Wedding Songs

I’ve researched songs shown below to assist you with some ideas you might like to choose from when you walk down the aisle. I know myself when I got married, I spent ages looking for the perfect song. Here are a few suggestions and options of genres to give you an idea.

Country Songs

‘The Rest of Our Life’ - Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
‘Always on My Mind’ - Willie Nelson
‘Could I Have This Dance’ - Anne Murray
‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’ - Garth Brooks
‘I Will Always Love You’ - Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston

Light-hearted

‘Going to the Chapel’ - The Dixie Cups
‘Over the Rainbow’ - Israel Kamakawiwo’Ole
‘Marry Me’ - Train
‘Sky Full of Stars’- Coldplay

Classical

Jesu of Joy of man’s desiring BWV 147 - Bach
Cannon in D - Pachelbel
Suite Bergamasquel I. 75iii.Clair de lune
‘Ave Maria’ Johann Sebastien Bach, Charles Gounod
Lakmé el duo las Flores - By L Delibes

Romantic

‘A Thousand Years - Christina Perri
‘Thinking Out Loud’ - Ed Sheeran
‘Make you Feel My Love’ - Adele
‘More Than Words’ - Extreme
‘Kissing You’ - Desireé

Non-Traditional

‘Bittersweet Symphony’ -The Verve
‘At Last’ - Etta James
‘Sea of Love’ - Cat Power
‘Come Away with Me’ - Nora Jones
‘First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ - Roberta Flack

R&B

‘All of Me’ - John Legend
‘If I Ain’t Got You’ - Alicia Keys
‘I Can’t Help Myself’ -The Four Tops
‘Suddenly’ - Billy Ocean
‘Nobody’ - Brian McKnight

Gospel

‘Precious Memories’- Aretha Franklin
‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus’ – Aretha Franklin
‘The Wedding Song (There is Love).’ – Peter, Paul and Mary
‘Stand By Me’ – Ben E. King
‘Oh, Happy Day’ – Philip Doddridge

Quirky

‘Computer Love’ - Zapp & Roger
‘Me and Mr. Jones’ - Amy Winehouse
‘Leftovers’ - Jarvis Cocker
‘Say Yes’ - Elliot Smith
‘Harvest Moon’ - Neil Young

An Original Song – Just for You

As a songwriter and musician I can also offer an original song for you and your spouse, a song of your very own, composed by myself. This song will be unique for you, no one else will have this song. It will take into consideration your story and how you feel for each other, all composed into an individual song that is bespoke and you can play over and over.

Readings

The House at Pooh Corner – A.A. Milne

Having a reading from a classic children’s book I think is a lovely and sweet idea to add to your reading and what better book than Winnie the Pooh, the books teach us about, love, fun and understanding that friends and partners have for one another.

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. ‘Pooh?’ he whispered.

‘Yes, Piglet?’

‘Nothing,’ said Piglet, taking Pooh’s hand. ‘I just wanted to be sure of you.’

‘We’ll be Friends Forever, won’t we, Pooh?’ asked Piglet.

‘Even longer,’ Pooh answered. ‘If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together… there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart… I’ll always be with you.’

The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams

This is my favourite reading, the book teaches about, love, trust, and emotional intimacy, it also teaches about open communication which is perfect for a wedding reading. It has such lovely portrayals about love, sharing, and thoughts and feelings of others.

‘What is REAL?’ asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. ‘Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?’

‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.’

‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’

‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’

‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get all loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’

Relativity - Albert Einstein

This reading is perfect for those of you that would like a short and sweet ceremony, it’s to the point and explains the biological reasons why we love.

‘Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.’

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

I like this reading, Jane Eyre is such a great and passionate love story, this reading has passion and says it straight.

‘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, wraps my existence about you – and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one. It was because I felt and knew this, that I resolved to marry you.’

Yes, I’ll Marry You – Pam Ayres

This reading is great for those of you who don’t like a lot of gushy over the top romanticism. It’s to the point and funny. It’s perfect for those couples who love each other but don’t like all the fluff that comes with it.

