Whether you're having a church wedding or a civil ceremony, there is a good choice of readings and poems that you can ask a friend or relative to read as part of the wedding ceremony.
There are rules for the kind of wedding reading or poem you can have at each ceremony: church weddings should use religious readings while civil ceremonies with a registrar do not allow readings with any religious references. Always check with the registrar or with your vicar or priest that the readings you have chosen will be ok for the wedding ceremony.
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Most Popular Wedding ReadingsPopular Love Poems
Romantic Poems
Classic and Traditional Poems
Assorted Love Poems
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These are the wedding readings commissioned most regularly from our calligrapher. They include traditional verses, romantic poems and blessings from different cultures. They're varied in length so if you're looking for a reading which will make a lovely calligraphy gift, you can choose something to fit your budget (see our prices page for full information).
On Your Wedding Day
Sonnet 116
I Will Be Here
Irish Blessing
For You Both
A Good Marriage
A Marriage
The Blessing of the Apaches
Marriage
A White Rose
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.
170 words: £75 for this popular wedding reading in calligraphy
Sonnet 116
William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
admit impediments. Love is not love
which alters when it alteration finds,
or bends with the remover to remove:
Oh, no! It is an ever-fixed mark.
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
it is the star to every wandering bark,
whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
within his bending sickle's compass come;
love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
but bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
113 words: £65 for this popular wedding reading in calligraphy
I Will Be Here
Steven Curtis Chapman
If in the morning when you wake,
If the sun does not appear,
I will be here.
If in the dark we lose sight of love,
Hold my hand and have no fear,
I will be here.
I will be here,
When you feel like being quiet,
When you need to speak your mind I will listen.
Through the winning, losing, and trying we'll be together,
And I will be here.
If in the morning when you wake,
If the future is unclear,
I will be here.
As sure as seasons were made for change,
Our lifetimes were made for years,
I will be here.
I will be here,
And you can cry on my shoulder,
When the mirror tells us we're older.
I will hold you, to watch you grow in beauty,
And tell you all the things you are to me.
We'll be together and I will be here.
I will be true to the promises I've made,
To you and to the one who gave you to me.
I will be here.
182 words. £80 for this popular wedding reading in calligraphy
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
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 misfortune,
Rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.
May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.
146 words: £70 for this popular wedding reading in calligraphy
Scattered from hands of love like bread for wild birds
Flung like rainbows of confetti from hands of joy
Released like drops of warm and living rain
We shower you with blessings
May companionship sustain you
Love be your walking guide
Joy the bricks that build your house
Laughter the cement that makes you strong
Compassion the roof that shelters you
In its strong and caring arms
May the path you walk together be the quiet path of harmony
Respecting each others' differences
May friends and children gather at your table
May life be long and, at its human end
May the gaze that falls each upon the other
Be still alive with love
And twinkle yet with laughter
Health, gladness and love always
Dear……. and Dear………
With hearts filled with joy we celebrate
Your wedding day
140 words: £70 for this popular wedding reading in calligraphy
A good marriage must be created.
It is having mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow
It is finding room for the things of spirit
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful
It is not only marrying the right partner
It is being the right partner.
106 words: only £65 for this popular wedding reading in calligraphy
A Marriage
Mark Twain
Makes of two fractional lives
A whole
It gives to two purposeless lives
A work, and doubles the strength
Of each to perform it
It gives to two
Questioning natures
A reason for living
And something to live for
It will give a new gladness
To the sunshine
A new fragrance to the flowers
A new beauty to the earth
And a new mystery to life.
70 words: only £55 for this popular wedding reading in calligraphy
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
93 words: £60 for this popular wedding reading in calligraphy
Marriage
Mary Weston Fordham
The die is cast, come weal, come woe,
Two lives are joined together,
For better or for worse, the link
Which naught but death can sever.
The die is cast, come grief, come joy.
Come richer, or come poorer,
If love but binds the mystic tie,
Blest is the bridal hour.
55 words: only £55 for this popular wedding reading in calligraphy
A White Rose
John Boyle O'Reilly
The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.
But I send you a cream-white rosebud
With a flush on its petal tips;
For the love that is purest and sweetest
Has a kiss of desire on the lips.
