If you’ve chosen your mum, dad, step-parent or godparent to do a reading on the big day, then you’ll need something a little more special. Here we share six of our favourite wedding readings for parents…
These wedding readings for parents are the perfect way to involve your nearest and dearest in your big day:
An extract from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, by Louis de Bernières
Love is temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision you have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being ‘in love’ which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree not two.
Traditional Irish Blessing
May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow
May the soft winds freshen your spirit
May the sunshine brighten your heart
May the burdens of the day rest lightly upon you
And may God enfold you in the mantle of His love.
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
and the rain fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again my child
May God hold you in the palm of his hand
May God be with you and bless you
May you see your children’s children
May you be poor in misfortunes and rich in Blessings
May you know nothing but happiness
from this day forward
May green be the grass you walk on
May blue be the skies above you,
And from this day forward.
May the joys of today
Be those of tomorrow.
Blessing for a Marriage by James Dillet 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.
A Parent’s Tribute
Today seemed a lifetime away, now suddenly it’s here
How did it happen so quickly, this wedding drawing near?
How can I sound so happy on this very special day,
When in such a very short time I’ll give my daughter away.
I wish I could grasp a moment and make the clock stand still
So I could let my heart catch up, but I know I never will
All the worries of being a parent, most of the battles won
But no-one ever warned me about the day the job is done.
Yet there is another side, where my heart is not so sad
When I look into my daughter’s eyes, I feel joyful and glad
For I know that I was privileged when this child was lent to me
To love and care for and nurture, so she would grow to be
This lovely, bright young woman, today – a beautiful bride
And as always I and there, with love, at my daughter’s side.
The Wonders of Today, by Larry Chengges
If you can always be as close
and happy as today,
Yet be secure enough to grow
and change along the way
If you can keep for you alone
your love as man and wife.
yet find the time to share your joy,
with others in your life
If you can be as one,
and walk through marriage
hand in hand,
yet still support the goals and dreams
that each of you have planned
If you can dare to always go
your separate ways together
Then all the wonders of today
will stay with you forever.
On Your Wedding Day
Today is a day you will always remember
The greatest in anyone’s life
You’ll start off the day just two people in love
And end it as husband and wife.
It’s a brand new beginning the start of a journey
With moments to cherish and treasure
And although there’ll be times when you both disagree
These will surely be outweighed by pleasure.
You’ll have heard many words of advice in the past
When the secrets of marriage were spoken
But you know that the answers lie hidden inside
Where the bond of true love lies unbroken.
So live happy forever as lovers and friends
It’s the dawn of a new life for you
As you stand there together with love in your eyes
From the moment you whisper ‘I do’.
And with luck, all your hopes, and your dreams can be real
May success find it’s way to your hearts
Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys
But today is the day it all starts!
Still looking? Check out more of our wedding reading recommendations here!
