Reading by Walter Pinder

Everyday you live, learn how to receive love with as much understanding as you give it.
Find things within yourself, then you can share them with each other.
Do not fear this love. Have an open heart and a sincere mind. Be sincerely interested in
each other’s happiness. Be constant and consistent in your love.
From this comes security and strength.
All that we love deeply becomes a part of us on this day of your marriage.
Try to commit yourselves fully and freely to each other.

Love Is The Reason

Love is the reason why this day was chosen by you both to begin your lives together
and love is the reason why you both will give with all hearts for the good of each other.
Love is the reason that together you will become one;
one in hope; one in believing in life;
one in sharing the coming years.

Two Lives

Two lives, two people, so very different, yet so similar.
Together we stand as one, sharing our future as it comes.
The past is that, past. Buds are yet to blossom, with care and trust, the best is yet to be
revealed. Honesty and kindness, are the fruits of love.
Lord bless this day and always to enrich us so our love will never end.

Marriage is love by Gloria Matthew

If two are caring as they are sharing life’s hopes and fears.
If the music of laughter outweighs sadness and tears.
Marriage is togetherness.
If both derive pleasure from the mere presence of each other, yet when parted, no
jealousies restrict, worry or smother.
Marriage is freedom.
If achievements mean more when they benefit two and consideration is shown with
each point of view.
Marriage is respect.
And if togetherness, freedom and respect are combined with a joy that words can never
fully define, then marriage is love.

A Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

One recognizes the truth of Saint Exupery’s line: Love does not consist in gazing at
each other. But in looking outward together in the same direction. For in fact, man and
woman are not only looking outward in the same direction, they are working outward.
Here one forms ties, roots, a firm base….Here one makes oneself part of the
community of men, of human society. Here the bonds of marriage are formed. For
marriage, which is always spoken of as a bond, becomes actually, in this stage, many
bonds, many strands, of different texture and strength, making up a web that is taut and
firm. The web is fashioned of love. Yes, but many kinds of love: romantic love first, then
a slow-growing devotion and, playing through these, a constantly rippling
companionship. It is made of loyalties, and interdependencies, and shared
experiences. It is woven of memories of meetings and conflicts; of triumphs and
disappointments. It is a web of communication, a common language, and the
acceptance of lack of language too, a knowledge of likes and dislikes, of habits and
reactions, both physical and mental. It is a web of instincts and intuitions, and known
and unknown exchanges. The web of marriage is made by propinquity, in the day to
day living side by side, looking outward and working outward in the same direction. It is
woven in space and in time of the substance of life itself.

How do I love thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being an Ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old grief’s, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,–I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!–and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

The Good-Morrow by John Donne

I wonder by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved ? were we not weaned till then ?
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly ?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den ?
‘Twas so ; but this, all pleasures fancies be;
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone;
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown;
Let us possess one world ; each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres
Without sharp north, without declining west ?
Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or thou and I
Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die

Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand. May God be with you and bless you;
May you see your children’s children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you, May true be the hearts that love you.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love. Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
admit impediments. Love is not love
which alters when it alteration finds,
or bends with the remover to remove:
Oh, no! It is an ever-fixed mark.
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
it is the star to every wandering bark,
whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
within his bending sickle’s compass come;
love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
but bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Eskimo Love Song

You are my husband, you are my wife
My feet shall run because of you
My feet dance because of you
My heart shall beat because of you
My eyes see because of you
My mind thinks because of you
And I shall love, because of you.

Why Marriage? by Mari Nichols

Because to the depths of me, I long to love one person,
With all my heart, my soul, my mind, my body…
Because I need a forever friend to trust with the intimacies of me,
Who won’t hold them against me,
Who loves me when I’m unlikable,
Who sees the small child in me, and
Who looks for the divine potential of me…Because I need to cuddle in the warmth of the night
With someone who thanks God for me,
With someone I feel blessed to hold…Because marriage means opportunity
To grow in love in friendship…Because marriage is a discipline
To be added to a list of achievements…Because marriages do not fail, people fail
When they enter into marriage
Expecting another to make them whole…Because, knowing this,
I promise myself to take full responsibility
For my spiritual, mental and physical wholeness
I create me,
I take half of the responsibility for my marriage
Together we create our marriage…Because with this understanding. The possibilities are limitless.

Hope Is The Thing With Feathers by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers. That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard; and sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird, that kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chilliest land, and on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity It asked a crumb of me.

We Two

You and IHave so much love,
That it burns like a fire,In which we bake a lump of clay
Molded into a figure of you and a figure of me.

