Paris destination wedding readings

Sharing

Sharing is the path to love, the method of intimacy. Those moments which sparkle and last as precious gems in the treasure box of life are moments of openness and sharing untainted by manipulation.

We give ourselves to one another in shared wonder, fear or joy, each allowing the other into secret rooms of the self, risking. We play together, weep, or stare in wonder; We touch.
Sometimes we need not even speak. Friend, the heart says, I am with you I see you, really see – I hear the music of your mind. And I rest serene in our shared silence.

When you speak I listen knowing that agreement is not what you seek, but only that we hear each other, and accept.

You change me, not by intent, but by inspiration, by allowing me space to grow, within the awareness that who I am is a matter of importance to you.

Corelli’s Mandoline
(novel extract)

By Louis de Bernieres

Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is.

Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just “being in love”, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.

Love is giving

Love is giving, not taking,
Mending not breaking,
Trusting, believing,
Never deceiving,
Patiently bearing
And faithfully sharing
Each joy, each sorrow,
Today and tomorrow.

Love is kind, understanding,
But never demanding.
Love is constant, prevailing,
It’s strength never failing.
A promise once spoken,
For all time unbroken,
Love’s time is forever.

To Love Is not To Possess

by James Kavanaugh

To love is not to possess, to own or imprison, nor to lose one’s self in another. Love is to join and separate, to walk alone and together, to find a laughing freedom that lonely isolation does not permit. It is finally to be able to be who we really are no longer clinging in childish dependency nor docilely living separate lives in silence. It is to be perfectly one’s self and perfectly joined in permanent commitment to another – and to one’s inner self. Love only endures when it moves like waves, receding and returning gently or passionately, or moving lovingly like the tide in the moon’s own predictable harmony, because finally, despite a child’s scars or an adult’s deepest wounds, they are openly free to be who they really are – and always secretly were, in the very core of their being where true and lasting love can alone abide.

These I can promise

by Mark Twain

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.

The Privileged Lovers

by Rumi

The moon has become a dancer at this festival of love. This dance of light,
This sacred blessing, This divine love, beckons us to a world beyond only lovers can see with their eyes of fiery passion.
They are the chosen ones who have surrendered. Once they were particles of light now they are the radiant sun.
They have left behind the world of deceitful games. They are the privileged lovers who create a new world with their eyes of fiery passion.

The bridge across forever
(novel extract)

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.

The meaning of “I love you”

By Jonathan Safran Foer

“I love you” means that I accept you for the person that you are, and that I do not wish to change you into someone else. It means that I will love you and stand by you even through the worst of times. It means loving you even when you’re in a bad mood, or too tired to do the things I want to do. It means loving you when you’re down, not just when you’re fun to be with.

“I love you” means that I know your deepest secrets and do not judge you for them, asking in return that you do not judge me for mine. It means that I care enough to fight for what we have and that I love you enough not to let go. It means thinking of you, dreaming of you, wanting and needing you constantly, and hoping you feel the same way for me.

Time Travelers

by Terah Cox

May you take on the world together
with all your hopes and dreams.
May you be each other’s anchor
in smooth or rocky seas.
May you bend to the world’s winds
and brave stalls and storms.
May you find common ground
in all its changing forms.
May you cross stubborn boundaries
and turn many a stone.
May you find haven for your souls.
May you have heart and home.
And if some days are gray
and some nights are long and cold
May you be each other’s sun and moon
as your destinies unfold.
And should you lose sight of each other
and start to drift apart
May you circle back by following
the compass of your heart.

I carry your heart with me

by E.E. Cummings

I carry your heart with me
(I carry it in my heart)
I am never without it
(anywhere I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)
I fear no fate
(for you are my fate, my sweet)
I want no world
(for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
I carry your heart
(I carry it in my heart)

Love

by Roy Croft

I love you
Not only for what you 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 the works of my every day not a reproach but a song.
I love you
because you have done more than any creed could have done to make me good.
and more than any fate could have done to make me happy.
You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign.
You have done it by being yourself.

On Marriage

by Kahlil Gibran

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 of 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 together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart.  And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow. 

New Beginnings

You stand here before us, soon husband and wife,
Together you’re pledging the rest of your life.
This is a brand new beginning for you,
It’s what you have hoped for, a dream coming true.

Together you’re facing both pleasure and pain,
Good times and bad times, sunshine and rain.
But with each day that passes
much more you will know,
And the bond that’s between you
much stronger will grow.

Be kind to each other, be faithful and true,
Be thoughtful and patient in all that you do.
Remember the reasons you stand here today,
And you’ll still be happy, don’t throw it away.