63 words: only £55 for this popular wedding reading in calligraphy
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This small selection of timeless love poems has something for everyone. From the simple grace of the I Ching to the eloquent phrasing of Christopher Marlowe's 'Passionate Shepherd', these all make wonderful calligraphy gifts for loved ones.
A Dedication To My Wife
The Key To Love
The Prophet
I Ching
The Passionate Shepherd To His Love
If Thou Must Love Me
A Dedication To My Wife
T.S.Eliot
To whom I owe the leaping delight
That quickens my senses in our waking time
And the rhythm that governs the repose of our sleeping time
The breathing in unison
Of lovers whose bodies smell of each other
Who think the same thoughts without need of speech
And babble the same speech without need of meaning.
No peevish winter wind shall chill
No sullen tropic sun shall wither
The roses in the rose garden which is ours and ours only.
But this dedication is for others to read
These are private words addressed to you in public.
103 words: £65 for this popular love poem in calligraphy
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.
197 words: £80 for this popular love poem in calligraphy
The Prophet
Kahil Gibran
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise on your lips
119 words: £65 for this popular love poem in calligraphy
When two people are at one
in their inmost hearts,
they shatter even the strength of iron or bronze.
And when two people understand each other
in their inmost hearts,
their words are sweet and strong,
like the fragrance of orchids.
43 words: only £50 for this popular love poem in calligraphy
The Passionate Shepherd To His Love
Christopher Marlowe
Come live with me, and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.
And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
And I will make thee beds of roses,
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle,
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle.
A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull,
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold.
A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs,
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.
The shepherds’ swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning;
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me, and be my love.
165 words: £75 for this popular love poem in calligraphy
If Thou Must Love Me
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
If thou must love me, let it be for naught
Except for love's sake only. Do not say,
'I love her for her smile - her look - her way
Of speaking gently, for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day' -
For these things in themselves, beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee - and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry:
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.
130 words: £70 for this popular love poem in calligraphy
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These romantic poems are our personal favourites. They make lovely gifts in calligraphy with a simple illustration - please see our different design pages for ideas.
Chapter One of One Thousand
Always
The Confirmation
Now
Marriage is...
True Love
The Bargain
Chapter One of One Thousand
O.J.Preston
For two people this dawn brought on a magical day
Now husband and wife they head on their way
As a boat setting sail may their journey begin
With calmest of waters, most helpful of wind
And if they should stumble upon turbulent sea
May it pass them unharming – leave them be.
For here are two people whom love has well bitten
Here opens their book which has yet to be written
As the first page unfolds and their life inks its path
May it write a true story where forever love lasts
Let their journey be happy till death do they part
Of one thousand chapters may this be the start.
118 words: £65 for this romantic poem in calligraphy
This isn’t sometime
This is always
This isn’t maybe
This is always
The real beginning of forever
This isn’t just midsummer madness
A passing glow, a moment’s gladness
This is love.
I knew it on the night we met
You tied a string around my heart
So how could I forget you?
With every kiss I know that this
Is Always
62 words: £55 for this romantic poem in calligraphy
The Confirmation
Edwin Muir
Yes, yours, my love, is the right human face
I in my mind had waited for so long
Seeing the false and searching for the true
Then found you as a traveller finds a place
Of welcome suddenly amid the wrong
Valleys and rocks and twisting roads. But you,
What shall I call you? A fountain in a waste,
A well of water in a country dry,
Or anything that honest and good an eye
That makes the whole world bright. Your open heart,
Simple with giving, gives the primal deed,
The first god world, the blossom, the blowing seed,
The hearth, the steadfast land, the wandering sea
Not beautiful or rare in every part,
But like yourself, as they were meant to be.
128 words: £70 for this romantic poem in calligraphy
Now
Robert Browning
Out of your whole life give but a moment
All of your life that has gone before
All to come after it – so you ignore
So you make perfect the present – condense
In a rapture of rage, for perfection’s endowment
Thought and feeling and soul and sense
Merged in a moment which gives me at last
You around me for once, you beneath me, above me
Me – sure that despite of time future, time past
This tick of our life time’s one moment you love me
How long such suspension may linger? Ah Sweet
The moment eternal – just that and no more
When ecstasy’s utmost we clutch at the core
While cheeks burn, arms open, eyes shut and lips meet
123 words: £65 for this romantic poem in calligraphy
Marriage is a dynamic process of discovery.