Then we take both of them,and mix the pieces of water,
And mold 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 coffin.
by Kuan Tao-Sheng(13th Century)

Today

Today I marry my friend,the one I laugh and cry with,the one I have learned from and shared with.

This one I have chosen to support, encourage and give myself to, through all the days given us to share.
Today I marry the one I love.

To You I Give My Heart by Ruth Van Gramberg

I stand beside you strong and sure, my dearest, dearest friend,
And as we make our sacred vows, my thoughts of you transcend.
I give you my heart, my hopes, my dreams Accept these gifts of mine
They are so precious and fragile, they need your care divine.
Treat my trust with gentleness, treat me with loving care
I can but grow with patience and love
As long as you are there.

Loving You by Larry S. Chengges

Your love is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
It has given my life new priorities and meaning and filled it with joy.

Thank you for giving so much of yourself
And for helping me to discover so much about myself too.

Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself.
When we are together love feels so right with you
And I miss you so much when we are apart.
I’ll always be there for you and together I know
We can make our dreams come true.

If Thou Must Love Me by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

If thou must love me, let it be for naught
Except for love’s sake only. Do not say,
‘I love her for her smile – her look – her way
Of speaking gently,- for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day’ –
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee – and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry:
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love’s sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love’s eternity.

Touched By An Angel By Maya Angelou

We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight to liberate us into life.
Love arrives and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light we dare be brave
And suddenly we see that love costs all we are
and will ever be. Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

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 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.

What a Miracle By Rumi

Glorious is the moment we sit in the palace, you and I
Two forms, two faces, but a single soul, you and I
The flowers will blaze and bird cries shower us with immortality
The moment we enter the garden, you and I
All the stars of heaven will run out to gaze at us
As we burn as the full moon itself, you and I
In that place we laugh ecstatically, you and I
What a miracle, you and I, entwined in the same nest
What a miracle, you and I, one love, one lover, one fire
In this world and the next, in an ecstasy without end.

My first Love Story by Rumi

The minute I heard my first love story
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind I was.
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.
They’re in each other all along.

Kahil Gibran from the “Prophet” on Marriage

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
You shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and Dance together and be joyous,
but let each one you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near toegether:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.

Love Is The Most Incredible Of All The Experiences That Touch Our Lives

It creates for us the world that we want to live in.
From the beginning of our lives,
we know that love is the power that comforts and protects us;
It is the one feeling that we can depend upon
to help us through life’s ups and downs.
Love is the understanding and security that never changes;
It allows us to be ourselves and feel self confident.
Today, as the two of you join together and commit your love to each other,
remember the lessons of love that you have always known.
Let your love comfort, support and encourage you.
Let your love be the best part of your lives;
Always know that it will make everything better
and it will make your world a place of happiness.

Our Love by Bruce B. Wilmer

Our love is something we have built from passions, hopes and dreams.
It’s safe from any passing moods, secure from all extremes.
It’s something real and special, something solid, something pure.
It’s something we can always count on, ringing sound and sure.
It’s something grounded in the heart, emitting confidence.
It lives in our emotions; It is something we can sense.
Our love remains a binding force, resistant to all strife.
Amidst the outer pressures, it’s our anchor throughout life.

The Art of a Good Marriage by Wilferd Arlan 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 never taking the other for granted;
the courtship should not end with the honeymoon,
it should continue through all 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 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 the 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.

The Key to Love by Anonymous

The key to love is understanding …
The ability to comprehend not only the spoken word,
but those unspoken gestures,
the little things that say so much by themselves.
The key to love is forgiveness ….
to accept each others faults and pardon mistakes,
without forgetting, but with remembering
what you learn from them.
The key to love is sharing …
Facing your good fortunes as well as the bad, together;
both conquering problems, forever searching for ways
to intensify your happiness.
The key to love is giving …without thought of return,
but with the hope of just a simple smile,
and by giving in but never giving up.
The key to love is respect …realizing that you are two separate people,
with different ideas; that you don’t belong to each other,
that you belong with each other, and share a mutual bond.
The key to love is inside us all …
It takes time and patience to unlock all the ingredients that will take you to its threshold;
it is the continual learning process that demands a lot of work …
but the rewards are more than worth the effort … and that is the key to love.

Sooner or Later by Anonyous

Sooner or later we begin to understand that love is more than
verses on valentines, and romance in the movies.
We begin to know that love is here and now, real and true,
the most important thing in our lives.
For love is the creator of our favourite memories
and the foundation of our fondest dreams.
Love is a promise that is always kept, a fortune that can never be spent,
a seed that can flourish in even the most unlikely of places.
And this radiance that never fades,
this mysterious and magical joy, is the greatest treasure of all –
one known only by those who love.

