Nerdy Wedding Readings For Your Ceremony

It can be quite difficult to discover unique and unconventional wedding readings that add a touch of geekiness and nerdiness to your special day. Let’s be honest, many of the traditional readings have been overused and tend to make guests lose interest.

We’ve scoured the web to find the most meaningful, cool, and memorable wedding readings out there. If you’re looking to bring a tear to even the most hardened wedding guest, we think these examples of good wedding readings will do the trick for you.

Enjoy and happy planning! Let’s get into it.

Examples of Geeky and Nerdy Wedding Readings To Make Your Ceremony Unique

#1. Maybe – Anon

Maybe we are supposed to meet the wrong people before we meet the right
one so when they finally arrive we are truly grateful for the gift we have been given.
Maybe it’s true that we don’t know what we have lost until we lose it but it is
also true that we don’t know what we’re missing until it arrives.

Maybe the happiest of people don’t have the best of everything but make the
best of everything that comes their way.

Maybe the best kind of love is the kind where you sit on the sofa together, not
saying a word, and walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you ever had.

Maybe once in a lifetime, you find someone who not only touches your heart but
also your soul, someone who loves you for who you are and not what you could be.

Maybe the art of true love is not about finding the perfect person, but about
seeing an imperfect person perfectly.

#2. Us Two by A A Milne

Wherever I am, there’s always Pooh,
There’s always Pooh and Me.

Whatever I do, he wants to do,
“Where are you going today?” says Pooh:
“Well, that’s very odd ‘cos I was too.

Let’s go together,” says Pooh, says he.
“Let’s go together,” says Pooh.
“What’s twice eleven?” I said to Pooh.
(“Twice what?” said Pooh to Me.)

“I think it ought to be twenty-two.”
“Just what I think myself,” said Pooh.
“It wasn’t an easy sum to do,
But that’s what it is,” said Pooh, said he.
“That’s what it is,” said Pooh.

“Let’s look for dragons,” I said to Pooh.
“Yes, let’s,” said Pooh to Me.
We crossed the river and found a few-
“Yes, those are dragons all right,” said Pooh.
“As soon as I saw their beaks I knew.
That’s what they are,” said Pooh, said he.

“That’s what they are,” said Pooh.
“Let’s frighten the dragons,” I said to Pooh.
“That’s right,” said Pooh to Me.
“I’m not afraid,” I said to Pooh,
And I held his paw and I shouted “Shoo!
Silly old dragons!”- and off they flew.

“I wasn’t afraid,” said Pooh, said he,
“I’m never afraid with you.”
So wherever I am, there’s always Pooh,
There’s always Pooh and Me.
“What would I do?” I said to Pooh,
“If it wasn’t for you,” and Pooh said: “True,
It isn’t much fun for One, but Two,
Can stick together, says Pooh, says he.
“That’s how it is,” says Pooh.

#3. He’s Not perfect by Bob Marley

He’s not perfect. You aren’t either, and the two of you will never be perfect.
But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can.

He isn’t going to quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break.
Don’t hurt him, don’t change him, and don’t expect for more than he can give.

Don’t analyze. Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there.
Love hard when there is love to be had.
Because perfect guys don’t exist, but there’s always one guy that is perfect for you.

#4. Dr. Who

“Do you wanna come with me? ‘Cause if you do, then I should warn you – you’re gonna see all sorts of things.
Ghosts from the past. Aliens from the future. The day the Earth died in a ball of flame.

It won’t be quiet, it won’t be safe, and it won’t be calm.
But I’ll tell you what it will be: the trip of a lifetime!” – The Ninth Doctor

#5. From X-Files

It seems to me that the best relationships, the ones that last, are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship.

You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before.

Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is… suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with.

– Dana Scully

#6. Carl Sagan wrote,

Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.
Yet on this little dust mote floating in the eternity of space and time, there exists the curious phenomenon of human awareness that makes it all so terribly personal.
Or, as Galileo put it into perspective:
“The Sun, with all the planets revolving around it, and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as though it had nothing else in the Universe to do.”
So it is the way of Love, to the ordinary spectacular.

#7. Ultimate Geek Mashup – Compiler Unknown

We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.
Love is the moment before you’re frozen in carbonite when the girl you’ve had your eye on finally admits what you always knew.
Love is when you say, “I know”. Love is do, or do not, there is not try. Wuv…twu wuv… goes on forever and ever.
And always says “As you wish”. Love is not cupid’s Arrow, it’s a green one. It happens in a flash and makes you feel like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound.
It’s a shield, a smash, a hammer, and an iron suit. You should always be in love. Unless you can be Batman. Then you should be Batman.

