Wedding Readings

Being Catholic I've been to a lot of Catholic weddings of friends and families.  If you've ever been to a Catholic Wedding Ceremony, you tend to memorize the 1 of 2 readings that are always done.  Afraid of falling into this trap with the typical Catholic readings and trying to avoid anything with "fire & brimstone", I turned to the internet for help.  Maybe something modern would be better....

I tried looking up modern wedding readings and nothing seemed appropriate.  Much of what I found was corny or almost seemed to be a joke.  Sorry, but to me a ceremony is a serious commitment. 

This Piece by Pablo Neruda seemed inappropriate to me for a reading and much to modern.

I am the tiger
I lie in wait for you among leaves
broad as ingots
of wet mineral.

The white river grows
beneath the fog. You come.

Naked you submerge.
I wait.

Then in a leap
of fire, blood, teeth,
with a claw slash I tear away
your bosom, your hips.

I drink your blood, I break
your limbs one by one.

And I remain watching
for years in the forest
over your bones, your ashes,
motionless, far
from hatred and anger,
disarmed in your death,
crossed by lianas,
motionless in the rain,
relentless sentinel
of my murderous love.

I turned to literature and found some possibilities in some unlikely places.  "A farewell to arms" had a really nice quote that I liked for the reading.

"A Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway At night, there was the feeling that we had come home, feeling no longer alone, waking in the night to find the other one there, and not gone away; all other things were unreal. We slept when we were tired and if we woke the other one woke too so one was not alone. Often a man wishes to be alone and a woman wishes to be alone too and if they love each other they are jealous of that in each other, but I can truly say we never felt that. We could feel alone when we were together, alone against the others. We were never lonely and never afraid when we were together.

Only problem with this quote is that it just didn't seem romantic enough for me.  Then I turned to historic love letters for inspiration and found a letter from Napolean to his wife Josephine.

Napoleon’s Letter to Josephene- Marmirolo, July 17, 1796[…] When, free from every worry, from all business, shall I spend all my moments by your side, to have nothing to do but to love you. […] I thought I loved you some days ago ; but, since I saw you, I feel that I love you even a thousand times more. Ever since I have known you, I worship you more every day [...] Ah ! pray let me see some of your faults ; be less beautiful, less gracious, less tender, and, especially, less kind; above all never be jealous, never weep; your tears madden me, fire my blood. Be sure that it is no longer possible for me to have a thought except for you, or an idea of which you shall not be the judge.

I really liked Napoleons letter and showed it to my fiance.  Unfortunately he didn't like it and thought it was cheesy-romantic (clearly, he's never written a love letter in his life....)  So I asked him to search for readings and I insisted none of the traditional stuff you hear at Catholic readings like "a wife should submit to her husband".  Sorry I can't dig that sort of thing.  I'm not a feminist, but at the same time I'm not into the dominant male thing.

So he found a couple he liked, both ended up being Catholic approved readings (go figure) and I actually found I like the one below.  Looks like we ended up with a Catholic reading after all.  Thankfully I haven't heard this one before.

"On Love"  by Brother Thomas a KempisLove is a mighty power, a great and complete good.
Love alone lightens every burden, and makes rough places smooth.
It bears every hardship as though it were nothing, and renders all bitterness sweet and acceptable.
Nothing is sweeter than love, Nothing stronger,
Nothing higher, Nothing wider,
Nothing more pleasant,
Nothing fuller or better in heaven or earth; for love is born of God.
Love flies, runs and leaps for joy. It is free and unrestrained.
Love knows no limits, but ardently transcends all bounds.
Love feels no burden, takes no account of toil,
attempts things beyond its strength.
Love sees nothing as impossible, for it feels able to achieve all things.
It is strange and effective,
while those who lack love faint and fail.
Love is not fickle and sentimental, nor is it intent on vanities.
Like a living flame and a burning torch,
it surges upward and surely surmounts every obstacle.

Did you have struggles finding a reading for your wedding and what did you decide upon?  What made you pick the reading you chose and what were your criteria for finding what you wanted?