7 Ceremony Readings for Your Destination Wedding

Did you know your destination wedding can be personalized, all the way down to the ceremony readings you select? Hotels have wonderful ministers and officiants, capable of adding any readings or unique touches that will make your wedding truly yours. Plus, you can make your ceremony extra special (and fun) by adding a reading that has a flavor of the destination. Below, we’ve rounded up a few of our favorite destination wedding readings.

The first two are sonnets by Pablo Neruda, originally written in Spanish and translated into English. Though he is Chilean-born, Neruda is one of the most loved Spanish-language poets in the world. Nothing gets lost in translation when you read his passionate, romantic words on love.

1. Sonnet 17 by Pablo Neruda

I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,

or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:

I love you as one loves certain obscure things,

secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries

the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,

and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose

from the earth lives dimly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,

I love you directly without problems or pride:

I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,

except in this form in which I am not nor are you,

so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,

so close that your eyes close with my dreams.

2. Sonnet 69 by Pablo Neruda

Maybe nothingness is to be without your presence,

without you moving, slicing the noon

like a blue flower, without you walking

later through the fog and the cobbles,

without the light you carry in your hand,

golden, which maybe others will not see,

which maybe no one knew was growing

like the red beginnings of a rose.

In short, without your presence: without your coming

suddenly, incitingly, to know my life,

gust of a rosebush, wheat of wind:

since then I am because you are,

since then you are, I am, we are,

and through love I will be, you will be, we'll be.

Most destination wedding brides plan to get married on the beach or enjoy the beach throughout their wedding week. Why not incorporate the destination into your ceremony through a reading inspired by the sand and the sea?

3. “Love is More Thicker Than Forget” by EE Cummings

love is more thicker than forget

more thinner than recall

more seldom than a wave is wet

more frequent than to fail

it is most mad and moon-ly

and less it shall un-be

than all the sea which only

is deeper than the sea

love is less always than to win

less never than alive

less bigger than the least begin

less littler than forgive

it is more sane and sun-ly

and more it cannot die

than all the sky which only

is higher than the sky

4. From “A Gift from the Sea” by Anne Morrow Lindberg

When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity - in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern.

The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. Relationships must be like islands, one must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits - islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides.

5. “Come Live with Me and Be My Love” by Christopher Sousa

Come live with me and be my love,

We'll lay and watch the skies above.

I'll take you out upon the sea,

And show you what it means to me.

The wind will be calm yet lightly blowing,

The cabin's warm with oil's glowing.

Just think of us upon this ocean,

Sipping tea as a soothing potion.

I'll climb up high into the rig above,

To share the starry night with you, my love.

The sails will be full with autumn's breeze,

Our bow dipping gracefully into the glowing seas.

And as we dig into my coffers' deep,

You shall behold the things that make women weep.

Bottles of wine from the finest vineyards,

And wool from only the most renowned spinners.

These things and more can be fully your own,

But mostly the beauty that the sea has shown.

The most graceful porpoises will be swimming by,

As the sea birds sing with their siren-like cry.

Precious few have answered our ocean's calling,

Shouting out with eyes bright and bawling.

So take this proposal and fly like the dove,

To come with me and be my love.

6. “An Ocean of Love” by Lovelyn Layon

Have you ever sailed on vast ocean,

With no island to see, and things are out of reach?

With dreams and mysteries filled this ocean,

And a never ending faith that someone would teach?

Have you ever felt that feeling,

Of a deep calmness within you that's hard to fight?

And no one could help you believing,

That you're striving for the right?

Did you ever sailed on an ocean,

That further placed upon your heart?

For deeply below this ocean,

Lies a silent whisper, where love starts.

An ocean of Love, the ocean of dreams

Where you can find solace and exceptional truth

Though pain resides even if you don't dream

As the existence of love bears its fruit.

The fruit of harmony, bliss, and wonder

Without the seed that's buried down below

Like a pearl that lies down under

The ocean of love they call, starts hello.

Upon this vast ocean, two souls were me and you

Over the waves and across the surface

I have found a love so true

The ocean of love was then the wondrous place.

Perhaps the beach or Spanish passion aren’t your style; there are plenty of options out there, and we’re happy to help recommend something that fits with the destination wedding you desire. The most important thing to remember is that whatever you decide for your readings, make sure it speaks to you.

7. “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.

Kristin was an English major and wedding readings are one of her favorite ways to satisfy her inner nerd. To contact Kristin, email her or visit WeddingsbyFunjet.com