Love is the Ron Swanson of emotions. There is nothing stronger, except Ron Swanson. When it comes to love, treat-yo-self.
Love says “Take my hand, we’ll make it I swear”. Love is like a prayer. It’s the great American hero, Kevin Bacon, teaching a small town that it’s our time, it’s our time to dance.
Love is 1.21 gigawatts. It makes us drive 88 miles per hour, speeding towards our Density. It’s dogs and cats living together…mass hysteria.
It’s more powerful than a T-Rex and almost majestic. Love is our happy thought.
Love is magic. Love is asking “After all this time?” and knowing the answer will be “Always”.”

#8. Marriage is Like My Old Car by Marie April Gismondi

The way I see it, marriage is like my old car.
When I bought it new from the dealership,
everyone around me was saying; “Wow that’s a nice car!”
It was all bright and shiny and worthy of admiration.
And then as the years went by…
there were places where the paint was starting to peel off.

It got a little dent and a scratch or two here and there…
and once it was over a decade old…
People started saying; “Why are you still driving that old thing?”
But my car ran like a top and would never leave me high and dry.
Every time something sounded a little off, or needed attention,
I got to work on it and fixed whatever needed fixing immediately,
knowing that you get what you give.

And then, when she became “a classic”,
it was off to the body shop she went for a new paint job.
People once again began saying; “Wow, that’s a really nice car!”
But what they didn’t know was that all the things that really matter,
were always things that nobody could see from the outside.
A marriage is like my old car.

It’s the maintenance you do between the high of the wedding day,
and gaining the admiration of your grandchildren
by being the couple who still laughs and shares secrets,
and still holds hands after all these years.
So don’t worry so much about what people think or say.

Just do your oil changes, keep up with your maintenance,
get out and have fun,
don’t be afraid to blow the dust off now and then,
and fix whatever breaks as soon as it happens.
This is my advice for a marriage
that will motor successfully on down the highway of life.

#9. A Marriage Made For Two – Anon

A successful marriage can learn a lot from bicycle riding. You should promise each other that you will not be fair weather riders, but venture out together in the wind and the rain.
Only by braving the storms as a team will you reap the rewards when the sunshine arrives.
Look after each other. A well-oiled bike will run smoothly and change gear easily. Marriage is like a tandem…keep pedaling or the one at the front shouts at you!

You should promise each other to not only enjoy new adventures and explorations but appreciate the same old routes you know and love.
Marriage is a promise to each other to endure the climbs so that you may chase the swoops and swerves of perfect singletrack.
The journey may be long and may have hills ahead, but if you climb together with love and passion, you will be able to achieve everything you both desire!
Wishing you all the best from the start line of the greatest endurance event of your lives. Good luck and may each lap be a great adventure.

#10. Extract from Still Life With Woodpecker – Tom Robbins

Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules.
The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice.
Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet.

That would mean that security is out of the question.
The words “make” and “stay” become inappropriate.
My love for you has no strings attached.
I love you for free.

#11. Extract from One Day – David Nicholls

‘What are you going to do with your life?’
In one way or another it seemed that people had been asking her this forever; teachers, her parents, friends at three in the morning, but the question had never seemed this pressing and still, she was no nearer an answer…
‘Live each day as if it’s your last’, that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy?
It just wasn’t practical.

Better by far to be good and courageous and bold and to make difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you.
Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well.
Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance.

#12. The Damsel and the Knight

Once there was a damsel in distress.
She had become a bit of a dragon and it was consuming her.
A knight in shining armor confronted the damsel,
And seeing her reflection in his shiny breastplate,
she realized what a dragon she had become, and she didn’t like it.

In earnest, she set about getting the dragon where it belonged and making sense of it.
“You have saved me”, she cried, “Take off your armor that I may kiss you in gratitude”.

“The removal of armor requires assistance”, responded the knight.
So, together they removed the heavy armor and the damsel embraced him warmly.

The knight had never been so warmly touched.
He felt immense relief He felt lighter; less weary; more free.
“That’s how I feel too!” cried the damsel joyfully,
and after some healthy, passionate kisses they had some healthy, passionate children.

They kept the dragon and the armor, which were useful from time to time;
and generally speaking, in their own funny way, they lived quite happily ever after.

#13. If I Should Fall Behind by Bruce Springsteen

We said we’d walk together, baby, come what may
That come the twilight should we lose our way
If as we’re walking a hand should slip free
I’ll wait for you, should I fall behind, wait for me.

