Wedding: Readings

Matt and I did not have a unity ceremony. We didn't find anything that fit us like we thought it should. We've seen the candles and the sand but it wasn't what we wanted. So when we talked about the readings we wanted done at our ceremony, we decided to offer each other the readings as a tribute to our unity. We would each find a reading that represented our relationship or our commitment to each other, those were our parameters. We also agreed that the first time we would hear them would be at the ceremony.

The Bride's Reading: Love by Roy Croft

read by Amanda's aunt, Wendy Lebahn

I love you,

Not only for what you are,

But for what I am
When I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,

But for what

You are making of me.

I love you

For the part of me

That you bring out;

I love you

For putting your hand

Into my heaped-up heart

And passing over

All the foolish, weak things

That you can't help

Dimly seeing there,

And for drawing out

Into the light

All the beautiful belongings

That no one else had looked

Quite far enough to find.

I love you because you

Are helping me to make

Of the lumber of my life

Not a tavern

But a temple;

Out of the works

Of my every day

Not a reproach

But a song.

I love you

Because you have done

More than any creed

Could have done

To make me good,

And more than any fate

To make me happy.

You have done it

Without a touch,

Without a word,

Without a sign.

You have done it

By being yourself.

The Groom's Reading: Union by Robert Fulghum

read by Matthew's aunt, Judy Potts

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making commitments in an informal way. All of those conversations that were held in a car, or over a meal, or during long walks – all those conversations that began with, “When we’re married”, and continued with “I will” and “you will” and “we will” – all those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe” – and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.

The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things that we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed – well, I meant it all, every word.”

Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another – acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher, for you have learned much from one another these past few years. Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you will never quite be the same.

For after today you shall say to the world –
This is my husband. This is my wife.