About Popular Wedding Ceremony Readings
by
Mariano Tomaszewski
Copyright © 2006. All rights reserved.
The
adjective “popular” comes from the Latin word “popularis”
meaning “of the people.” Thus the popular wedding readings are
those which appeal to the general public and are appreciated by
a wide range of people. Popular wedding readings don’t have to
be, by definition, of a religious character, yet in the majority
of marriage celebrations wedding readings remain spiritual in
their nature. Among various options for popular wedding
ceremony reading, Bible readings are the most prominent and
meaningful element for the couples of a Christian background.
Bible readings are rather a standard component of wedding
ceremonies officiated in churches and chapels. At the same time
numerous outdoor celebrations of marriage involve a selection of
one, two, three or even four fragments from the Bible including
readings from the Old Testament, Psalms, New Testament and
Gospels.
The number
of popular wedding ceremony readings depends largely on how many
texts you find that will be appealing to you to the point of
incorporating them into your ceremony. In some churches,
particularly at Roman Catholic parishes, the priest or the
minister may insist that you have a determined number of
Scripture wedding readings because it is a part of the wedding
liturgy of that church. Thus, in general, church marriage ceremonies are more
rigid in terms of their contents and structure. This may be a
policy of a particular church and not necessarily a fixed idea
of a clergy person. For the Catholic wedding ceremonies
typically there is a wedding reading from the Old Testament
followed by a Responsorial Psalm and a reading from the New
Testament. After that the priest proclaims a reading from one
of the Gospels that in some ways relates either to marriage,
wedding or Christian life of a married couple.
Outdoor
wedding ceremonies, either Catholic, non-denominational or other
kinds of a spiritual Christian celebration of marriage are more
flexible in terms of the number of wedding Scripture readings.
Sometimes couples think that having three or four Bible wedding
readings will take too much time and unnecessarily add to the
overall length of the ceremony. This concern, in my experience,
is unfounded. First of all Bible wedding readings are not long,
typically just a few verses. You may also prepare a custom-made
Scripture wedding reading that includes only the verses that
carry an emphatic spiritual meaning to you. It might be a good
idea to discuss this with your officiant first. Not only to get
his or her approval which in some church wedding ceremonies
might be necessary, but also to make sure that your officiant
and the person(s) who will be reading a fragment from the Bible
during your wedding ceremony have the same text in mind and on
the actual paper. Sometimes wedding officiants, in addition to
Bible itself or a church lectionary, may have a prepared
selection of Scriptural readings on a special card, pamphlet or
in a decorative binder which will be handled to the delegated
reader at the time of performance. If things are not checked in
advance it might happen that the wedding reading from the Bible
is either shorter or longer than what you originally planned.
Attention should be also paid to the existence of various
versions of wedding ceremony readings involving the Bible. Also
in this case it might happen, if things are not double-checked
just before the ceremony, that the wedding scripture readings
you had given to your reader(s) to practice sound a little
different from what is in the texts that are about to be used
during the ceremony. Needless to say, because of different
words employed in different translations, some readers while
already performing might encounter certain words that they don’t
know how to pronounce. The embarrassing outcome can be
imagined. In brief, make sure, or have someone do it for you,
that the length and the versions of your Bible wedding readings
that are about to be proclaimed are exactly as planned. There
will be no second chance to improve the quality of the
proclamation of your wedding ceremony readings.
Presently this
website offers free samples and lists of suggestions of popular
wedding ceremony readings: Catholic wedding readings, wedding
Bible readings, and wedding scripture readings. For most
couples it is obvious that the above categories are the same
thing, namely, biblical wedding readings. Marriage-related
scriptural samples found on this website remain among the most
popular wedding readings. While you may look for additional
texts you can’t basically go wrong, in terms of appropriateness,
meaningfulness, and expectations of your guests, if you use one
of the proposed popular wedding readings from the Bible offered
here. In addition to the texts in English there is also a
section dedicated to Catholic wedding readings in Spanish (Spanish
wedding readings) and Catholic wedding readings in Italian
(Italian wedding readings).
Additional Resources for Popular Wedding Readings
and Less-Known Alternatives
Andrew Best
and Jackie Hunt. Weddings: Prayers, Hymns and Readings to
Help You Plan the Day. 1999.
Brian Magee.
Readings For Your Wedding. 1995.
By Confetti.
Wedding Readings (Confetti Series – Mini Books). 2001.
Carley Roney.
The Knot Guide to Wedding Vows and Traditions: Readings,
Rituals, Music, Dance, and Toasts. 2000.
Daphne Rose
Kingma. Weddings from the Heart: Contemporary and Traditional
Ceremonies for an Unforgettable Wedding. 2002.
Eleanor Munro
(ed.). Wedding Readings: Centuries of Writing and Rituals on
Love and Marriage. 1996.
John Wynburne
and Alison Gibbs. Wedding Readings and Musical Ideas.
2003.
John Wynburne
and Alison Gibbs. Wedding Readings and Vows. 2003.
Julia Watson.
Poems and Readings for Weddings.
Kathleen
Finley. The Traditional Irish Wedding, Wing to Wings, Oar to
Oar: Readings on Courting and Marrying. An article from St.
Anthony Messenger. 2001.
Linda
Wainwright Trott and Brian K. Trott. The Create-A-Vow Kit and
Wedding Readings, Wedding Poetry and Wedding Humour Software and
Book. 1989.
Mark Oakley.
Readings For Weddings. 2004.
Marty Younkin.
A Wedding Ceremony To Remember: Perfect Words for the Perfect
Wedding.
Noah benShea,
Jordan benShea. A World of Ways to Say “I Do:” Unique Vows,
Readings, and Poems to Make Your Wedding Day Your Own.
2003.
Tamara
Nikuradse. African-American Wedding Readings. 1999.
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