We swore we’d travel, darlin’, side by side
We’d help each other stay in stride
But each lover’s steps fall so differently
But I’ll wait for you, and if I should fall behind, wait for me.

Now everyone dreams of love lasting and true
Oh but you and I know what this world can do
So let’s make our steps clear that the other may see
And I’ll wait for you, and if I should fall behind, wait for me.

Now there’s a beautiful river in the valley ahead
There ‘neath the oak’s bough soon we will be wed
Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees?
I’ll wait for you, should I fall behind, wait for me
Darlin’ I’ll wait for you, and should I fall behind, wait for me

#14. Let me put it this way by Simon Armitage

Let me put it this way:
if you came to lay
your sleeping head
against my arm or sleeve,
and if my arm went dead,
or if I had to take my leave
at midnight, I should rather
cleave it from the joint or seam
than make a scene
or bring you round.
There, how does that sound?

#15. How Falling in Love is like Owning a Dog by Taylor Mali

First of all, it’s a big responsibility,
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you’re walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain’t no one going to mess with you.

Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?
On cold winter nights, love is warm.

It lies between you and lives and breaths
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.
Love doesn’t like being left alone for long.

But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.
Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.

Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know ‘Don’t you ever do that again!’
Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.

It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you
until you’re all wound up and can’t move.
But love makes you meet people wherever you go.

People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.
Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.

#16. From “Stardust” by Neil Gaiman

You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn’t true. I know a lot about love.
I’ve seen it, centuries and centuries of it, and it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable.
All those wars – pain, lies, hate… It made me want to turn away and never look down again.
But when I see the way that mankind loves… you could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful.
So yes, I know that love is unconditional.

But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable, and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and… what I’m trying to say, Tristran is… I think I love you.
Is this love, Tristran? I never imagined I’d know it for myself. My heart… it feels like my chest can barely contain it.
Like it’s trying to escape because it doesn’t belong to me any more. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I’d wish for nothing in exchange: no gifts, no goods, no demonstrations of devotion.
Nothing but knowing you loved me too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine.”

#17. Scaffolding by Seamus Heaney

Masons, when they start upon a building, are careful to
test out the scaffolding;
Make sure that planks won’t slip at busy points,
Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.
And yet all this comes down when the job’s done
Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.

So if, my dear, there sometimes seems to be
Old bridges breaking between you and me
Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall
Confident that we have built our wall.

#18. Based on 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 in the past.
An agreement, which binds two souls and severs prior ties.
The celebration of the chance taken and the tests that lie ahead.

For two will always be stronger than one.
Like a team braced against the challenges of the 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 and promises made long ago,
in the sacred space in our hearts.

#19. Love by Roy Croft

I love you
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.
I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.

I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can’t help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find
I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple.

Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.
I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good.
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.

#20. From Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carol, adapted by Marie April Gismondi

Over 150 years ago Lewis Carol wrote the words that have inspired generations to think in different ways and take a different path to the goal that all humanity shares… that of being our truest and happiest selves. Today’s reading reflects this whimsical wisdom.
“Who are YOU?” said the Caterpillar.
This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation.
Alice replied, rather shyly, “I-I hardly know, sir, just at present, at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning,
but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”

Marriage will indeed make you a different person.
A good marriage will make you the best possible version
of yourself that you can be.
“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here.
I’m mad. You’re mad.”

“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”
And today we are all indeed, Mad for LOVE… this beautiful expression of Love… and commitment to many wondrous tomorrows that we are here to participate in and celebrate!
Mad Hatter: “Have I gone mad?”
Alice: “I’m afraid so. You’re entirely bonkers.

But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”
For so many marriage starts off with plans to create an amazing future and the question of “Can we really do this?”
The Queen of Hearts: “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

And Alice had begun to think
that very few things indeed were really impossible.
For as The Dodo said: “The best way to explain it is to do it.”
But how does that happen?
By taking the advice offered by The Unicorn: “If you’ll believe in me, I’ll believe in you. Is that a bargain?”

We… this crazy cast of characters you have invited here today… all love and support you. We believe in you as I know you believe in each other.
For as The Duchess said: “The moral of that is –
‘Oh, ’tis love, ’tis love, that makes the world go round!'”

#21. Charles Darwin on the Prospect of Marriage

This is the Question
Not Marry?
Freedom to go where one likes
Conversation of clever men at clubs
Not forced to visit relatives and to bend in every trifle
To have the expense and anxiety of children
Perhaps quarreling
Loss of time
Cannot read in the Evenings
Fatness and idleness
Anxiety and responsibility
Less money for books
Marry?

