Shakespearean Wedding Readings
Make Your Ceremony Stand Out From The Rest with Unique Readings
Suggestions for extracts from The Bard's plays and sonnets that will make your big day a truly memorable occasion. Includes advice on practising your reading.
Generally accepted as the greatest writer in the English language, William Shakespeare has an enduring appeal that makes his work perfect for celebrating this most important of days. A Shakespearean wedding reading lends poetry and lyricism to the ceremony.
How Long?
There is no need to read a particularly long extract. On the day, you may find you are more nervous than you had anticipated – reading a short excerpt will help to ease your anxiety.
Practise
Don’t forget to practise your reading out loud. This is vital to steady your nerves, but also to take on the appropriate rhythm and metre of the language. Some of the words will have a slightly different pronunciation to modern English, and it is important to stay true to the text.
Film Versions
When preparing for your reading, help is at hand in the form of the many film versions of Shakespeare’s plays. Alternatively, visit your local library and borrow the relevant audio CD or cassette. Listen and repeat after the actor – after all, s/he is a professionally trained public speaker, and you can’t get much better than that!
If you are unfamiliar with Shakespeare, why not watch Baz Luhrman's adrenaline-fuelled, modern version of Romeo and Juliet?
Below are some suggestions for Shakespearean wedding readings.
Romeo and Juliet
Avoid the well-worn cliché of "Romeo, Romeo’"and choose instead this extract from Act I, scene 5, lines 42 -51, beginning and ending:
"Oh, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!…
…For ne’er I saw true beauty til this night"
This is a beautiful piece of lyrical poetry that conveys the heady passion of Romeo’s feelings.
Sonnet 18
This is the origin of the well-known lines:
"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more temperate and more lovely"
At 14 lines, it is the perfect length for a wedding ceremony and because it it can be read out in its entirety, has a sense of completeness that is pleasing to the ear.
Twelfth Night
Take the six lines from Act III, scene 1, lines 151-6, beginning and ending:
"I love thee so, that, maugre all thy pride…
…Love sought is good, but given unsought is better"
The strong rhythm of this extract makes it relatively easy to read. Being lesser known than sonnet 18, it will appeal to those who are looking for something more original.
Sonnet 116
The opening words of this fourteen-line sonnet: "Let me not to marriage of true minds/Admit impediments" are very in keeping with formal nature of the wedding ceremony. The sonnet has an elevated tone that reflects the importance of the marriage.
