Religious wedding ceremonies aren’t to everyone’s taste, and that’s perfectly fine! The most important thing about your wedding day is that it reflects your unique love story. If religion hasn’t played a part in that, you can easily substitute Bible readings and hymns with non-traditional wedding ceremony readings. These can include excerpts from your favourite books, films, music — and more.
This guide includes our 15 favourite readings from books and literature, from films and TV, and from songs and musicals. Plus, we share some handy tips on what makes a good non-religious wedding reading and how you can seamlessly weave them into your wedding day.
What is a non-religious wedding reading?
Non-religious wedding readings include handwritten speeches, paragraphs from popular books, quotes from films and TV, and lyrics from songs and musicals. They can work particularly well when incorporated into a non-denominational wedding ceremony (a ceremony that doesn’t specifically fit into its own category).
The beauty of non-religious or non-traditional wedding ceremony readings is that they can be customised to reflect your unique love story. For example, you could change the names of literary characters to yours and your partner’s. Alternatively, you could include lyrics from ‘your song’ or change the lyrics of a song to better fit your special day. The options are endless with non-religious wedding readings.
What makes a good non-religious wedding reading?
A good non-denominational wedding reading is one that means something to you and your partner. If you’re not sure whether something will hit the mark, try asking yourself:
- Does this represent me and my partner?
- Is it appropriate for my guests to hear?
- If isn’t, can I change it to make it appropriate?
- Does it tie into the promises I’m making to my partner on our wedding day?
If the answer to all or most of these questions is yes, then you’ve picked a good non-religious wedding reading! If there’s just something about the reading that doesn’t feel right, don’t be afraid to modify it to fit your needs. You can change sentences, names, places, and more until it feels like a perfect reflection of your love story.
When should I make a non-religious wedding reading?
You can make a non-denominational wedding reading at any point during your ceremony or reception. For maximum impact, we recommend one or more of the following:
As a ceremony introduction
Making a non-religious reading as a ceremony introduction will set the tone for your wedding and engage your guests right from the beginning. Make sure your celebrant knows that you intend to give an opening speech, as this may affect the overall flow and structure of the ceremony.
Before the vows
If your non-religious wedding reading is quite short, consider making it before you read your vows to one another. This will give your guests a glimpse into your relationship and is your chance to squeeze in a few extra promises. Plus, it will set the tone for your vows and create a beautiful transition into that deeply intimate moment.
Instead of a speech
If you aren’t too confident in your speech-making abilities, you could use a non-religious wedding reading instead. Your reading will need to last between 3-5 minutes to ensure you meet a traditional wedding speech length. This is perfect if you intend to use a quote from literature!
After the desserts
A non-religious wedding reading is the perfect way to round off a beautiful day before your guests get to partying. You can round off the ceremony on a heartfelt note, leaving your guests with warm sentiments as you transition into the reception. It’s best to keep these words short as your guests will be eager to get to the party, so stick to song lyrics, short poems, or quotes from film or TV.
5 marriage ceremony readings from books and literature
1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
I have for the first time found what I can truly love — I have found you. You are my sympathy — my better self — my good angel — I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely; a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wrap my existence about you — and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one.
2. 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…
3. Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
I know that love can be loud and jubilant… It can be dancing in the swampy mud and the pouring rain at a festival and shouting “YOU ARE AMAZING” over the band. It’s introducing them to your colleagues at a work event and basking in pride as they make people laugh and make you look lovable just by dint of being loved by them.
It’s laughing until you wheeze.
It’s waking up in a country neither of you have been in before.
It’s skinny-dipping at dawn.
It’s walking along the street together on a Saturday night and feeling an entire city is yours.
It’s a big, beautiful, ebullient force of nature.
I also know that love is a pretty quiet thing.
It’s lying on the sofa together drinking coffee, talking about where you’re going to go that morning to drink more coffee.
It’s folding down pages of books you think they’d find interesting.
It’s hanging up their laundry when they leave the house having moronically forgotten to take it out of the washing machine.
It’s saying ‘You’re safer here than in a car’ as they hyperventilate on an EasyJet flight to Dublin. It’s the texts: ‘Hope your day goes well’, ‘How did today go?’, ‘Thinking of you today’ and ‘Picked up loo roll’. I know that love happens under the splendour of moon and stars and fireworks and sunsets but it also happens when you’re lying on blow-up airbeds in a childhood bedroom, sitting in A&E or in the queue for a passport, or in a traffic jam.
Love is a quiet, reassuring, relaxing, pottering, pedantic, harmonious hum of a thing; something you can easily forget is there, even though its palms are outstretched beneath you in case you fall.”
