Readings are a popular addition to your ceremony. By sharing a meaningful quote or passage with your guests, you add to the magical ambience of the moment and deepen your personal connection. Most couples choose several short passages to read at their ceremony, usually three or four. If you settle on more than one, keep in mind their length. It’s suggested that the readings take up no more than 10 minutes, give or take.
However, many popular choices for ceremony readings mention a man or woman, husband or wife, or other gender-specific pronouns. And if you?re having an LGBT, gender-neutral, or even feminist wedding, you might have a hard time finding the perfect accompaniment to your vows.
Of course, should you have a passage you love but find that it mentions gender-specific terms, you can always alter a word or two, or skip the sentence that mentions what you?re not comfortable with. But if you?re looking for a non-gender specific ceremony reading, here are a few popular suggestions from books, poems, speeches, and even a couple from the Bible. “People are like cities: We all have alleys and gardens and secret rooftops and places where daisies sprout between the sidewalk cracks, but most of the time all we let each other see is a postcard glimpse of a skyline or a polished square. Love lets you find those hidden places in another person, even the ones they didn?t know were there, even the ones they wouldn?t have thought to call beautiful themselves.”
?...