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Friday, February 12, 2010

meaningful ceremony readings pt. 1

When we first got engaged, I looked up "wedding ceremony" online because, well, in my 20-ish years on earth, I've only been to a handful of weddings... most of which I don't remember, so I (naively) figured there must be a formula for wedding ceremonies that everyone followed. Traditional readings of bible verses have been in the wedding business for a long time and as beautiful as 1 Corinthians 13 is, I started longing for something more unique, something not so overused, and something that expresses us better as a couple. As much as I understand why people use the traditional formula for a wedding ceremony, I think weddings everywhere could benefit from a little sprucing and personalization to fit the couple standing at the alter, under the chuppah, or barefoot on the grass.

So, in an effort to make every part of our wedding ceremony meaningful and personalized to us as a couple, I've been researching unique ceremony readings like a mad woman. And I have to say... I love the internet more than ever. I have found so many unique, amazing, and special readings that I wish I could include them all. And I probably would. If I wanted our ceremony to be 4 hours long, that is.

Since that's not the case, we've had to do some serious trimming. Only the essentials. Only the readings that best illustrate us as a couple will do. And after reading Weddingbee posts by Mrs. Candy Corn and Miss Scissors about Sandol Stoddard Warburg's children's book "I Like You" a few months ago, we've definitely got at least one reading that fits the bill. While I read the excerpts from the book in these posts, I was fighting back tears, thinking about how perfect this book was for us, and praying that I could find a copy for the wedding.

Thankfully, I did. And $8.95 cents later, I was able to order it into a local book store to love it in person. And boy, do I ever. We've had our copy for over two months and I still get choked up every time we read it. And just in case any of you haven't read it yet, here's some of my favorite parts (and by parts, I mean 'here's almost the entire book' because I love the whole thing).

I like you
And I know why
I like you because

You are a good person

To like


When I think something is important

You think it's important too


When I say something funny

You laugh
I think I'm funny and
You think I'm funny too
Hah-hah


You know how to be silly

That's why I like you
Boy are you ever silly

I never met anybody sillier than me

till I met you



If I am a goofus on the roofus

Hollering my head off

You are one too


That's because

You really like me

You really like me

Don't you

And I really like you back

And you like me back

And I like you back
And that's the way we keep on going
Every day


And I like you because

When I am feeling sad

You don't always cheer me up right away

Sometimes it is better to be sad

You can't stand the others being so googly and gaggly
every single minute
You want to think about things

It takes time



If you find two four-leaf clovers
You give me one

If I find four I give you two
If we only find three

We keep on looking

Sometimes we have good luck
And sometimes we don't


I like you because
I don't know why but
Everything that happens

Is nicer with you
I can't remember when I didn't like you
It must have been lonesome then


I like you because because because
I forget why I like you

But I do

So many reasons



Even if it was way down at the bottom of January

Even if it was no place particular in January

I would go on choosing you

And you would

go on choosing me

Over and over again


That's how it would happen every time

I don't know why

I guess I don't know why I like you really

Why do I like you

I guess I just like you
I guess I just like you


Because I like you


Like Miss Scissors, I have no idea how I'm going to keep it together at the wedding ceremony with this book on our list of readings.

Speaking of reading, I would love to have one of the kids at our wedding read this, but I'm still a little apprehensive about putting such a big spotlight on a lil' one. So we need to find someone who is young at heart and able to do the book justice because it wouldn't be nearly as special if it were read in a monotonous, blazay kind of way.

Just to insert a little egotism into the conversation, I personally think I'd be the best one to do it given the fact that I act like a child 92% of the time, but I think I might be a little busy getting married that day to swing it.

In addition to this book, I've found some other great suggestions for readings for those in the children's book groove like us:

"Guess How Much I Love You?" Sam McBratney
"All the Ways I Love You" Piggy Toes Press
"I Love You More" Laura Duksta

Alright, come on, give them up, I want some more suggestions for readings! I can guarantee you I will poach your ideas for our wedding if they're really good ones...

1 comments:

Miss C said...

I also love that book :)

I love the Owl and the Pussycat... although with the maturity level of most at our wedding, I'm going to skip it.

I like this verse the best though:

"And hand in hand,

by the edge of the sand,

they danced by the light of the moon,

the moon,

they danced by the light of the moon."

This one is a bit mushy, bit I like it anyway:

"To love very much is to love inadequately: We love- That is all. Love cannot be modified without being nullified. Love is a short word but it contains everything. Love means the body, the soul, the life, the entire being. We feel love as we feel the warmth of our blood, we breathe love as we breathe the air, we hold it in ourselves as we hold our thoughts. Nothing more exists for us. Love is not a word. It is a wordless state indicated by four letters."

Guy De Maupassant

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