Calla Lily Dude and I wrote our own ceremony and wanted to keep it short and sweet, so we decided not to have any readings. But then I ran across this essay that resonated with me and the wedding that we are planning, and I just knew that I wanted to have an excerpt from it read at our wedding.

From www.weddingproject.com

Here is the excerpt, from Courtney E. Martin’s “Why Love Is Our Most Powerful, Lasting Form of Activism”:

“bell hooks, the guru of love as revolution, wrote: “The moment we chose to love we begin to move towards freedom.” I think she’s wrong, but not by much… It is the moment we critically and consciously choose how to shape our love that we move towards freedom. It is a critical response to our commercialized culture of romance, a rejection of that which feels outdated, a vision of a more inclusive, more authentic, more liberating relationship. In fact, the moment we choose to shape our love is the first, most critical step in shaping the whole damn world.”

(But since we had already decided to not have any readings during the ceremony, we will be having the reading done at the reception, which I am perfectly happy to have. Not sure who will read it just yet…)

I was so excited to find this reading because it was very important to me that any readings be non-religious since we are atheists and represent equality in our relationship since we are egalitarian/feminists.

I poured over many resources, to find “the one” and here are some of the websites that I looked at:

AlterNet.org: An alternative media source chock full of interesting stuff. I suggest the “Sex & Relationships” section, which is where I found our reading.

Indebride.com: A site for independent-minded brides. By searching the forums, you can find lots of ideas for wedding readings with a feminist slant.

SimplyScripts.com: Comb through movie and TV scripts. Maybe Slumdog Millionaire or Grey’s Anatomy will hold the key to your wedding reading!

Lyrics.com: You can search song lyrics by artist and title, and maybe find your perfect reading (or first dance song). Maybe one of your favorite artists has a song that you didn’t even know was perfect.

Bartleby.com: You can search verse/poems, fiction, and non-fiction by keywords like “love,”  “forever,” and “commitment.” Great for any literary minds out there.

PoemHunter.com: If you are looking for a poem for your reading, you are sure to find something here.

I know Pansy Bud also searched high and low for just the right words and several of the comments offer other suggestions for wedding readings.

There is a bunch of readings out there, you just have to look. Happy hunting!