Marriage is a journey, not an arrival.
In marriage, being the right person is as important as finding the right person.
Marriage is starting to love, over and over again.
Marriage is life’s work. Marriage is an art ….. and like any creative process, it requires
active thought and effort. We have to learn how to share on many different levels. We
need to practise talking from the heart and understanding attitudes as well as words.
Giving generously and receiving graciously are talents that are available to anyone.
But all these skills need to be developed if the marriage picture that we paint is to be
anything approaching the masterpiece intended.
120 words: £65 for this romantic poem in calligraphy
True love is a sacred flame
That burns eternally,
And none can dim its special glow
Or change its destiny.
True love speaks in tender tones
And hears with gentle ear,
True love gives with open heart
And true love conquers fear.
True love makes no harsh demands
It neither rules nor binds,
And true love holds with gentle hands
The hearts that it entwines.
67 words: £55 for this romantic poem in calligraphy
The Bargain
Sir Philip Sidney
My true love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange one for another given:
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,
There never was a better bargain driven:
My true love hath my heart, and I have his.
His heart in me keeps him and me in one,
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own,
I cherish his because in me it bides:
My true love hath my heart, and I have his.
95 words: £60 for this romantic poem in calligraphy
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There are so many classic and traditional poems to choose from, we've included only a small selection here. Older poems and sonnets are great gifts for fans of classic literature and for anyone who has a love of poetry; the language is often wonderfully archaic in structure and form.
So We'll Go No More A-Roving
Sonnet 18
A Red, Red Rose
Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her
So We'll Go No More A-Roving
Lord Byron
So, we'll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart be still as loving,
And the moon be still as bright.
For the sword outweighs its sheath,
And the soul wears out the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.
Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we'll go no more a-roving,
By the light of the moon.
83 words: £60 for this traditional poem in calligraphy
Sonnet 18
William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as man can breath, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
118 words: £65 for this traditional poem in calligraphy
A Red, Red Rose
Robert Burns
O, my love's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
O my love's like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I,
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.
Till a' the seas gang dry, my Dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun:
I will love thee still, my Dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only love,
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my love.
Tho' it were ten thousand mile!
112 words: £65 for this traditional poem in calligraphy
Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her
Christopher Brennan
If questioning would make us wise
No eyes would ever gaze in eyes;
If all our tale were told in speech
No mouths would wander each to each.
Were spirits free from mortal mesh
And love not bound in hearts of flesh
No aching breasts would yearn to meet
And find their ecstasy complete.
For who is there that lives and knows
The secret powers by which he grows?
Were knowledge all, what were our need
To thrill and faint and sweetly bleed?
Then seek not, sweet, the "If" and "Why"
I love you now until I die.
For I must love because I live
And life in me is what you give.
124 words: £65 for this traditional poem in calligraphy
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These love poems are special finds from various websites, from poetry books and things we've just stumbled across and fallen in love with. We hope you like them too!
All Things Are Ours
The Colour Of My Love
Love Lives
From This Day Forward
To Keep Your Marriage Brimming
My True Love Hath My Heart
To My Dear Loving Husband
Our Love
A Birthday
To My Bride
Only Our Love
Fidelity
All Things Are Ours
Barbara Burrow
All things are ours because we love
The earth below, the sky above,
The mountains, meadow, sand, and sea.
All things surounding you and me
Are but a sweet reflection of
The gentle wonder of our love.
43 words: £50 for this love poem in calligraphy
The Colour Of My Love
David Foster & Arthur Janov
I'll paint a sun to warm your heart
Knowing that we'll never part.
I'll draw the years all passing by
So much to learn, so much to try.
I'll paint my mood in shadow blue,
Paint my soul to be with you.
I'll sketch your lips in shaded tones,
Draw your mouth to my own.
I'll trace a hand to wipe your tears
And trace a look to calm your fears.
A silhouette of dark and light
To hold each other oh so tight.
