Here are a few ideas to consider if you are looking for a little something extra to add to a simple ceremony. The readings, prayers, poems are a great way to involve special people in your wedding day.  I suggest limiting to 1-2. We can also incorporate any cultural ceremonies, traditions and children (for blended families) into the overall ceremony.

Blessing of the Apaches 1

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 loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you.

Blessing of the Apaches 2

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.

Blessing for a Marriage, by James Dillet Freeman

May your marriage bring you all the
exquisite excitements a marriage should bring,
and may life grant you also patience, tolerance,
and understanding.
May you always need one another – not so much
to fill your emptiness as to help you know your fullness.
A mountain needs a valley to be complete;
the valley does not make the mountain less but more;
and the valley is more a valley
because it has a mountain towering over it.
So let it be with you and you.

May you need one another, but not out of weakness.
May you want one another, but not out of lack.
May you entice one another, but not compel one another.
May you succeed in all important ways with one another,
and not fail in the little graces.
May you look for things to praise, often say,
“I love you!” and take no notice of small faults.
If you have quarrels that push you apart,
may both of you hope to have good sense
enough to take the first step back.

May you enter into the mystery which is the awareness
of one another’s presence – no more physical than spiritual,
warm and near when you are side by side, and warm and near
when you are in separate rooms or even distant cities.
May you have happiness, and may you find it making one
another happy.
May you have love, and may you find it loving one another!

Hindu Marriage Poem

You have become mine forever.
Yes, we have become partners.
I have become yours.
Hereafter, I cannot live without you.
Do not live without me.
Let us share the joys.
We are word and meaning, unite.
You are thought and I am sound.

Hand Ceremony

These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and forever. These are the hands that will work along side yours as together you build your future.

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch will comfort you like no other. These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief temporarily comes your way.

These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes, tears of sorrow and tears of joy. These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.

Sand Ceremony

Today, this relationship is symbolized through the pouring of these two individual containers of sand.

One representing you ____ and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be and the other representing you  ______ and all that you were, all that you are, and all that you will ever be.

As these two containers of sand are poured into the third container, the individual containers of sand will no longer exist, but will be joined together as one.

Just as these grains of sand can never be separated and poured again into the individual containers, so will your marriage be.

These are the hands that will give you support and encouragement to chase down your dreams.

These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times. These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it. These are the hands that will lift your chin and brush your cheek as they raise your face to look into eyes that are filled with overwhelming love for you.

And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient; love is kind.
Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way: it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrong doing, but rejoices in truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
And now faith, hope, and love abide,
and the greatest of these is love.