17 Unconventional Wedding Readings From Literature

It's not that there's anything wrong with William Shakespeare; it's just that when you're sitting at the fifth wedding in the fifth dress at the fifth hotel you have been to, bought, and stayed at this year, sometimes "Love Sonnet 116" gets a little stale. Let me not to the marriage of true minds.... The same goes for the (wonderful) Pablo Neruda and Rumi and even Corinthians. If you're planning your own wedding and looking for more unconventional wedding readings from literature, you have more of a chance to express your unique love for your partner, and not get lumped in with all the others your guests have attended this year.

It's hard to choose a wedding reading. How can you narrow years (or weeks, I'm not judging) of love into a few lines your BFF is going to deliver at your wedding ceremony? Well, book nerds can always turn to literature — but put down the Shakespeare plays and your collection of 100 Best Love poems and turn to things that are a little more peculiar to see in a wedding. To get fun and offbeat, turn to your favorite children's books, a shared beloved science fiction novel, or even a novel about (gasp!) a breakup. An unconventional wedding reading will definitely keep your guests' attention — whether you want them laughing or swooning — and it will make your big day even more memorable and personal.

1. =by Sandra Boynton

I like you a lotYou're funny and kindSo let me explainWhat I have in mind.

I want to be Your Personal PenguinI want to walk right by your sideI want to be Your Personal PenguinI want to travel with you far and wide

Wherever you go, I'll go there tooHere and there and ev'rywhereAnd always with youI want to be Your Personal PenguinFrom now on.

Now lots of other penguins seem to do fineIn a universe of nothing but iceBut if I could be yours and you could be mineA cozy little world would be twice as nice

Look at these wings, so perfect to hold youI'd like to say againWhat I have already told youLet me be Your Personal PenguinFrom now on.

2. "Let Me Put It This Way" by Simon Armitage

Let me put it this way:if you came to lay

your sleeping headagainst my arm or sleeve,

and if my arm went dead,or if I had to take my leave

at midnight, I should rathercleave it from the joint or seam

than make a sceneor bring you round.

There,how does that sound?

3. The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman

I will love you forever; whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again… I’ll be looking for you, every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one’ll ever tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you… We’ll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams… And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won’t just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me.

4. "The Day The Saucers Came" by Neil Gaiman

That day, the saucers landed. Hundreds of them, golden,Silent, coming down from the sky like great snowflakes,And the people of Earth stood andstared as they descended,Waiting, dry-mouthed, to find what waited inside for usAnd none of us knowing if we would be here tomorrowBut you didn't notice it becauseThat day, the day the saucers came, by some coincidence,Was the day that the graves gave up their deadAnd the zombies pushed up through soft earthor erupted, shambling and dull-eyed, unstoppable,Came towards us, the living, and we screamed and ran,But you did not notice this because

On the saucer day, which was the zombie day, it wasRagnarok also, and the television screens showed usA ship built of dead-men's nails, a serpent, a wolf,All bigger than the mind could hold,and the cameraman couldNot get far enough away, and then the Gods came outBut you did not see them coming because

On the saucer-zombie-battling-godsday the floodgates brokeAnd each of us was engulfed by genies and spritesOffering us wishes and wonders and eternitiesAnd charm and cleverness and truebrave hearts and pots of goldWhile giants feefofummed acrossthe land, and killer bees,But you had no idea of any of this because

That day, the saucer day, the zombie day,The Ragnarok and fairies day, theday the great winds cameAnd snows, and the cities turned to crystal, the dayAll plants died, plastics dissolved, the day theComputers turned, the screens tellingus we would obey, the dayAngels, drunk and muddled, stumbled from the bars,And all the bells of London were sounded, the dayAnimals spoke to us in Assyrian, the Yeti day,The fluttering capes and arrival ofthe Time Machine day,You didn't notice any of this becauseyou were sitting in your room, not doing anythingnot even reading, not really, justlooking at your telephone,wondering if I was going to call.

5. "Us Two" by A.A. Milne

Wherever I am, there's always Pooh,There's always Pooh and Me.Whatever I do, he wants to do,"Where are you going today?" says Pooh:"Well, that's very odd 'cos I was too.Let's go together," says Pooh, says he."Let's go together," says Pooh.