4. The Chaos Of Stars by Kiersten White
I didn’t fall in love with you. I walked into love with you, with my eyes wide open, choosing to take every step along the way. I do believe in fate and destiny, but I also believe we are only fated to do the things that we’d choose anyway. And I’d choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d find you and I’d choose you.
5. The Bridge Across Forever by Richard Bach
A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we’re pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we’re safe in our own paradise. Our soulmate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we’re two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we’ve found the right person. Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life.
5 marriage ceremony readings from films and TV
1. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. No, don’t blush, I am telling you some truths. That is just being ‘in love’, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.
2. Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City
His hello was the end of her endings. Her laugh was their first step down the aisle. His hand would be hers to hold forever. His forever was as simple as her smile. He said she was what was missing. She said instantly she knew. She was a question to be answered. And his answer was ‘I do.’
3. Harry Burns in When Harry Met Sally
I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
4. The Priest in Fleabag
It turns out it’s quite hard to come up with something original about love, but I’ve had a go. Love is awful. It’s awful. It’s painful. It’s frightening. It makes you doubt yourself, judge yourself, distance yourself from the other people in your life. It makes you selfish. It makes you creepy, makes you obsessed with your hair, makes you cruel, makes you say and do things you never thought you would do. It’s all any of us want, and it’s hell when we get there. So no wonder it’s something we don’t want to do on our own. I was taught if we’re born with love then life is about choosing the right place to put it. People talk about that a lot, feeling right, when it feels right, it’s easy. But I’m not sure that’s true. It takes strength to know what’s right. And love isn’t something that weak people do. Being a romantic takes a hell of a lot of hope. I think what they mean is, when you find somebody that you love, it feels like hope.
5. David Rose in Schitt’s Creek
I have never liked a smile as much as I like yours. I’ve never felt as safe as I feel when I’m with you. I’ve never known love like I do when we’re together. It’s not been an easy road for me but knowing that you will be there for me at the end makes everything okay. Patrick Brewer, you are my happy ending.
5 marriage ceremony readings from songs and musicals
1. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. We pardon to the extent that we love. Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be lonely again. And the great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Loved for ourselves. And even loved in spite of ourselves.
2. She’s Not Perfect by Bob Marley
She’s not perfect — you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together — but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break — her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyse and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.
3. If I Should Fall Behind by Bruce Springsteen
We said we’d walk together, baby, come what may
That come the twilight should we lose our way
If as we’re walking a hand should slip free
I’ll wait for you, should I fall behind, wait for me.
We swore we’d travel, darlin’, side by side
We’d help each other stay in stride
But each lover’s steps fall so differently
But I’ll wait for you, and if I should fall behind, wait for me.
Now everyone dreams of love lasting and true
Oh but you and I know what this world can do
So let’s make our steps clear that the other may see
And I’ll wait for you, and if I should fall behind, wait for me.
Now there’s a beautiful river in the valley ahead
There ‘neath the oak’s bough soon we will be wed
Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees
I’ll wait for you, should I fall behind, wait for me
Darlin’ I’ll wait for you, and should I fall behind, wait for me
4 . Your Song by Elton John
It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside
I’m not one of those who can easily hide
I don’t have much money but boy if I did
I’d buy a big house where we both could live
If I was a sculptor, but then again no
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show
Oh I know it’s not much but it’s the best I can do
My gift is my song
And this one’s for you
And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it’s done
I hope you don’t mind
I hope you don’t mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you’re in the world
5. Thinking Out loud by Ed Sheeran
When your legs don’t work like they used to before
And I can’t sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeksAnd darling I will be loving you ‘til we’re 70
And baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I’m thinking ‘bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Oh me I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I amSo honey now, take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I’m thinking out loud
Maybe we found love right where we areThe bottom line on non-religious wedding readings
Overall, non-denominational wedding readings are the perfect way to open up your wedding ceremony, set the tone of your reception, or even serve in place of traditional speeches. They’re a great way to incorporate your favourite books, TV shows, or songs into your special day and connect your love story with the hearts of your guests. Plus, you can customise the readings to reflect your personalities, values, and the special journey that brought you both to this moment, making the quotes you choose even more unique.
So, if you were looking for a non-religious wedding reading for your big day, take inspiration from this comprehensive guide. If, however, you want something shorter to pepper through your wedding speeches, see our post on 100+ Inspiring Love Quotes to inject some romance and whimsy into your wedding readings.
You Might Also Like…
- 15 Romantic and Inspiring Love Poems for Your Wedding Ceremony
- 100+ Inspiring Love Quotes for Your Wedding Day
- Wedding Speech Examples
- Wedding Speech Ideas
- Non-Denominational Wedding Ceremony Guide
