Non-religious wedding ceremony readings can be a great way to add personalisation and atmosphere to a civil ceremony. This being said, it can be incredibly hard to decide on the right special and meaningful readings. So, although we’ve already done a blog article on some popular non-religious wedding readings for your ceremony a few years ago (find it here), we wanted to share some more of our favourite readings with you. Whether you’re after a classic, timeless reading or something a bit more modern and creative, we’ve carefully selected a great variety of non-religious ceremony readings. Read on for more.
Bubbles by Rachel Bright
Together, you are the bubbles in one another’s champagne.
The morning sun through a window.
The breaking of a smile.
Together, you are the one doughnut in the bag with more jam than all the others.
That photo where everybody looks great.
The know all the words, sing out of tune chorus of your favourite song.
Together, you are the beginnings of a big idea.
The twinkly bits that hang in the sky after the firework goes bang.
The cold, thin air at the top of a mountain.
The only two people in a crowded room.
Together, you are that unforgettable day of the holiday.
An accidental adventure.
Chocolate chip.
The last two pages of your favourite book.
A BBQ with friends.
The spray of the sea.
The nose of the cheese.
A kiss.
A hug.
A hold my hand.
A decision which, looking back, will seem to be the most excellent one you’ve ever made.
Together you are bubbles.
The unburstable bubbles of the very best things in life.
The only things any of us ever really need.
One Tree Hill based on a quote from Dante Alighieri
Remember tonight, for it is the beginning of always. A promise. Like a reward for persisting through life so long alone. A belief in each other and the possibility of love. A decision to ignore, simply rise above the pain of the past. A covenant, which at once binds two souls and yet severs prior ties. A celebration of the chance taken and the challenge that lies ahead. For two will always be stronger than one, like a team braced against the tempest civil world. And love will always be the guiding force in our lives. For tonight is a mere formality. Only an announcement to the world of feelings long held. Promises made long ago. In the sacred spaces of our hearts.
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. We pardon to the extent that we love. Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be lonely again. And great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Loved for ourselves. And even loved in spite of ourselves.
Blessing for a Marriage by James Dillett Freeman
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 which 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.
Highs and Lows by Morgan Harper Nichols
For the highs and lows
and moments between
mountains and valleys
and rivers and streams,
For where you are now
and where you will go,
For “I’ve always known” and “I told you so”
For “nothing is happening”
and “all has gone wrong”
It’s here in this journey
you will learn to be strong
You will get where you’re going,
landing where you belong.
A Beautiful Life Together from Reflections on Marriage for the Bride and Groom
Let love be your shelter,
For at times the world is a noisy and confusing place.
So make a home that is a haven, a peaceful place where you can.
Listen to your hearts and savour the comfortable closeness you share.
No matter how busy your days may be, make time for yourselves.
Hold hands. Unwind. Surprise each other.
Find little chances every day to show you’re grateful to be partners, to be friends, to be married.
Life is not perfect. You will make mistakes.
But each time you meet life’s challenges together,
You will grow wiser, stronger and surer of your love.
Cherish your yesterday.
They are irreplaceable souvenirs of your journey through life.
Make memories that will bring smiles and sighs
Whenever you look back.
Look forward, too. Dream together. Plan together.
Make promises to keep. Believe in your tomorrows,
Because tomorrows are what forever is made of.
To make love last, put each other first
That is the way to make a beautiful life together,
The kind of life you both deserve so very much.
An Excerpt from Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith
People are like cities: We all have alleys and gardens and secret rooftops and places where daisies sprout between the sidewalk cracks, but most of the time all we let each other see is is a postcard glimpse of a skyline or a polished square. Love lets you find those hidden places in another person, even the ones they didn’t know were there, even the ones they wouldn’t have thought to call beautiful themselves.
Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together… there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart… I’ll always be with you.
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
What I’m feeling, I think, is joy. And it’s been some time since I’ve felt that blinkered rush of happiness. This might be one of those rare events that lasts, one that’ll be remembered and recalled as months and years wind and ravel. One of those sweet, significant moments that leaves a footprint in your mind. A photograph couldn’t ever tell its story. It’s like something you have to live to understand. One of those freak collisions of fizzing meteors and looming celestial bodies and floating debris and one single beautiful red ball that bursts into your life and through your body like an enormous firework. Where things shift into focus for a moment, and everything makes sense. And it becomes one of those things inside you, a pearl among sludge, one of those big exaggerated memories you can invoke at any moment to peel away a little layer of how you felt, like a lick of ice cream. The flavour of grace.
Always by Lang Leav
You were you
and I was I;
we were two
before our time
I was yours,
before I knew
and you have always
been mine too.
We hope that our selection of non-religious wedding ceremony readings has been helpful in your wedding planning journey. If you’re after more information about non-religious ceremonies, be sure to have a look at civil wedding ceremony guide on the blog (click here for it). Otherwise, we’ve got plenty of real wedding inspiration on the blog – check out our newest feature of Andrew & Ursula’s modern take on a classic English wedding here. For anything else, please get in touch or connect with us on Instagram or Facebook.
Image Credits:
Image 1 & Gallery 1 by Imogen Xiana Photography / Gallery 2 by Katy Jones Photography / Gallery 3 by Tom and Lizzie Redman / Gallery 4 by Abi and Keith Riley Photography / Gallery 5 by Sarah Lauren Photography