"What's twice eleven?" I said to Pooh.("Twice what?" said Pooh to Me.)"I think it ought to be twenty-two.""Just what I think myself," said Pooh."It wasn't an easy sum to do,But that's what it is," said Pooh, said he."That's what it is," said Pooh.

"Let's look for dragons," I said to Pooh."Yes, let's," said Pooh to Me.We crossed the river and found a few-"Yes, those are dragons all right," said Pooh."As soon as I saw their beaks I knew.That's what they are," said Pooh, said he."That's what they are," said Pooh.

"Let's frighten the dragons," I said to Pooh."That's right," said Pooh to Me."I'm not afraid," I said to Pooh,And I held his paw and I shouted "Shoo!Silly old dragons!"- and off they flew.

"I wasn't afraid," said Pooh, said he,"I'm never afraid with you."

So wherever I am, there's always Pooh,There's always Pooh and Me."What would I do?" I said to Pooh,"If it wasn't for you," and Pooh said: "True,It isn't much fun for One, but Two,Can stick together, says Pooh, says he. "That's how it is," says Pooh.

6. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed

My mother’s last word to me clanks inside me like an iron bell that someone beats at dinnertime: love, love, love, love, love. Be brave. Be authentic. Practice saying the word "love" to the people you love so when it matters most to say it, you will.

We’re all going to die. Hit the iron bell like it’s dinnertime.

7. A Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton

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.

8. "How Falling in Love is like Owning a Dog" by Taylor Mali

First of all, it’s a big responsibility,especially in a city like New York.So think long and hard before deciding on love.On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:when you’re walking down the street late at nightand you have a leash on loveain’t no one going to mess with you.Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.It lies between you and lives and breathesand makes funny noises.Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn’t like being left alone for long.But come home and love is always happy to see you.It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,but you can never be mad at love for long.

Is love good all the time? No! No!Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.Love leaves you little surprises here and there.Love needs lots of cleaning up after.Somethimes you just want to get love fixed.Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaperand swat love on the nose,not so much to cause pain,just to let love know Don’t you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go out for a nice long walk.Because love loves exercise. It will run you around the blockand leave you panting, breathless. Pull you in different directionsat once, or wind itself around and around youuntil you’re all wound up and you cannot move.

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.People who have nothing in common but lovestop and talk to each other on the street.

Throw things away and love will bring them back,again, and again, and again.But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.And in return, love loves you and never stops.

9. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches… I have stayed these years in my hovel because of you. I have taught myself languages because of you. I have made my body strong because I thought you might be pleased by a strong body. I have lived my life with only the prayer that some sudden dawn you might glance in my direction. I have not known a moment in years when the sight of you did not send my heart careening against my rib cage. I have not known a night when your visage did not accompany me to sleep. There has not been a morning when you did not flutter behind my waking eyelids…

I love you. Okay? Want it louder? I love you. Spell it out, should I? I ell-oh-vee-ee why-oh-you. Want it backward? You love I.

10. I Like You by Sandol Stoddard Warburg

I like you and I know why.I like you because you are a good person to like.I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it’s specialAnd you remember it a long, long time.You say, “Remember when you told me something special?”And both of us remember

When I think something is importantyou think it’s important tooWe have good ideasWhen I say something funny, you laughI think I’m funny and you think I’m funny tooHah-hah!

I like you because you know where I’m ticklishAnd you don’t tickle me there except just a little tiny bit sometimesBut if you do, then I know where to tickle you too

You know how to be sillyThat’s why I like youBoy are you ever sillyI never met anybody sillier than me till I met youI like you because you know when it’s time to stop being sillyMaybe day after tomorrowMaybe neverToo late, it’s a quarter past silly!

Sometimes we don’t say a wordWe snurkle under fencesWe spy secret placesIf I am a goofus on the roofus hollering my head offYou are one tooIf I pretend I am drowning, you pretend you are saving meIf I am getting ready to pop a paper bag,then you are getting ready to jumpHOORAY!