Children (if it pleases God)
Constant companion (& friend in old age)
who will feel interested in one
Object to be beloved and played with
Better than a dog anyhow
Charms of Music and Chit Chat
Home
These things are good for one’s health
My God, it is unthinkable to think of spending one’s whole life,
working, working, and nothing after all
No, no won’t do
Imagine living all one’s days solitarily
Only picture to yourself a nice soft wife on a sofa
with good fire, and books and music
Compare this vision with dingy reality
Marry! Marry! Marry!

#22. Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

If my like for you was a football crowd, you’d be deaf ’cause of the roar.
And if my like for you was a boxer, there’d be a dead guy lying on the floor.
And if my like for you was sugar, you’d lose your teeth before you were twenty.
And if my like for you was money, let’s just say you’d be spending plenty.

#23. From the writings of Bob Marley

Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around.
You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more.
You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved, and the many disappointments life has thrown at you.
When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement.

They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself.
Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful.
There is never any pressure, jealousy, or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around.

You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are.
The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song, or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever.
Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colors seem brighter and more brilliant.
Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face.

In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby.
Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you.

You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind, or even a storm cloud on the horizon.
You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible.
You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you.
You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end.
Life seems completely different, exciting, and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.

#24. Love Should by Moby

Morning sun is sweet and soft on your eyes
Oh my love, you always leave me surprised
I feel my heart starts to burst
With all my love for you
I know how it rains
I know how it pours
I never could feel this way
For anyone but you

#25. Excerpts From Traditional Irish Toasts

May you live as long as you want
and never want as long as you live.
And may you be in heaven a full half-hour
before the devil knows your dead.

May your heart be light and happy,
May your smile be big and wide,
And may your pockets always have
a coin or two inside!

Always remember to forget
The troubles that passed away.
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day.

May you always have a clean shirt, a clear conscience,
and enough coins in your pocket to buy a pint!
May the face of every good news
and the back of every bad news be towards us.

May neighbors respect you,
Trouble neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And heaven accept you.

May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been,
The foresight to know where you are going,
And the insight to know when you have gone too far.
May the saddest day of your future
be no worse than the happiest day of your past.

May those that love us, love us.
And those that don’t love us,
May God turn their hearts.

And if he doesn’t turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we’ll know them by their limping.
May misfortune follow you the rest of your life,
and never catch up.

May your mornings bring joy
and your evenings bring peace…
May your troubles grow less
as your blessings increase!
May you get all your wishes but one, so that you will always have something to strive for!

#26. Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières

Love is a 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 promises 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.
Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and, when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.

#27. Close close all night by Elizabeth Bishop

Close close all night
the lovers keep.
They turn together
in their sleep,
close as two papers
in a book
that read each other
in the dark.
Each knows all
the other knows
learnt by heart
from head to toes.

#28. Love Sonnet 17 by Pablo Neruda

I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as one loves certain obscure things,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries
the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,
and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose
from the earth lives dimly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you directly without problems or pride:
I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,
except in this form in which I am not nor are you,
so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,
so close that your eyes close with my dreams.

#29. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

The future belongs to hearts even more than it does to minds.
Love, that is the only thing that can occupy and fill eternity.
In the infinite, the inexhaustible is requisite.
Love participates of the soul itself. It is of the same nature.

Like it, it is the divine spark; like it, it is incorruptible, indivisible, imperishable.
It is a point of fire that exists within us, which is immortal and infinite, which nothing can confine, and which nothing can extinguish.
We feel it burning even to the very marrow of our bones, and we see it beaming in the very depths of heaven.

 

#30. To Love is Not to Possess by James Kavanagh

To love is not to possess,
To own or imprison,
Nor to lose one’s self in another.
Love is to join and separate,
To walk alone and together,
To find a laughing freedom
That lonely isolation does not permit.

It is finally to be able
To be who we really are
No longer clinging in childish dependency
Nor docilely living separate lives in silence,
It is to be perfectly one’s self
And perfectly joined in permanent commitment
To another-and to one’s inner self.

Love only endures when it moves like waves,
Receding and returning gently or passionately,
Or moving lovingly like the tide
In the moon’s own predictable harmony,
Because finally, despite a child’s scars

Or an adult’s deepest wounds,
They are openly free to be
Who they really are-and always secretly were,
In the very core of their being
Where true and lasting love can alone abide.

