Lisa Francesca
  • Home
  • The Wedding Officiant's Guide
  • Helen & the Masters
  • Lisa Francesca's Blog

Thoughts about weddings, writing, and the world

Choosing readings for your ceremony

3/25/2015

 
Picture
The Martha Stewart Weddings editors are sweet to work with! It was fun to chat with Real Weddings intern Elisha Hahm for her blog about ceremony readings that went live this week. She chose some of my favorite readings. Yes, the Anne Bradstreet poem was written nearly four hundred years ago, and it still sounds like love today.

It turns out that Mrs. Bradstreet was a great-great-ever-so-great aunt of mine.

How do you pick readings for your wedding ceremony? I often ask the couple to give me three adjectives to describe the ceremony they envision. So if a couple agrees on, “theatrical, romantic, and upbeat” or “intimate, simple, and brief,” these provide two very different tones. I listen for the tone that they want, which guides me to the types of readings I might present to them.

Interestingly, children's literature is gaining popularity in weddings. More people are choosing excerpts of the book by
Dr. Seuss: Oh, The Places You’ll Go!  I've also heard part of The Little Prince, where the fox explains why he loves his rose. And the part about becoming Real from The Velveteen Rabbit. These readings can touch an audience deeply because we might remember reading them as children.

Here's an interesting alternative to the standard reading: A handful of guests can rise and read brief passages, like definitions of marriage, or blessings for the couple. Tell your family members and friends ahead of time to write a line or two and bring it with them. In a wedding between a Jewish groom and his Chinese bride, each of their parents read meaningful proverbs about marriage in either Yiddish or Mandarin.

Comments are closed.
    Picture

    Welcome!

    Here are some thoughts about weddings, writing, and the world. Enjoy.
    (Photo by Peggy Anderson)

    Categories

    All
    A Good Marriage
    Anxious
    Books For Marriage
    Bride
    Community
    Create Your Ceremony
    Cultures
    Dresses
    Eco Writing
    Fair Fight
    Food
    Helen And The Masters
    Interfaith
    Marriage License
    Meditation
    Props
    Readings For The Wedding
    Religions
    Resources For Writers
    Short Ceremony
    Social Media
    Spiritual Practices
    Summer Writing Colony
    The Officiant's Guide
    Useful Actions
    Wedding Mistakes
    Wedding Vows
    Witness
    Writing

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    July 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    July 2017
    March 2017
    June 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • The Wedding Officiant's Guide
  • Helen & the Masters
  • Lisa Francesca's Blog