If Thou Must Love Me by Elizabeth Barrett Browing

If thou must love me, let it be for naught
Except for love’s sake only. Do not say,
‘I love her for her smile – her look – her way
Of speaking gently, for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day’ –
For these things in themselves, beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee – and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry:
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love’s sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love’s eternity.

True Love

True love is a sacred flame that burns eternally,
And none can dim its special glow Or change its destiny.
True love speaks in tender tones and hears with gentle ear,
True love gives with open heart and true love conquers fear.
True love makes no harsh demands It neither rules nor binds,
And true love holds with gentle hands
The hearts that it entwines.

You’re The One For Me by Dallas Fisher

You’re the one for me.
Your eyes are like fire on a cold winter’s day
Your soul burns within me
Your touch blossoms my innermost passions
And your voice melts my heart.
You’re the one for me.
You are the key to unlocking
My most sacred fantasies.
You’re the one for me,
The one that wakens me
When I’m at my deepest sleep
With your passionate ways,
The one that rivets me with
Your beautiful, unique face.
You’re the one for me.
You are the one that I want to share
My life, my love with for all eternity.
I will love you always and forever.
You’re the one for me.

I Will Be Here by Steven Curtis Chapman

If in the morning when you wake,
If the sun does not appear, I will be here.
If in the dark we lose sight of love,
Hold my hand and have no fear,
I will be here. I will be here,
When you feel like being quiet,
When you need to speak your mind I will listen.
Through the winning, losing, and trying we’ll be together,
And I will be here.
If in the morning when you wake,
If the future is unclear, I will be here.
As sure as seasons were made for change,
Our lifetimes were made for years,
I will be here.

I will be here,
And you can cry on my shoulder,
When the mirror tells us we’re older.
I will hold you, to watch you grow in beauty,
And tell you all the things you are to me.
We’ll be together and I will be here.
I will be true to the promises I’ve made,
To you and to the one who gave you to me.
I will be here.

The Promises of Marriage

Marriage is a promise of companionship,
of having someone to shareall of life’s experiences.

Marriage does not promise that there will
Not be any rough times, just the assurance that there will
Always be someone who cares and will help you through
To better times.

Marriage does not promise eternal romance,
Just eternal love and commitment.
Marriage cannot prevent disappointments, disillusionment, or grief,
But it can offer hope, acceptance, and comfort.

Marriage can’t protect you from making individual choices
Or shelter you from the world, but it will help to reassure you
That there is some by your side who truly cares,
When the world hurts you and makes you feel vulnerable,
Marriage offers the promise that there will
Be someone waiting to listen, to console, to inspire.

Marriage is the joining of two people who share the promise
That only marriage can make –
To share the sunshine and the shadows,
And to experience a richer, more fulfilling life
Because of it.

To My Bride by Steven Reiser

To my bride, I give you my heart
Sharing love each day, from the very start
To my bride, I give you my kiss
Filling each day with joy and bliss
To my bride, I give you my being
To love, to play, to work and to sing
To my bride, I give you my mind
Learning each day to be more kind
To my bride, I give you my soul
Growing together to be more whole
To my bride, I give you my life
Rejoicing each day that you are my wife.

The Passionate Shepherd To His Love by Christopher Marlowe

Come live with me, and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses,
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle,
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle.

A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull,
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold.

A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs,
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.

The shepherds’ swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning;
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me, and be my love.

Love is… by Andrea Hill

More beautiful than roses
Much deeper than the seas
Stronger than a hurricane but timid like a breeze
Real as in a picture but yet it can’t be seen
More beautiful than anything as vivid as a dream
Precious as rare jewels. A bond between two hearts
A symphony of feelings when time is spent apart
Sharing common interests, working through all fears
Looking at yourself as if two were in the mirror
Finding common ground on issues not agreed
Giving into arguments tending all your needs
Being there for always is all I want to do
Holding you forever because our love is true

The Colour Of My Love by David Foster and Arthur Janov

I’ll paint a sun to warm your heart, knowing that we’ll never part.
I’ll draw the years all passing by so much to learn, so much to try.

I’ll paint my mood in shadow blue, paint my soul to be with you.
I’ll sketch your lips in shaded tones, draw your mouth to my own.

I’ll trace a hand to wipe your tears and trace a look to calm your fears.
A silhouette of dark and light to hold each other oh so tight.

I’ll paint the stars in the evening sky, draw the light into your eyes,
A touch of love, a touch of grace, to softly fall on your moonlit face.

