Finding a wedding reading that feels as heartfelt as it does unique in this day and age is no mean feat, so I have made it my mission to curate a collection of readings that modern alternative marriers will love. Here are five that I think are an absolute vibe:
Loving Him Was Bread - Lyndsay Rush
When I send you a picture of the sandwich I made for lunch
it means I love you
When I insert your name into the made-up little songs
or fall asleep holding your arm
or track your blinking, blue dot as it makes its
11 minute commute home
it means I love you I love you I love you
There don’t seem to be enough tiny sticky notes
(like the ones I hide for you around the house
whenever I leave town)
to adequately articulate the immense privilege of adoring you
So for now, look at the photo of that gorgeous BLT
and know that
somebody in Chicago loves you so much
they can barely breathe
Unnamed, from ‘i named the moon after you’ - Luke Moon
i once believed love
was made of grand gestures
fireworks,
confessions,
running through airports.
but then I saw you
fold my hoodie,
and leave it on the chair.
I saw you wipe the fog
from my glasses,
hold the door,
listen,
even when I didn’t know
how to say it right.
and suddenly
love wasn’t loud
it was consistent.
True Colours - Becky Hemsley Poetry
I looked up the word ‘yellow’ the other day.
I found so many shades of yellow that they had been distinguished by words like
gold
honey
daffodil.
I found words like fire and sand and champagne and lemon and sunbeam and I even found a song.
Now imagine someone telling yellow that it’s ‘just yellow’. When yellow is a sunbeam and a daffodil and fire. When yellow is a song.
Without yellow, we couldn’t make orange and we couldn’t create green and our world would be far less colourful because of it.
Yellow’s true colours are not limited to one thing.
And neither are yours.
Some days you are dark and fiery and intense.
Some days you are rich and bright and vibrant.
Some days you are buttercups and dandelions and some days you are champagne and a song.
And without you, someone’s life would be far less bright and far less beautiful.
You are you as
yellow is yellow.
And the world needs you.
Because, no matter what you think, you are not ‘just you’.
You are so much more.
Wedding Speech, Hot Priest - From Fleabag
Love is awful. It’s awful. It’s painful. It’s frightening. It makes you doubt yourself, judge yourself, distance yourself from the other people in your life. It makes you selfish. It makes you creepy, makes you obsessed with your hair, makes you cruel, makes you say and do things you never thought you would do. It’s all any of us want, and it’s hell when we get there. So no wonder it’s something we don’t want to do on our own. I was taught if we’re born with love then life is about choosing the right place to put it. People talk about that a lot, feeling right, when it feels right it’s easy. But I’m not sure that’s true. It takes strength to know what’s right. And love isn’t something that weak people do. Being a romantic takes a hell of a lot of hope. I think what they mean is, when you find somebody that you love, it feels like hope.
Tomatoes - Joy Sullivan
I waited so long for love
and suddenly, here it is
standing in the garden, hands full
of heirlooms hot from the sun.
Soon, we’ll make a supper of them.
Salted slabs between slices of bread.
Your beard silvers. My hips ripen.
The mail piles up.
Phone calls go unanswered. Forgive us.
Our mouths are full of tomatoes.
We are so busy
being small and hungry and alive.