eloquently expresses how much love can bring to people’s lives.
‘Love is friendship caught fire; it is quiet, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection, and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present, hopes for the future, and does not brood over the past. It is the day-in and day-out chronicles of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories, and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you do not have it, no matter what else there is, it is not enough.’
‘The Magic of Love’, by Helen Steiner Rice
If you’re looking for a playful, sweet poem to read at a friend or family member’s wedding, ‘The Magic of Love’, by Helen Steiner Rice, is a lovely choice.
‘Love is like magic, and it always will be,
For love still remains life’s sweet mystery.
Love works in ways that are wondrous and strange,
And there’s nothing in life that love cannot change!
Love can transform the most commonplace
Into beauty and splendor and sweetness and grace.
Love is unselfish, understanding and kind,
For it sees with its heart, and not with its mind.
Love is the answer that everyone seeks;
Love is the language that every heart speaks.
Love can’t be bought, it is priceless and free.
Love, like pure magic, is life’s sweet mystery’.
Romantic wedding readings
Weddings are the perfect time to connect with your inner romantic, and what better way to express your affection, than with a sweet, romantic poem.