#31. I Will Be Here by Steven Curtis Chapman

Tomorrow morning if you wake up
And the sun does not appear
I… I will be here
If in the dark we lose sight of love
Hold my hand and have no fear
‘Cause I… I will be here
I will be here

When you feel like being quiet
When you need to speak your mind
I will listen
And I will be here
When the laughter turns to crying
Through the winning, losing and trying
We’ll be together
‘Cause I will be here
Tomorrow morning if you wake up
And the future is unclear

I… I will be here
As sure as seasons are made for change
Our lifetimes are made for years
So I… 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
And I will be here
To watch you grow in beauty

And tell you all the things you are to me
I will be here, hmmm
I will be true to the promise I have made
To you and to the One who gave you to me
And just as sure as seasons are made for change
Our lifetimes are made for years
So I… I will be here
We’ll be together
I will be here

#32. Untitled [Do you still remember: falling stars] by Rainer Maria Rilke

Do you still remember: falling stars,
how they leapt slantwise through the sky
like horses over suddenly held-out hurdles
of our wishes – did we have so many? –
for stars, innumerable, leapt everywhere;
almost every gaze upward became
wedded to the swift hazard of their play,
and our heart felt like a single thing
beneath that vast disintegration of their brilliance –
and was whole, as if it would survive them!

#33. Touched by An Angel by Maya Angelou

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.

Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

#34. The Bridge Across Forever by Richard Bach

A soul mate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks.
When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we’re pretending to be.
Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we’re safe in our own paradise.

Our soul mate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction.
When we’re two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we’ve found the right person.
Our soul mate is the one who makes life come to life.

#35. 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 a postcard glimpse of a floodlit statue or a skyline.
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.

#36. I Like You by Sandol Stoddard

I like you and I know why.
I like you because you are a good person to like.
I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it’s special
And you remember it a long, long time.
You say, ‘Remember when you told me something special?’

And both of us remember
When I think something is important
you think it’s important too
We have good ideas
When I say something funny, you laugh
I think I’m funny and you think I’m funny too
Hah-hah!

…And I like you because when I am feeling sad
You don’t always cheer me up right away
Sometimes it is better to be sad…
I like you because if I am mad at you
Then you are mad at me too
It’s awful when the other person isn’t…

I like you because I don’t know why but
Everything that happens is nicer with you
I can’t remember when I didn’t like you
It must have been lonesome then
I like you because because because
I forget why I like you but I do.

#37. I Choose You by Sara Bareilles

Let the bough break, let it come down crashing
Let the sun fade out to a dark sky
I can’t say I’d even notice it was absent
‘Cause I could live by the light in your eyes
I’ll unfold before you
What I have strung together

The very first words of a lifelong love letter
Tell the world that we finally got it all right
I choose you
I will become yours and you will become mine
I choose you
I choose you

There was a time when I would have believed them
If they told me that you could not come true
Just love’s illusion
But then you found me and everything changed
And I believe in something again
My whole heart
Will be yours forever
This is a beautiful start
To a lifelong love letter
Tell the world that we finally got it all right
I choose you

I will become yours and you will become mine
I choose you
I choose you
We are not perfect
We’ll learn from our mistakes
And as long as it takes
I will prove my love to you
I am not scared of the elements
I am underprepared, but I am willing

And even better
I get to be the other half of you
Tell the world that we finally got it all right
I choose you
I will become yours and you will become mine
I choose you

#38. I Wanna Be Yours by John Cooper Clarke

I wanna be your vacuum cleaner
breathing in your dust
I wanna be your Ford Cortina
I will never rust
If you like your coffee hot
let me be your coffee pot
You call the shots
I wanna be yours
I wanna be your raincoat
for those frequent rainy days

I wanna be your dreamboat
when you want to sail away
Let me be your teddy bear
take me with you anywhere
I don’t care
I wanna be yours
I wanna be your electric meter
I will not run out
I wanna be the electric heater
you’ll get cold without
I wanna be your setting lotion
hold your hair in deep devotion
Deep as the deep Atlantic ocean
that’s how deep is my devotion.

#39. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get all loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

#40. Relativity – Albert Einstein

Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.
How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?
Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour.
Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute.
That’s relativity.

#41. The Art of Marriage by Wilferd Arlan Peterson

Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage must be created. In the art of marriage, the little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.

It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding, and a sense of humor.

