Celebrate Intimate Weddings

with Relationship Speaker/Author/Coach...
Larry James

You are welcome to add any of the following readings, poems, prayers, or song lyrics to your ceremony. If you have a reading that you found somewhere else, let Larry James know.

Lyrics to songs that have a special meaning for the bride and groom often make good readings at weddings.

To find the lyrics to your favorite song, search here or here or here.

To Have and to Hold: Poems, Blessings, and Wishes for Newlyweds (Faithwords) - June Cotner - June highlights the unique needs and desires of newlyweds, featuring words that communicate the love, laughter, and understanding essential to building a successful union. Carefully arranged prayers, spiritual poetry, and reflections will bring comfort and encouragement to newlyweds as they embark on new journeys together. Larry's Review: Lot of terrific ideas for adding something special to your wedding ceremony. One of the better books for readings!

When you can love each other through the sunshine and the storm and keep the flame of true devotion glowing bright and warm;

When you can give each other room to grow and change and learn, yet hold one another close in mutual concern;

When you can be both lovers and the very best of friends and face together, hand in hand, the challenges life sends;

When you can offer patience, comfort, and real understanding, encourage one another's efforts, yet be undemanding;

When you can show true love and faith in everything you do, then married life will surely hold much joy for both of you.

I promise to give you the best of myself and to ask of you no more than you can give.

I promise to respect you as your own person and to realize that your interests, desires and needs are no less important than my own.

I promise to share with you my time and my attention and to bring joy, strength and imagination to our relationship.

I promise to keep myself open to you, to let you see through the window of my world into my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams.

I promise to grow along with you, to be willing to face changes in order to keep our relationship alive and exciting.

I promise to love you in good times and in bad, with all I have to give and all I feel inside in the only way I know how. Completely and forever.

Note: One couple had Larry add the following words just after he said, "Please face each other, holding hands?"

These hands holding yours on your wedding day are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever.

These are the hands that will work along side yours, as together you build your future.

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years and, with the slightest touch, will comfort you like no other.

These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind.

These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes - tears of sorrow and tears of joy.

These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one and that will give you strength when you need it.

And lastly, these are the hands that, even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching out for yours.

Because you are my love... I know the joy that comes from feeling closer to someone than I've ever felt before.

Because you are my love... I know the passion of wanting to share everything I have, everything I am with you and only you.

Because you are my friend... I know that I can count on you to hold my hand through the rough times and to be there to share the good times too.

Because you are my friend... I'll always have someone to make me smile just when I need it most, and to encourage me when I'm feeling confused or doubtful.

I know that I must be one of the luckiest people in the world to have someone like you.

The perfect love, the perfect friend.

May this day shine eternally in your lives.
May it add brilliance to every achievement and cast a divine light over any misfortune.
May you care for each other in all sadness.
May you give cheer to each other.
May you give vitality to each other in all undertakings.
May all that is virtuous, beautiful and honest, remain with you always.

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 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 succeed in all important ways with one another, and not fail in thelittle 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 in loving one another!

Let us pray. Eternal God, You are our Father and our Friend, as you have heard these words of promise just spoken, may Your Spirit deepen in the minds of ______ and ______ the sense of the sacred and binding power of their vows. In Your Name these words were spoken to make these lives one. May Your rich blessing be added. Give them Your grace and guidance that they may loyally fulfill the vows they have taken. May Your joy remain with them always, may they be a blessing to each other, and to those around them, finding in the blessedness of the home life on earth a sample of the happiness of Your eternal home. And so it is.

Father in heaven, You ordained marriage for your children, and You gave us love. We present to You ______ and ______, who come this day to be married. May the covenant of love they make be blessed with true devotion and spiritual commitment. We ask that You will give them the ability to keep the covenant they have made. When selfishness shows itself, grant generosity; when mistrust is a temptation, give moral strength; when there is misunderstanding, give patience and gentleness; if suffering becomes a part of their lives, give them a strong faith and an abiding love. And so it is.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, Grant that we may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. And so it is.

Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud.
Love is never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand it's own way.
Love is not irritable or touchy.
Love does not hold grudges and will hardly notice when others do it wrong.
Love is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out.
If you love someone, you will be loyal to them no matter what the costs.
You will always believe in them, always expect the best in them, and will always stand your ground in defending them.

I love you for what you are, but I love you yet more for what you are going to be. I love you not so much for your realities as for your ideals. I pray for your desires and that they may be great, rather than for your satisfaction, which may be so hazardously little. The most beautiful rose is one hardly more than a bud wherein the pangs and ecstasies of desire are working for a larger and finer growth. You are going forward toward something great. I am on the way with you and therefore I love you. - Carl Sandburg

The key to love is understanding...
The ability to comprehend not only the spoken word,
but those unspoken gestures,
the little things that say so much by themselves.

The key to love is forgiveness...
to accept each others faults and pardon mistakes,
without forgetting,
but with remembering what you learn from them.

The key to love is sharing...
Facing your good fortunes as well as the bad, together;
both conquering problems, forever searching for ways
to intensify your happiness.

The key to love is giving...
without thought of return,
but with the hope of just a simple smile,
and by giving in but never giving up.

The key to love is respect...
realising that you are two separate people, with different ideas;
that you don't belong to each other,
that you belong with each other, and share a mutual bond.

The key to love is inside us all...
It takes time and patience to unlock all the ingredients that will take you to its threshold;
it is the continual learning process that demands a lot of work...
but the rewards are more than worth the effort...
and that is the key to love.

Let us Pray. Dear Lord, thank you for this joyous day. Thank for Your Light that has entered ______ and ______ life. Thank you for all the miracles and blessings you make possible. Please bless this union. Help ______ and ______ find the perfect place in this world for their love to flourish. Let the radiant light of their love shine on all those around them. May all their future creations be blessed. God, bless them with the inner gifts of trust, compassion, forgiveness and truth that they may live and grow together in love and peace. Amen.

Let us Pray. Spirit of Love, may ______ and ______ know great love together, and may they live in the desire to always support each other in positive and uplifting ways. May they strengthen one another in sorrow, share with one another in gladness, and be companions to each other in times of silence. May their home be a haven, and whenever they are plagued by changing fortune, may they be united not in word and outward form alone, but by the Presence in the hearts of each, of the deepening love they share. And so it is. Amen.

May the love of ______ and ______ be strong, that no misunderstanding loosen the bond and no passing of the years have the power to dim the light that now glows in them. May they early gain wisdom to discern the true values of life and love, and may no circumstances take from them the wholesome peace and inward satisfaction which only love can give. And so it is. Amen.

Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no more loneliness for you.
For each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two bodies,
But there is only one Life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place,
To enter into the days of your togetherness.
And may your days be good and long upon the earth."

Note: Some couples have Larry add the following words just after the vows."

Let us pray. Eternal God, You are our Father and our Friend, as you have heard these words of promise just spoken, may Your Spirit deepen in the minds of Cory and Veronica the sense of the sacred and binding power of their vows. In Your Name these words were spoken to make these lives one.

May Your rich blessing be added. Give them Your grace and guidance that they may loyally fulfill the vows they have taken. May Your joy remain with them always, may they be a blessing to each other, and to those around them, finding in the blessedness of the home life on earth a sample of the happiness of Your eternal home. And so it is. Amen.

When love is finally found it dramatically alters daily routine; the mundane becomes exciting and refreshing. The body breathes again, taking deep breaths as it once did as a child, and everything has an unmistakable aroma. The water, air, and trees just outside the window fill the head with scent, and at last, the face in the mirror look like the person it always wanted to be; it's gleaming, rosy, and smiling. And it doesn't matter who notices, and if it did, a mask would be fruitless. True Love simply cannot be hidden. It radiates the undeniable quality of feeling alive!

The path we travel before Love is found often seems to be a tangent without destination, but then Love steps in front of us and our destination is made perfectly clear. The path brought us right her. Arriving at a beautiful surprise, arriving at Love. The first time two hearts connect, that is the day to mark and celebrate, for it's the birthday of life. The first day of life as it should be! A rebirth and a new vision. It's now obvious how each day is meant to be spent.

Being with you is the nicest thing I could ever do for myself!

More. . . Coming Soon!

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