Wedding ceremony readings used by my 2025 couples | Darlington & County Durham Celebrant

Here are some of the wedding ceremony readings that my couples have chosen this year. I’d love to hear which one you love the most!

I carry your heart – by E.E Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

How do I love thee? – by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

Yes, I'll Marry You by Pam Ayres

Yes, I’ll marry you, my dear, and here’s the reason why;

So I can push you out of bed, when the baby starts to cry,

And if we hear a knocking, and it’s creepy and it’s late,

I hand you the torch to see, and you investigate.

Yes I’ll marry you, my dear, you may not apprehend it,

But when the tumble drier goes, it’s you that has to mend it.

You have to face the neighbour, should our Labrador attack him,

And if a drunkard fondles me, it’s you that has to whack him.

Yes I’ll marry you, you’re virile and you’re lean,

My house is like a pigsty, you can help to keep it clean.

That sexy little dinner, which you served by candlelight,

As I do chipolatas, you can cook it every night!

It’s you who work the drill, and put up curtain track,

And when I’ve got PMT, it’s you who gets the flak,

I do see great advantages, but none of them for you,

And so before you see the light, I do, I do, I do!

Wedding Poem by Whitney Hanson Poetry

They say sometimes love starts with a spark

And that might be true

But if I were to wish you a love

I wouldn’t wish fire for you

You see fire is powerful it burns bright then it’s gone

It’s beautiful and warm

but it doesn’t last long

So instead of wishing you

A love that burns

I wish you love like a river

That twists and turns

It changes and it flows

It is powerful and free

But it consistently finds its way

Back to the sea

And so like the water

I hope your love is ever-growing ever-changing

I hope your love it powerful and free

And may you always find each other

Like the river finds the sea

We Are Home - Ms Moem

Comfortable and inviting,

It's where I want to be.

It's when I go when I feel low

To help replenish me.

It's safe, and yet exciting,

The place I love the most.

Makes me want to never leave;

To always keep it close.

It holds so much potential,

My favourite place I've been.

It's warm and super cosy.

The place of all my dreams.

I love the way it feels

So familiar and secure.

It seems quite clear, what I have here

Some search a lifetime for.

And I can be myself here

Without pretence and fuss.

Some people call it home

But I simply call it us.

The Amber Spyglass by 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…

Union – Robert Fulghum

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes to 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 over a meal or during 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 that 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.”

Look at one another and 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 few years. Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you.

For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this- is my husband, this- is my wife.

Personalised Poem

Your love story as a bespoke poem! Click here for more information!

Looking for original wedding ceremony readings you’ve never heard before? Check out my Meg Stanier Celebrant poems! Including: Our Matchmaking App, No Longer a Solo Traveller & Our Dream Home.

Reading ideas

Wedding ceremony readings | Wedding celebrant ceremony ideas | Wedding readings | North East and Yorkshire Wedding Celebrant