Just a collection of wedding readings that I enjoy that may be helpful to some of you :)

The Art Of Marriage - Wilfred A. Peterson
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 at no time taking the other for granted;
The courtship should not end with the honeymoon,
It should continue through the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other,
Not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways. 
It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have the wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which independence is equal, 
Dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal. 
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner. 

Excerpt from “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 our 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 soul mate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we’re two balloons, and together the only direction is up, chances are we’ve found the right person. Our soul mate is the one who makes life come to life.

Love- Author Unknown
Love is a friendship that has caught fire. It is a quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad. It settles for less than perfection, and makes allowances for human weakness. Love is content with the present. It hopes for the future and it doesn’t brood over the past. It’s the day in and day out chronicle of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories, and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don’t have it, no matter what else there is, it is not enough. 

Some Things We Keep- Author Unknown
I grew up in the forties and fifties with practical parents- a mother who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, dish towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things- a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, reheating, renewing, I just wanted once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing thigns away meant there will always be more.But then my mother died, and on that clear summer’s night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn’t any “more”. Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away, never to return. So, while we have it, it’s best me love it and care for it.. and fix it when it’s broken, and heal it when it’s sick. This is true for old cars, and children with bad report cards, and dogs with bad hips, and aging parents and grandparents, and marriage. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. 

Union- Robert Fulghum
You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point you decided to marry. From that moment of yes, to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making commitments in an informal way. All of those conversations that were held in a car, over a meal, or during long walks- all those conversations that began with “when we’re married”, and continued with “I will” and “you will” and “we will”- all those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe”- and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding. The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “you know all those things that we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed- well, I meant it all, every word.” Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another- acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher, for you have learned much from each other. Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you will never be quite the same. For after today, you shall say to the world- this is my husband. this is my wife.