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow old.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

Love Is Friendship Caught Fire – Laura Hendricks
Love is friendship caught fire; it is quiet, mutual confidence, sharing, and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times.
It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present, hopes for the future, and does not brood over the past.
It is the day-in and day-out chronicles of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories, and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack.
If you do not have it, no matter what else there is, it is not enough.

#42. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

Then he looked beyond the thorn bushes, out into the big dark night. Nothing could be farther than the sky.
“I love you right up to the moon,” he said, and closed his eyes.
“Oh, that’s far,” said Big Nutbrown Hare. “That is very far.”
Big Nutbrown Hare settled Little Nutbrown Hare into his bed of leaves, leaned over, and kissed him good night. Then he lay down close by and whispered with a smile, “I love you right up to the moon – and back.”

#43. Extract from The Amber Spyglass – Philip Pullman

I will love you forever; whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again…
I’ll be looking for you, every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one’ll ever tear us apart.
Every atom of me and every atom of you… we’ll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams…
and when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won’t just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we’ll be joined so tight…

#44. All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum

All of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten.
Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School.
These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
Wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup:
The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that…
And it is still true, no matter how old you are – when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

#45. Extract from Gift of the Sea – Anne Morrow Lindbergh

When you love someone; you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment.
It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand.
We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb.
We are afraid it will never return.

We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity – in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern.
The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even.
Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now.
Relationships must be like islands, one must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits – islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides.

#46. I Wanna Grow Old from The Wedding Singer

I wanna make you smile whenever you’re sad
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad
All I wanna do is grow old with you.
I’ll get your medicine when your tummy aches
build you a fire when the furnace breaks
Oh, it could be so nice, growing old with you.

I’ll miss you, kiss you, give you my coat when you are cold.
Need you, feed you, I’ll even let you hold the remote control.
So let me do the dishes in the kitchen sink
Put you to bed when you’ve had too much to drink.
Oh I could be the man to grow old with you.
I wanna grow old with you.

#47. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

What I’m feeling, I think, is joy. And it’s been some time since I 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 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 of you, a pearl among the 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 an ice cream cone.
The flavor of grace.

#48. The Journals of Sylvia Plath – Sylvia Plath

I feel good with my husband: I like his warmth and his bigness and his being-there and his making and his jokes and stories and what he reads
and how he likes fishing and walks and pigs and foxes and little animals and is honest and not vain or fame-crazy
and how he shows his gladness for what I cook him and joy for when I make him something, a poem or a cake,
and how he is troubled when I am unhappy and wants to do anything so I can fight out my soul-battles and grow up with courage and a philosophical ease.

I love his good smell and his body that fits with mine as if they were made in the same body-shop to do just that.
What is only pieces, doled out here and there to this boy and that boy, that made me like pieces of them, is all jammed together in my husband.
So I don’t want to look around any more: I don’t need to look around for anything.

#49. From Beginning to End by Robert Fulghum

From that moment of yes until this moment of Yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way.
All those conversations that were held riding in a car or on long walks – all those sentences that began with “When we’re married”
and continued with “I will and you will and we will” – those late-night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe” –
and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding.
The symbolic vows you are about to make are a way of saying to one another,
“You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed – well, I meant it all, every word.”

Catch hands now and face one another to make your vows.
Look at one another – remember this moment in time.
Before this moment you have been many things to one another – acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher,
for you have learned much from one another in these last three years.
Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never be quite the same between you.

#50. Extract from The Kindly Ones – Neil Gaiman

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up.
You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life …
You give them a piece of you. They didn’t ask for it.
They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn’t your own anymore.
Love takes hostages. It gets inside you.

#51. A Year with C.S. Lewis by C.S. Lewis

If the old fairy-tale ending ‘They lived happily ever after’ is taken to mean
‘They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married’,
then it says what probably never was nor ever would be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were.
Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships?
But, of course, ceasing to be ‘in love’ need not mean ceasing to love.
Love in this second sense – love as distinct from ‘being in love’ – is not merely a feeling.

It is deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriages) the grace by which both partners ask, and receive, from God.
They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself.
They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be ‘in love’ with someone else.
‘Being in love’ first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise.
It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.

Wow! What an amazing list of nerdy wedding readings even if I may say so myself! We really hope you enjoyed reading them. Your wedding guests will probably love anything from this list.

Hopefully, they’ll be super helpful when you get to the stage where you need to choose readings for your wedding ceremony.

Now the only tricky part is narrowing down your selection to two or three that you really like and find meaningful and appropriate.

Don’t forget to have a think about what gifts to get your wedding readers too.