‘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 chipolatas,
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!’

A Lovely Love Story – Edward Monkton

I love this reading, it’s so lovely, its perfect for a couple who don’t take themselves too seriously. This will not only make you guests giggle but it’s sweet too.

The fierce Dinosaur was trapped inside his cage of ice. Although it was cold, he was happy in there. It was, after all, his cage.
Then along came the Lovely Other Dinosaur.
The Lovely Other Dinosaur melted the dinosaur’s cage with kind words and loving thoughts.

I like this Dinosaur thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur.
Although he is fierce, he is also tender, and he is funny.
He is also quite clever though I will not tell him this for now.

I like this Lovely Other Dinosaur, thought the dinosaur. She is beautiful and she is different, and she smells so nice.
She is also a free spirit which is a quality I much admire in a dinosaur.

But he can be so distant and so peculiar at times, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur.
He is also overly fond of things.
Are all Dinosaurs so overly fond of things?

But her mind skips from here to there so quickly, thought the dinosaur. She is also uncommonly keen on shopping.
Are all Lovely Other Dinosaurs so uncommonly keen on shopping?

I will forgive his peculiarity and his concern for things, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. For they are part of what makes him a richly charactered individual.

I will forgive her skipping mind and her fondness for shopping, thought the dinosaur. For she fills our life with beautiful thoughts and wonderful surprises. Besides, I am not unkeen on shopping either.

Now the Dinosaur and the Lovely Other Dinosaur are old.
Look at them.
Together they stand on the hill telling each other stories and feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs.

And that, my friends, is how it is with love.
Let us all be Dinosaurs and Lovely Other Dinosaurs together.
For the sun is warm.
And the world is a beautiful place.’

I’ll Be There for You – Louise Cuddon

This reading leaves you with a warm and fuzzy feeling, its perfect for couples who would like something light-hearted but also have the sentiment.

I’ll be there my darling, through thick and through thin
When your mind’s in a mess and your head’s in a spin
When your plane’s been delayed, and you’ve missed the last train.
When life is just threatening to drive you insane
When your thrilling whodunit has lost its last page
When somebody tells you, you’re looking your age
When your coffee’s too cool, and your wine is too warm
When the forecast said ‘Fine’, but you’re out in a storm
When your quick break hotel, turns into a slum
And your holiday photos show only your thumb

When you park for five minutes in a resident’s bay
And return to discover you’ve been towed away
When the jeans that you bought in hope or in haste
Just stick on your hips and don’t reach round your waist
When the food you most like brings you out in red rashes
When as soon as you boot up the bloody thing crashes

So, my darling, my sweetheart, my dear…
When you break a rule, when you act the fool
When you’ve got the flu, when you’re in a stew
When you’re last in the queue, don’t feel blue
cause I’m telling you, I’ll be there.’

Grow Old with You – The Wedding Singer

This is a good quirky reading, if you are looking for something with sentiment and something cute, this reading is perfect for you.

‘I wanna make you smile whenever you’re sad
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad
All I wanna do is grow old with you

I’ll get your medicine when your tummy aches
Build you a fire if the furnace breaks
Oh, it could be so nice, growing old with you

I’ll miss you
Kiss you
Give you my coat when you are cold

Need you
Feed you
Even let you hold the remote control

So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink
Put you to bed when you’ve had too much to drink
Oh, I could be the man who grows old with you
I wanna grow old with you’

All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten – Robert Fulgham

This reading is sweet, not only is it good for any couple, but this reading might also have meant for those of you who are childhood sweethearts.

‘All of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Give them to someone who feels sad.
Live a balanced life.
Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day.
Take a nap every afternoon.
Be aware of wonder.
Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.’

Poems

William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18

‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm’d.

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d.

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st.

Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.’

