So, I'm trying to plan a wedding here and we need some readings. You know, some way to flesh out the ceremony, to make everyone weepy, to get our friends/ family involved. The problem is all the love texts I like are either a) too sexy or b) too depressing. I can't have too sexy because I don't want to remind my Mormon father that I've been "living in sin" for the past two years; I just want him to be ecstatic that it's finally legit. And obviously we can't be depressing everyone, but that's what I like!
So, I'm calling on your collective romantic and literary expertise to give me a few ideas. Not too sexy, not depressing, not too cheesy. If you can suggest something that mildly references spirituality or god but not in a heavy-handed way, that would be swell too. ok, thanks
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7 comments:
"somewhere I have never travelled, glady beyond" by cummings.
What you ask for, of course, is impossible. Not too cheesy? Come on, this is where cheesy comes from.
At our wedding, there was a Rumi reading. I will rummage around in the poetry collection. I like that cummings poem theorris mentioned. Also, unless you hate the Bible, The Song of Solomon has some good stuff. You can edit out any too-sexy parts, of course.
MB and I had reading by Rilke about how two solitudes border each other. There's a great book, Into the Garden? mostly poems, but also selections from religious texts. I think we cobbled stuff together from various beliefs, since we didn't have our own.
But I recommend the Rilke. I'll see if I have the book. but my guess is that I gave it away to someone else who was getting married.
We got married in the forest by a lake, much to the chagrin of our Mormon families. (You should see the photos of the guests--you'd swear they were at a funeral. Also, my mother-in-law was convinced I must be pregnant--otherwise, why the heathen setting?) We had a reading from Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, from a section on love. It worked beautfully. Now if only the acoustic guitarist hadn't chosen to spring "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You," country/twang version, on us.
Happy Wedding, by the way!
Elisa
I second the Rumi. And we thought about using that e.e. cummings poem (also thought about "since feeling is first").
Also, what about Wendell Berry? There are some parts of "The Country of Marriage" that would be great.
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