And with this ring our lives will start, let nothing keep our love apart.
I’ll take your hand to hold in mine, and be together through all time.

From This Day Forward

From this day forward, you shall not walk alone.
My heart will be your shelter,
And my arms will be your home.

Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds.
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is not shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom,
If this be error, and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

To My Dear Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye woman, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
the heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
The while we live, in love let’s so persevere,
That when we live no more, we may live ever.

Love Is Enough William Morris

Love is enough: though the World be a-waning,
And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,
Though the sky be too dark for dim eyes to discover
The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder,
Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder
And this day draw a veil over all deeds pass’d over,
Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter;
The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter
These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover.

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare

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 man can breath, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

These I Can Promise by Author Unknown

I cannot promise you a life of sunshine;
I cannot promise riches, wealth, or gold;
I cannot promise you an easy pathway
That leads away from change or growing old.

But I can promise all my heart’s devotion;
A smile to chase away your tears of sorrow;
A love that’s ever true and ever growing;
A hand to hold in yours through each tomorrow.

My True Love Hath My Heart by Sir Philip Sidney

My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange one for another given:
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,
There never was a better bargain driven:

My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
My heart in me keeps him and me in one,
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guide:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own,
I cherish his because in me it bides:
My true-love hath my heart, and I have his.

The Promise by Eileen Rafter

The sun danced on the snow with a sparkling smile,
As two lovers sat quietly, alone for a while.
Then he turned and said, with a casual air
(Though he blushed from his chin to the tips of his hair),
“I think I might like to get married to you”

“Well then, she said, “Well there’s a thought,
But what if we can’t promise to be all that we ought,
If I’m late yet again, when we plan to go out.
For I know I can’t promise, I’ll learn to ignore
Dirty socks and damp towels strewn all over the floor.

So if we can’t vow to be all that we should
I’m not sure what to do, though the idea’s quite good”.
But he gently smiled and tilted his head
Till his lips met her ear and softly he said

“I promise, to weave my dreams into your own,
That wherever you breathe will be my hearts home.
I promise, that whether with rags or with gold I am blessed
Your smile is the jewel I will treasure the best.

Do you think then, my love, we should marry – do you?”
“Yes” she said smiling “I do”.

Have You Ever by Jody Beck

Have you ever just met a person
Who made your head turn
Have you ever met a person
Who made your heart burn
Have you ever met a person
That let you be you
Have you ever met a person
That made you feel love true
Have you ever met a person
Who touched you so deep
Have you ever met a person
Without whom you could not sleep
Have you ever met a person
that brightened your life
Have you ever met a person
That made you want to be a wife
Have you ever met a person
Whose eyes promise you’ll never feel blue
I know you have
Because that person is you.

On Your Wedding Day

Today is a day you will always remember
The greatest in anyone’s life
You’ll start off the day just two people in love
And end it as Husband and Wife

It’s a brand new beginning the start of a journey
With moments to cherish and treasure
And although there’ll be times when you both disagree
These will surely be outweighed by pleasure

You’ll have heard many words of advice in the past
When the secrets of marriage were spoken
But you know that the answers lie hidden inside
Where the bond of true love lies unbroken

So live happy forever as lovers and friends
It’s the dawn of a new life for you
As you stand there together with love in your eyes
From the moment you whisper ‘I do’

And with luck, all your hopes, and your dreams can be real
May success find it’s way to your hearts
Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys
But today is the day it all starts.

Love

Love is a friendship that has caught fire.
It is 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, so search for it, ask God for it, and share it!

Next to Me by John Patuto

Holding your hand, Kissing your cheek;
My eyes begin to clearly see.
Feeling your warmth, Holding you close;
I know I need you next to me.
My love for you can’t be measured,
Through days of endless pleasure …
By my side, my love.
Throughout eternity, my love.
I watch you smile, so innocent and free.
It’s clear to me now,
My life can never be complete,
Without you next to me.
Lying by your side, Feeling your heart;
I dream of what we soon shall be …
I’ll stand there waiting for you,
Watching your beauty shine through;
And before God, you’ll be standing next to me.
My love for you can’t be measured,
Through nights of endless pleasure …
By my side, my love;
Throughout eternity, my love;
I’ll watch you sleep, so quiet and free;
It’s clear to me now,
My life will always be complete,
With your love next to me.

Beyond the Reflection by Thomas Merton

The beginning of love is to let those we
love be perfectly themselves, and not to
twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise
we love only the reflection of ourselves
we see in them.

