Thursday, June 24, 2010

wedding: the gift of words..

in our little wedding ceremony, we're picking bits of what's important to us and deleting the others that don't. im not saying this is for everyone but we wanted our ceremony to be personalized and only do or say things that we'll carry with us for the rest of our lives. its still loosely based on the format of a religious ceremony but removing the preaching. having been brought up in christian/catholic families, it was a little controversial. but we pride ourselves in being a slightly different couple. and agreed earlier in the planning process that we'll celebrate both our faiths and our love the way we are comfortable. once again, this is not for everyone so don't judge.

we also agreed that we'll ask our mother to be our readers as both our mothers are our best friends. and thankfully, both of them agreed to do us the honor.


my mum was really quick, was as if she had been thinking about it for her entire life. she announced promptly she would read from the book of Corinthians about love. as she reads beautifully in mandarin, she has requested my EE to translate it. i was so pleased that they chose this passage as it has a beautiful song to it that we used to sing in sunday school. each time i hear her reading this passage, that song comes to mind. can't think of a prettier way to remember words...

as for my wonderful mother in law, she took a while and a good long think about it. then on our last trip home, she dug out daniel's an-ma's poetry books and found a few beautifully written poems. an-ma, back in her days, was a very spectacular lady. not only did she graduate from nanjing university, she was also eloquent in multiple languages and published two books of poems. nothing superbly famous or grand but she spoke of simple joys in life and her family. and in one of her unpublished pieces, she wrote of daniel in "My Mestizo Grandson".

Little Daniel John
come walk with me
in my arms or beside me
in this early promise
of Melbourne summer –
Here a thousand dreams
I weave for you
Here a world of unfading beauty
I etch for you
in the light of the sky …
Too soon you shall be grown
& I be gone
but bright summer mornings
like this
will always return
to gladden your young heart
& give it wings …
so walk with me
my Daniel John!

p.s. we chose this poem.

if you're looking for some non-religious readings for your own ceremony, here are some of my favorites! excerpt from the velveteen rabbit, apache marriage blessing (my favorite!!) and an excerpt from tuesday with morrie. gosh! im working on our wedding programs and each time i proof-read it, i get all teary-eyed. darn those girly hormones.

8 comments:

  1. i love the Corinthians verses! :)

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  2. me too! :) my mum cross stitched it for my bedroom when i was little..
    i also liked this one.. http://www.hymnlyrics.org/mostpopularhymns/as_the_deer.html but my mum wont sing it for me.

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  3. isn't it?? it was a sure winner. she wrote some other about love and time that was wedding appropriate but this one is special...
    :)

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  4. Readings from both the mas...
    Readings from both the mas...That's really sweet!
    ...As The Deer....love it love it LOVE IT!
    Triz

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  5. Re: Readings from both the mas...
    teehee thanks babe!! :)
    glad it all fell in place even tho we left it to our mums to decide! :)

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  6. thanks for the links babe, they're lovely :)

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  7. the best i've heard thru the years! :)

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