May you know laughter, good fortune and wealth,
Peace and contentment,
good luck and good health.
May all your tomorrows find love in your hearts,
But today, here together, is the day that it starts.

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 they’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 its way to your hearts
Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys
But today is the day it all starts

Marriage advice

Marriage does not guarantee you will be together forever. It takes love, respect, trust, understanding, friendship, and faith in your relationship to make it last.

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, with the same person.

The greatest marriages are built on teamwork, a mutual respect, a healthy dose of admiration, and a never-ending portion of love and grace.

Make your marriage your own. Don’t look at other marriages and wish you had something else. Work to shape your marriage so that it is satisfying for both of you.

A Vows

by Wendy Cope

I cannot promise never to be angry;

I cannot promise always to be kind.

You know what you are taking on, my darling –

It’s only at the start that love is blind.


And yet I’m still the one you want to be with

And you’re the one for me – of that I’m sure.

You are my closest friend, my favourite person,

The lover and the home I’ve waited for.


I cannot promise that I will deserve you

From this day on. I hope to pass that test.

I love you and I want to make you happy.

I promise I will do my very best.

I’d Rather Rise in Love With You 

by Jana Lynne Umipig

I don’t want sweet nothings whispered in my ears
I’d rather be confronted by the savoury somethings
That truths communicated – in fullness and compassion bring
I don’t want long gazes or to get lost in your eyes
I ‘d rather have our eyes brave exploration,
Discovering every part of each other –
Every wrinkle and tint and shade
Every scar and marking that our livings have made
I don’t want to feel I knew you in another life
Or that I dreamed you in my sleep
I’d rather learn you piece by piece in reality
I’d rather you teach me how the you today
Is better than before
And I want my new self to love you more,
As I Love me more
I don’t’ want to be attached, or taken, or spoken for
I don’t want to make each other whole
I’d rather be two whole beings
Mind, Body and Soul
I don’t want to believe you do not choose who you Love
That you just know when you do
Love, to me, is a choice, you wake up every day and you choose:
What you want
What you need
Speak your truths to receive
Truths in exchange –
Past what is perceived
Past assumptions, to gain knowings
And to keep Love growing
It’s more than the showings
It’s the clarity in communication
It’s the calm and patience past frustrations
It’s the listening and the stillness –
It’s every message from body to breath
I don’t want to fall for you
Or fall in Love
Falling is falseness, it’s fleeting
I’d rather rise in love with you
In ascension
Without fear and apprehension
I don’t want to sacrifice any part of me to make it work
I want to invest in all of me and all of you
And give gratitude
That we empower one another in self worth
I don’t want to be possessed or bound by Love
I’d rather be Liberated in Loving
I’d rather be Love that is Revolutionary
Love that is Patience
And Presence
And Respect
And Pride
And Honesty, nothing to hide
And Attraction
And Joy
And Truth
In every thing we say, show and do
In Love with you is all of this to me
And there is no place I would rather be.

All I Know About Love

by Neil Gaiman

This is everything I have to tell you about love: nothing.
This is everything I’ve learned about marriage: nothing.
Only that the world out there is complicated,
and there are beasts in the night, and delight and pain,
and the only thing that makes it okay, sometimes,
is to reach out a hand in the darkness and find another hand to squeeze, and not to be alone.

It’s not the kisses, or never just the kisses: it’s what they mean.

Somebody’s got your back.
Somebody knows your worst self and somehow doesn’t want to rescue you or send for the army to rescue them.

It’s not two broken halves becoming one.
It’s the light from a distant lighthouse bringing you both safely home because home is wherever you are both together.

So this is everything I have to tell you about love and marriage: nothing, like a book without pages or a forest without trees.

Because there are things you cannot know before you experience them.
Because no study can prepare you for the joys or the trials.
Because nobody else’s love, nobody else’s marriage, is like yours,
and it’s a road you can only learn by walking it,
a dance you cannot be taught,
a song that did not exist before you began, together, to sing.

And because in the darkness you will reach out a hand,
not knowing for certain if someone else is even there.
And your hands will meet,
and then neither of you will ever need to be alone again.

And that’s all I know about love.

You Deserve a Lover

by Frida Kahlo

You deserve a lover who wants you disheveled, with everything and all the reasons that wake you up in a haste and the demons that won’t let you sleep.

You deserve a lover who makes you feel safe, who can consume this world whole if they walk hand in hand with you; someone who believes that their embraces are a perfect match with your skin.

You deserve a lover who wants to dance with you, who goes to paradise every time they look into your eyes and never gets tired of studying your expressions.

You deserve a lover who listens when you sing, who supports you when you feel shame and respects your freedom; who flies with you and isn’t afraid to fall.

You deserve a lover who takes away the lies and brings you hope, coffee, and poetry.