Let Me Put It This Way - Simon Armitage

Let me put it this way,

If you came to lay your

Sleeping head against my arm or sleeve,

And if my arm were dead, or if I had to

Take my leave at midnight

I should rather cleave it from the joint

Or seam, than make a scene,

Or bring you round,

There, how does that sound?

Roads Go Ever Ever On - J.R.R Tolkien

‘Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,

And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.
Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.’

Sonnet 17 - Pablo Neruda (translated by Stephen Tapscott)

‘I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.’

Habitation - Margaret Atwood

‘Marriage is not
A house, or even a tent

It is before that, and colder:

The edge of the forest,

The edge of the desert
The unpainted stairs at the back,

Where we squat outdoors, eating popcorn

Where painfully and with wonder

At having survived this far

We are learning to make fire.’

The Invitation - Oriah

‘It doesn’t interest me
What you do for a living.
I want to know
What you ache for
And if you dare to dream
Of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
How old you are.
I want to know
If you will risk
Looking like a fool
For love
For your dream
For the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me
What planets are
Squaring your moon…
I want to know
If you have touched
The centre of your own sorrow
If you have been opened
By life’s betrayals
Or have become shrivelled and closed
From fear of further pain.
I want to know
If you can sit with pain
Mine or your own
Without moving to hide it
Or fade it
Or fix it.
I want to know
If you can be with joy
Mine or your own
If you can dance with wildness
And let the ecstasy fill you

To the tips of your fingers and toes
Without cautioning us
To be careful
To be realistic
To remember the limitations
Of being human.
It doesn’t interest me
If the story you are telling me
Is true.
I want to know if you can
Disappoint another
To be true to yourself.
If you can bear
The accusation of betrayal
And not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
And therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty
Even when it is not pretty
Every day.
And if you can source your own life
From its presence.
I want to know
If you can live with failure
Yours and mine
And still stand at the edge of the lake
And shout to the silver of the full moon,
‘Yes.’
It doesn’t interest me
To know where you live
Or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
After the night of grief and despair
Weary and bruised to the bone
And do what needs to be done
To feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me

Who you know
Or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
In the centre of the fire
With me
And not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me
Where or what or with whom
You have studied.
I want to know
What sustains you
From the inside
When all else falls away.
I want to know
If you can be alone
With yourself
And if you truly like
The company you keep
In the empty moments.’

Married Love - Kuan Tao-sheng, translated by Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Chung

‘You and I
Have so much love,
That it
Burns like a fire,
In which we bake a lump of clay
Moulded into a figure of you
And a figure of me.
Then we take both of them,
And break them into pieces,
And mix the pieces with water,
And mould again a figure of you,
And a figure of me.
I am in your clay.
You are in my clay.
In life we share a single quilt.
In death we will share one bed.’

The Owl and The Pussy Cat - Edward Lear

‘The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
‘O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!’

Pussy said to the Owl, ‘You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! Too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?’
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

‘Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?’ Said the Piggy, ‘I will.’
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.’

This Day I Married My Best Friend - Unknown Author

‘This day I married my best friend
The one I laugh with as we share life’s wonderous zest,
As we find new enjoyments and experience all that’s best.
The one I live for because the world seems brighter
As our happy times are better and our burdens feel much lighter.
The one I love with every fibre of my soul.
We used to feel vaguely incomplete, now together we are whole.’

Extract From Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare

‘But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou her maid art more fair than she.
Be not her maid, since she is envious.
Her vestal livery is but sick and green,
And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off.
It is my lady; O it is my love!
O that she knew she were!
She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold; ‘tis not to me she speaks.
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!’
(Act ll.ii)

I Belong in Your Arms - Deborah Bridea

‘I belong in your arms
Finally, I have found a place
Into which I fit Perfectly, safely
And securely with no doubts,
No fears, No sadness, No tears.

this place is filled with happiness and laughter
Yet it is spacious enough, to allow me
the freedom to move around,
To live my life and be myself.
this wonderful place, which I never believed really existed,
I have found finally
Inside your arms, inside your heart, inside your love.’