I'll paint the stars in the evening sky,
Draw the light into your eyes,
A touch of love, a touch of grace,
To softly fall on your moonlit face.
And with this ring our lives will start,
Let nothing keep our love apart.
I'll take your hand to hold in mine,
And be together through all time.
151 words: Still only £75 for this love poem in calligraphy
Love Lives
John Clare
Love lives beyond
The tomb, the earth, which fades like dew.
I love the fond,
The faithful, and the true
Love lives in sleep,
The happiness of healthy dreams
Eve's dews may weep,
But love delightful seems.
'Tis heard in Spring
When light and sunbeams, warm and kind,
On angels' wing
Bring love and music to the mind.
And where is voice,
So young, so beautiful and sweet
As nature's choice,
Where Spring and lovers meet?
Love lives beyond
The tomb, the earth, the flowers, and dew.
I love the fond,
The faithful, young and true.
100 words: only £60 for this love poem in calligraphy
From this day forward,
You shall not walk alone.
My heart will be your shelter,
And my arms will be your home.
26 words: only £50 for this love poem in calligraphy
To Keep Your Marriage Brimming
Ogden Nash
To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong admit it;
Whenever you're right shut up.
28 words: only £50 for this love poem in calligraphy
My True Love Hath My Heart
Sir Philip Sidney
My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange one for another given:
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,
There never was a better bargain driven:
My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
My heart in me keeps him and me in one,
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guide:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own,
I cherish his because in me it bides:
My true-love hath my heart, and I have his.
96 words: only £60 for this love poem in calligraphy
To My Dear Loving Husband
Anne Bradstreet
If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye woman, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
the heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
The while we live, in love let's so persevere,
That when we live no more, we may live ever.
110 words: only £65 for this love poem in calligraphy
Our Love
Bruce B. Wilmer
Our love is something we have built
From passions, hopes and dreams.
It's safe from any passing moods,
Secure from all extremes.
It's something real and special,
Something solid, something pure.
It's something we can always count on,
ringing sound and sure.
It's something grounded in the heart,
Emitting confidence.
It lives in our emotions;
It is something we can sense.
Our love remains a binding force,
Resistant to all strife.
Amidst the outer pressures,
it's our anchor throughout life.
85 words: only £60 for this love poem in calligraphy
A Birthday
Christina Georgina Rossetti
My heart is like a singing bird
Whose nest is in a water'd shoot;
My heart is like an apple-tree
Whose boughs are bent with thick-set fruit;
My heart is like a rainbow shell
That paddles in a halcyon sea;
My heart is gladder than all these,
Because my love is come to me.
Raise me a dais of silk and down;
Hang it with vair and purple dyes;
Carve it in doves and pomegranates,
And peacocks with a hundred eyes;
Work it in gold and silver grapes,
In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;
Because the birthday of my life
Is come, my love is come to me.
112 words: only £65 for this love poem in calligraphy
To My Bride
Wilferd Arlan Peterson
To my bride, I give you my heart
Sharing love each day, from the very start
To my bride, I give you my kiss
Filling each day with joy and bliss
To my bride, I give you my being
To love, to play, to work and to sing
To my bride, I give you my mind
Learning each day to be more kind
To my bride, I give you my soul
Growing together to be more whole
To my bride, I give you my life
Rejoicing each day that you are my wife.
99 words: only £60 for this love poem in calligraphy
Only Our Love
John Donne
Only our love hath no decay;
This, no tomorrow hath, nor yesterday,
Running it never runs from us away,
But truly keeps his first, last, everlasting day.
32 words: only £50 for this love poem in calligraphy
Fidelity
D.H. Lawrence
Man and woman are like the earth, that brings forth flowers
in summer, and love, but underneath is rock.
Older than flowers, older than ferns, older than foraminiferae,
older than plasm altogether is the soul underneath.
And when, throughout all the wild chaos of love
slowly a gem forms, in the ancient, once-more-molten rocks
of two human hearts, two ancient rocks,
a man's heart and a woman's,
that is the crystal of peace, the slow hard jewel of trust,
the sapphire of fidelity.
The gem of mutual peace emerging from the wild chaos of love.
98 words: only £60 for this love poem in calligraphy