ChatterBank0 min ago
Civil Wedding Reading
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I am getting in married in April in a Civil ceremony - I would like two readings but am stumped! Any ideas?
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I am guessing that you mean secular poetry rather than anything biblical? The poems of Browning, Keats etc tend to go on a bit, but there are masses of others that would fit the bill, depending on your tastes - Here are a couple: - "To Anthea Who May Command Him Anything" by Robert Herrick. Bit of a long-winded title, but you could always just call it just "To ? (your loved ones name) and choose any of the verses you like. Have a look at W.H.Auden's "If I Could Tell You" - again, you could pick just a couple of verses.
Though you may well not care, a wedding counts as a public event so you should really seek permission on any modern reading (last 75 years, I think) - Auden, for example, would still be in copyright (it was mentioned on Radio 4 after the popularity of "Stop All the Clocks", used in "4 Weddings & a Funeral"). It may seem petty, but poets don't earn much for their work, so need the royalties. But Shakespeare said plenty on love, and that's long out of copyright!
Try www.confetti.co.uk
They have loads of ideas for readings suitable for a civil ceremony. We had "Tell me the truth about love" by Auden at ours. I wouldn't worry too much about seeking permission - if you want to be anal about that kind of thing it could be applied to playing modern music at weddings, funerals etc & is seriously unlikely to be persued by the copyright owners.
Once I went to a civil (actually it was humanist) wedding where they had a reading which I think, was by Mark Twain and it was called "The diary of Adam and Eve" which brought tears to my eyes. Also the groom read a poem he had written for the bride. There is also the Shakespeare sonnet which I think starts "let me not to the marriage of minds admit impediment" (my apologies if I quote wrong). I got married in a register office in 1993 myself and we were warned that nothing remotely religious was allowed so for ex. nothing from the Bible. I specifically mentioned the Prophet by Khalil Gibran and the Registrar answered even that would not be allowed because "Prophet" sounded religious to her. I hope they are more flexible for you but I recommend running it by the Registrar first.