This Bridge by Shel Silverstein

This bridge will only take you halfway there
To those mysterious lands you long to see:
Through gypsy camps and swirling Arab fairs
And moonlit woods where unicorns run free.
So come and stay awhile with me and share
The twisting trails and wondrous worlds I’ve known.
But this bridge will only take you halfway there –
The last few steps you’ll have to take alone.

The Magic Of Love by Helen Steiner Rice

Love is like magic
And it always will be,
For love still remains
Life’s sweet mystery!
Love works in ways
That are wondrous and strange
And there’s nothing in life
That love cannot change!
Love can transform
The most commonplace
Into beauty and splendour
And sweetness and grace!
Love is unselfish,
Understanding and kind,
For it sees with its heart
And not with its mind!
Love is the answer
That everyone seeks –
Love is the language
That every heart speaks –
Love can’t be bought
It is priceless and free,
Love, like pure magic,
Is a sweet mystery!

Marriage is… by Anonymous

Marriage is a dynamic process of discovery
Marriage is a journey, not an arrival.
In marriage, being the right person is as important
as finding the right person.
Marriage is starting to love, over and over again.
Marriage is a life’s work.
Marriage is an art ….. and like any creative process,
It requires active thought and effort.
We have to learn how to share on many different levels.
We need to practice talking from the heart,
And understanding attitudes as well as words.
Giving generously and receiving graciously
are talents that are available to anyone.
But all these skills need to be developed,
if the marriage picture that we paint is to be anything
approaching the masterpiece intended.

If You Can Always Be As Close by Larry S. Chengges

And as happy as today,
Yet be secure enough to grow
And change along the way.
If you can keep for you alone
Your love as man and wife,
Yet find the time to share your joy
With others in your life.
If you can be as one
And walk through marriage hand in hand,
Yet still support the goals and dreams
That each of you have planned.
If you can dare to always go
Your separate ways together,
Then all the wonder of today
Will stay with you forever.

The most ideal expression of love is the joining in spirit of two people whose hearts are as one.

Love……

A word that promises so many happy tomorrows,
That gives meaning to everyday moments of sharing …..
That strengthens and supports in difficult times…..
That makes a commitment that never ends.
Today is the beginning of a whole new life together …
A life of special moments, shared with love….
Today is the beginning of countless bright tomorrows…..
Filled with all the special dreams you are dreaming of.
May the happiness you have found together be yours
throughout a lifetime of love.

A Marriage… by Mark Twain

Makes of two fractional lives a whole;
It gives to two purposeless lives a work
And doubles the strength of each to perform it
It gives to two questioning natures a reason for living,
And something to live for;
It will give a new gladness to the sunshine,
A new fragrance to the flowers,
A new beauty to the earth,
And a new mystery to life

Love Is The Most Incredible Of All The Experiences That Touch Our Lives

It creates for us the world that we want to live in.
From the beginning of our lives,
we know that love is the power that comforts and protects us;
It is the one feeling that we can depend upon
to help us through life’s ups and downs.
Love is the understanding and security that never changes;
It allows us to be ourselves and feel self confident.
Today, as the two of you join together and commit your love to each other, remember the lessons of l

From “Union” by 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 promises and
agreements in an informal way. All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long
walks – all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and continued with “I will and you will and we will”-
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 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,
and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years. Now you shall say a few
words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these
vows, you shall say to the world, this- is my husband, this- is my wife

A History of Love by Diane Ackerman

Love. What a small word we use for an idea so immense and powerful it has altered the flow of history, calmed
monsters, kindled works of art, cheered the forlorn, turned tough guys to mush, consoled the enslaved, driven strong
women mad, glorified the humble, fueled national scandals, bankrupted robbers barons, and made mincemeat of
kings. How can love’s spaciousness be conveyed in the narrow confines of one syllable?…. Love is an ancient
delirium, a desire older than civilization, with taproots stretching deep into dark and mysterious days…..
The heart is a living museum. In each of its galleries, no matter how narrow or dimly lit, preserved forever like
wondrous diatoms, are our moments of loving and being loved.

Apache Love song

Now you will feel no rain,
for each of you will be a shelter to the other.
Now you will feel no cold,
for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there is no loneliness for you;
now there is no more loneliness.
Now you are two bodies,
but there is only one life before you.
Go now to your dwelling place
to enter into your days together.
And may your days be good
and long on the earth.

By Roy Croft:

I love you,
Not only for what your are
But for what I am
When I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself
But for what
You are making of me.

I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;
I love you,
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up Heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can’t help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful Belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find.

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple;
Out of works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.