That’s because you really like meYou really like me, don’t you?And I really like you backAnd you like me back and I like you backAnd that’s the way we keep on going every day

If you go away, then I go away tooor if I stay home, you send me a postcardYou don’t just say “Well see you around sometime, bye”I like you a lot because of thatIf I go away, I send you a postcard tooAnd I like you because if we go away togetherAnd if we are in Grand Central StationAnd if I get lostThen you are the one that is yelling for me

And I like you because when I am feeling sadYou don’t always cheer me up right awaySometimes it is better to be sadYou can’t stand the others being so googly and gaggly every single minuteYou want to think about thingsIt takes timeI like you because if I am mad at youThen you are mad at me tooIt’s awful when the other person isn’tThey are so nice and hoo-hoo you could just about punch them in the nose

I like you because if I think I am going to throw upthen you are really sorryYou don’t just pretend you are busy looking at the birdies and all thatYou say, maybe it was something you ateYou say, the same thing happened to me one timeAnd the same thing did

If you find two four-leaf clovers, you give me oneIf I find four, I give you twoIf we only find three, we keep on lookingSometimes we have good luck, and sometimes we don’tIf I break my arm, and if you break your arm tooThen it’s fun to have a broken armI tell you about mine, you tell me about yoursWe are both sorryWe write our names and draw picturesWe show everybody and they wish they had a broken arm too

I like you because I don’t know why butEverything that happens is nicer with youI can’t remember when I didn’t like youIt must have been lonesome thenI like you because because becauseI forget why I like you but I do

So many reasonsOn the 4th of July I like you because it’s the 4th of JulyOn the fifth of July, I like you tooIf you and I had some drums and some horns and some horsesIf we had some hats and some flags and some fire enginesWe could be a HOLIDAYWe could be a CELEBRATIONWe could be a WHOLE PARADE

See what I mean?Even if it was the 999th of JulyEven if it was AugustEven if it was way down at the bottom of NovemberEven if it was no place particular in JanuaryI would go on choosing youAnd you would go on choosing meOver and over again

That’s how it would happen every timeI don’t know whyI guess I don’t know why I really like youWhy do I like youI guess I just like youI guess I just like you because I like you.

11. The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones by Neil Gaiman

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life … You give them a piece of you. They didn’t ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn’t your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you.

12. The Shipping News by Annie Proulx

For if Jack Buggit could escape from the pickle jar, if a bird with a broken neck could fly away, what else might be possible? Water may be older than light, diamonds crack in hot goat’s blood, mountaintops give off cold fire, forests appear in mid-ocean, it may happen that a crab is caught with the shadow of a hand on its back, and that the wind be imprisoned in a bit of knotted string. And it may be that love sometimes occurs without pain or misery.

13. "Habitation" by Margaret Atwood

Marriage is nota house or even a tentit is before that, and colder:the edge of the forest, the edgeof the desert the unpainted stairs at the back where we squat outside, eating popcornthe edge of the receding glacierwhere painfully and with wonderat having survived eventhis farwe are learning to make fire

14. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

We throw the frisbee farther than anyone has ever seen a frisbee go. First it goes higher than anyone has thrown before, so that in the middle of the pale blue there is only the sun’s glazed headlight and the tiny white disc, and then it goes farther than anyone has known a frisbee to go, with us having to use miles of beach, from one cliff to the other, thousands of people in between, to catch it. It’s the trajectory that’s important, we know that, that the distance relies on both velocity and angle of flight, that you have to throw the hell out of the thing, and also put it on the correct trajectory, an upward trajectory both straight and steady, not too high, not too low, because if it’s sent on the right upward path, its momentum will carry it almost twice the distance, the second half on its way down, the second half a gimme, meaning that you need only to provide for half of its distance yourself, it’s momentum providing for the second half, when finally its forward progress slows and slows and stops and it falls, as if parachuting, and then we move and run under, our quick steps scratching into the wet sand and when it falls, it falls into our hands, because we are there. We look like professionals, like we’ve been playing together for years. Busty women stop and stare. Senior citizens sit and shake their heads, gasping. Religious people fall to the knees. No one has ever seen anything like it.

15. "Happy Ending?" by Shel Silverstein

There are no happy endings.Endings are the saddest part, So just give me a happy middleAnd a very happy start.

16. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

It's a mystery of human chemistry and I don't understand it, some people, as far as their senses are concerned, just feel like home.

17. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Why love the woman who is your wife? Her nose breathes in the air of a world that I know; therefore I love that nose. Her ears hear music I might sing half the night through; therefore I love her ears. Her eyes delight in seasons of the land; and so I love those eyes. Her tongue knows quince, peach, chokeberry, mint and lime; I love to hear it speaking. Because her flesh knows heat, cold, affliction, I know fire, snow, and pain. Shared and once again shared experience.

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