We are finally putting together our ceremony and are enjoying the freedom of a non-religious, do whatever we want format. There are so many possibilities and its really fun to sort through our options and ideas to put together a ceremony that is going to be meaningful to us.
So far...this is what we have for our ceremony:
- Important people are seated, the four people standing up for us walk in, and then the Mister and I walk in together (or something)
- Our officiant (who is the father of one of my mister's best friends) says some sort of welcome
- Some cool people read something awesome that makes people think
- Some cool people read something awesome that makes people smile and cry
- Our officiant says a few more words
- We say some kind of vows
- We give each other rings
- We make ou...I mean, we kiss
- Exit to cocktail hour!
Is it sad that I feel really happy and like we've made great progress now that we have this extremely vague and totally nondescript outline?
Also, does anyone have some good readings? We went to Borders to browse through their love poems and all we found were extremely cheesy, epic poems that no one would be able to understand just listening to them. One reading that we are thinking about is from The Little Prince, a story I've loved for a long time, about taming and being tamed. Its adorable and has a cute little message. It also might be fun to have three people read it. One as the Little Prince, one as the fox and one as narrator.
So, any good, meaningful, not so cheesy and not so grand poems or readings about love/marriage/commitment out there?
I think the outline looks great! And it'll definitely help. We just finished writing our ceremony (minus our personal vows), and it was tougher than I expected. We cobbled it together from a ton of internet resources, but I kept finding certain lines I liked and wanting to fit them in somehow. If you haven't checked out this thread on Indiebride, it's the place to find readings, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteI know taste in poetry can vary quite a lot, but for what it's worth, here are two poems we didn't use, but I love:
Beyond What
by Alice Walker
We reach for destinies beyond
what we have come to know
and in the romantic hush
of promises
perceive each
the other's life
as known mystery.
Shared. But inviolate.
No melting. No squeezing
into One.
We swing our eyes around
as well as side to side
to see the world.
To choose, renounce,
this, or that--
call it a council between equals
call it love.
=====
The Present
by Michael Donaghy
For the present there is just one moon,
though every level pond gives back another.
But the bright disc shining in the black lagoon,
perceived by astrophysicist and lover,
is milliseconds old. And even that light’s
seven minutes older than its source.
And the stars we think we see on moonless nights
are long extinguished. And, of course,
this very moment, as you read this line,
is literally gone before you know it.
Forget the here-and-now. We have no time
but this device of wantonness and wit.
Make me this present then: your hand in mine,
and we’ll live out our lives in it.
Margaret,
ReplyDeleteWoah! Both are great, thank you, but I really like that last one! And I think if it were read out loud people could still follow it fairly easily! Thanks so much for visiting and sharing!
I love that chapter from The Little Prince!
ReplyDeleteI asked a friend to read a selection from the Irrational Season by Madeline L'Engle.
ReplyDeleteBryan asked his friend to read something and he selected is own reading. Well, he sent us a few, but we both knew this was the one. ANd we are both on huge Atwood kicks right now...
---
Habitation
Marriage is not
a house or even a tent
it is before that, and colder:
The edge of the forest, the edge
of the desert
the unpainted stairs
at the back where we squat
outside, eating popcorn
where painfully and with wonder
at having survived even
this far
we are learning to make fire
Margaret Atwood