Books
11 Bookish Wedding Readings About Family
Though it might not feel like it, spring is officially here, which means wedding season is just around the corner. Whether you're tying the knot yourself, or a guest at a relative's ceremony, you can count on one of these beautiful bookish wedding readings about family for when it's your turn to speak.
Although everyone is excited to see the couple kiss and say "I do," weddings aren't just about the grand romance between the two people getting married — they're also about family. Weddings don't just bring two people together, but two families. They're a celebration of love, and a celebration of the start of a brand new family. And, whether you're the one getting married or a family member there on someone else's wedding day, trying to express all of that love, support, and affection can seem like an impossible task. Writing vows, thank you speeches, celebratory toasts — how can you possibly put into words your joy and happiness for the ones you love?
Figuring out what to say on such a special day isn't always easy, so why not leave it to the experts on love, family, and perfectly crafted words. From short quotes to longer passages, here are 11 perfect bookish wedding readings about family that will bring a tear to everyone's eye.
1. . “That's what so many people didn't understand about life. The real world is the one within the walls of homes; the outside world, of careers and politics and money and fame, that was the fake world, where nothing lasted, and things were real only to the extent they harmed or helped people inside their homes.”
― Orson Scott Card, Hidden Empire
Hidden Empire, $7, Amazon
2. “It never takes longer than a few minutes, when they get together, for everyone to revert to the state of nature, like a party marooned by a shipwreck. That's what a family is. Also the storm at sea, the ship, and the unknown shore. And the hats and the whiskey stills that you make out of bamboo and coconuts. And the fire that you light to keep away the beasts.”
― Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen's Union
The Yiddish Policemen's Union, $10, Amazon
3.“Home isn't where you're from, it's where you find light when all grows dark.”
― Pierce Brown, Golden Son
Golden Son, $11, Amazon
4.“This is part of what a family is about, not just love. It's knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. Not money. Not fame. Not work.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie
Tuesdays with Morrie, $10, Amazon
5. “People talk about the happy quiet that can exist between two loves, but this, too, was great; sitting between his sister and his brother, saying nothing, eating. Before the world existed, before it was populated, and before there were wars and jobs and colleges and movies and clothes and opinions and foreign travel -- before all of these things there had been only one person, Zora, and only one place: a tent in the living room made from chairs and bed-sheets. After a few years, Levi arrived; space was made for him; it was as if he had always been. [...] He did not consider if or how or why he loved them. They were just love: they were the first evidence he ever had of love, and they would be the last confirmation of love when everything else fell away.”
― Zadie Smith, On Beauty
6. “Families will not be broken. Curse and expel them, send their children wandering, drown them in floods and fires, and old women will make songs of all these sorrows and sit on the porch and sing them on mild evenings. Every sorrow suggests a thousand songs, and every song recalls a thousand sorrows, and so they are infinite in number, and all the same.”
― Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping
Housekeeping , $13, Amazon
7. “What is family? They were the people who claimed you. In good, in bad, in parts or in whole, they were the ones who showed up, who stayed there, regardless.”
― Sarah Dessen, Lock and Key
Lock and Key, $7, Amazon
8. “Family isn't blood. It's the people who love you. The people who have your back.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Heavenly Fire
City of Heavenly Fire, $14, Amazon
9. “Evil itself may be relentless. I will grant you that, but love is relentless too. Friendship is a relentless force. Family is a relentless force. Faith is relentless force. The human spirit is relentless, and the human heart outlasts - and can defeat - even the most relentless force of all, which is time.”
― Dean Koontz
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Relentless, $9, Amazon
10. “Family's not a thing, it's a place,' Shay said softly. 'It's where all the memories get kept.”
― Jodi Picoult, Change of Heart
Change of Heart , $12, Amazon
11. "Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens.A good marriage must be created.In the art of marriage 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 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 appreciationand demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.It is not looking for perfection in each other.It is cultivating flexibility, patience,understanding and a sense of humour.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.It is discovering what marriage can be, at its best."
— Wilferd Arlan Peterson, The Art of Marriage
The Art of Marriage, $2, Amazon
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