Track 10:


Music and readings for your wedding.

Music is another wonderful way to personalise your wedding. Traditional musical pieces are 
often chosen above modern alternatives because many of them were written with the marriage 
ceremony in mind.  And just because you are having a civil wedding, it does not mean you cannot 
have something traditional in your music choices! However, modern songs, from pop to folk to jazz, 
can offer a refreshing change and might express your feelings even more appropriately. The choice 
really is yours but just remember that songs must not contain religious content.
 
This is a list of the traditional top ten.

Air on a G string - Bark. 

Ode to Joy - Bate oaven. 

Nocturne from String Quartet - Borrodin. 

Largo from Symphony No 9 - D'vorsh ark. 

Nimrod from Enigma Variations - Elgar. 

The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba - Handel .

Wedding March from a Midsummer Night’s Dream - Mendelssohn. 

Canon in D - Pakel bell. 

Trumpet Tune and Air - Purcell. 

Here Comes the Bride, Bridal Chorus from Lo'engrin - varggner .


This is a list of the modern top ten.
 
Everything I Do (I Do it For You) - Bryan Adams. 

Eternal Flame - The Bangles .

When I’m Sixty Four - The Beatles. 

Close To You - The Carpenters .

When I fall in love - Nat King Cole. 

She’s Got A Way - Billy Joel. 

I Wanna Be Loved By You - Marilyn Monroe. 

My Baby Just Cares For Me - Nina Simone. 

Fields of Gold - Sting. 

For Once In My Life - Stevie Wonder. 

Poetry and readings.

You can make your wedding an even more personal affair by including a reading, which can either be read by you or a friend or family member. Readings are a fantastic way of summing up what you feel about each other or expressing what marriage means to you. there is a vast choice of suitable passages or poems from which to select:  your only restriction is that it must not contain any religious references, nor, of course, be offensive to anyone attending.
If you are finding it difficult choosing a reading, sit down together and think about any poems, authors or pieces of writing that have moved you most. If you are still stumped, try looking at a book of quotations for inspiration or a book specifically for wedding readings, such as The Big Book of Wedding Readings by Confetti.co.uk and the Nation's Favourite Love poems by Daisy Goodwin.

Opposite, we have included a small selection of possible readings to get you started. the first two, by Shakespeare and Browning, are traditional love poems that are always popular at weddings. The lyrical language suits the high emotions you are bound to feel on the day.

However, if you would prefer something more modern, or your readers are too daunted at the prospect of attempting a sonnet, modern poetry offers many options too. the anonymous poem is a simple but powerful statement about the journey you are about to embark on, while Pam Ayres' comedic verse warmly and amusingly conveys the reality of married life in a way that is bound to bring a smile of recognition to everyone who hears it.

Here are some suggestions for readings.

1. From a Native American Indian Ceremony.
 
May the sun bring you new energy by day; 

May the moon softly restore you by night. 

May the rain wash away your worries 

And the breeze blow new strength into your being, 

And all the days of your life may you walk 
Gently through the world and know its beauty. 
Now, you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for 
the other. 

Now, you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to 
the other. 

Now, there will be no more loneliness, 

Now, you are two persons, but there is one life before you. 

Go now to your dwelling to enter into the days of your life together, 

And may your days be good and long upon the earth.
 
2. On Your Wedding Day. Author unknown. 
Today is a day you will always remember 
the greatest in anyone’s life. 
You’ll start off the day just two people in love 
and end it as Husband and Wife. 
It’s a brand new beginning, the start of a journey, 
with moments to cherish and treasure 
and although there’ll be times when you both disagree 
these will surely be outweighed by pleasure. 
You’ll have heard many words of advice in the past 
when the secrets of marriage were spoken, 
but you know that the answers lie hidden inside 
where the bond of true love lives unbroken. 
So live happy forever as lovers and friends 
it’s the dawn of a new life for you, 
as you stand there together with love in your eyes 
from the moment you whisper “I Do”. 
And, with luck, all your hopes and your dreams can be real 
may success find its way to your hearts, 
tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys 
but today is the day it all starts.

 
3. Sonnet 116. William Shakespeare. 

Let me not to the marriage of true minds 
Admit impediments. Love is not love 
Which alters when it alteration finds 
Or bends with the remover to remove; 
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark, 
That looks on tempests and is never shaken: 
It is the star to every wand’ring bark, 
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken. 
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks 
Within his bending sickle’s compass come; 
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks 
But bears it out even to the edge of doom; 
If this be error and upon me proved, 
I never writ! nor no man ever loved.

 
4. Yes, I’ll Marry You, My Dear. Pam Ayres. Reproduced by permission, 
from With These Hands, pub. Orion Paperbacks.
 
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 you 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 chipalartas, 
You can cook it every night! 
It’s you who has to 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!
 

5. The Art of Marriage. 

A good marriage must be created, 
In the marriage, the little things are the big things. 
It is never being too old to hold hands. 
It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day. 
It is never going to sleep angry. 
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives. 
It is standing together and facing the world. 
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family. 
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating 
gratitude in thoughtful ways. 
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. 
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow. 
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. 
It is not only marrying the right person, 
but is being the right partner. 