Wedding poems bring your ceremony to life with beautiful imagery, emotion or humour. Here is a collection of classic and contemporary poetry, including some lesser known non-rhyming verses and lightly humorous pieces that are sure to move your guests and add an extra special element to your wedding day. Additionally, we’ve included some wedding poems you could use when asking for a gift of cash instead of traditional presents.
Style your own gorgeous Modern Fairytale wedding theme.
For a more formal wedding, classic words of love written long ago will never go out of fashion, and they might have been the very readings your own parents or grandparents chose to have read at their own weddings. There are also some beautiful pieces of contemporary poetry that are every bit as profound as the well-known classics we’ve all heard before. But if lyrical balladry and verse is too formal for your wedding then consider something lightly humorous that is as much a joy to read as amusing to listen to (but if you want something laugh-out-loud funny for your wedding vows or wedding readings, don’t miss these funny quotes that perfectly describe your relationship!)
11 Beautiful Wedding Poems
These poems work brilliantly as everything from wedding vow inspiration to part of a wedding speech, and you can find further inspiration with these romantic reading from movies.
1) “I Loved You First” by Christina Rossetti
This is one of the most romantic wedding poems on our list and a favourite among couples who are writing their wedding vows.
I loved you first: but afterwards your love
Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song
As drowned the friendly cooings of my dove.
Which owes the other most? my love was long,
And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong;
I loved and guessed at you, you construed me
And loved me for what might or might not be –
Nay, weights and measures do us both a wrong.
For verily love knows not ‘mine’ or ‘thine;’
With separate ‘I’ and ‘thou’ free love has done,
For one is both and both are one in love:
Rich love knows nought of ‘thine that is not mine;’
Both have the strength and both the length thereof,
Both of us, of the love which makes us one.
2) “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
This is one of the most stunning wedding poems, full of beautiful imagery, and would fit perfectly with a religious wedding.
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
3) From “Sonnet 116” in ‘The Love Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare’
Shakespeare’s sonnets are hailed as some of the most romantic poems, and they remain firm favourite wedding poems too.
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
4) “Come with Me” by Fran Landesman
This is one of the most fitting wedding poems for your wedding vows, and we think it would also look fantastic as a framed, decorative piece of art in your home after the big day.
Sleep with me, wake with me
Give with me, take with me
Love me the way I love you.
Let me get high with you
Laugh with you, cry with you
Be with you when I am blue
Rest with you, fight with you
Day with you, night with you
Love me whatever I do.
Work with me, play with me
Run with me, stay with me
Make me your partner in crime
Handle me, fondle me
Cradle me tenderly
Say I’m your reason and rhyme.
Pray with me, sin with me
Love with me, win with me
Love me with all of my scars
Rise with me, fall with me
Hide from it all with me
Nothing is mine now – it’s ours.
5) “Vow” by Roger McGough
This lovely poem by Roger McGough makes for a great modern wedding reading and is definitely one of our favourite wedding poems.
I vow to honour the commitment made this day
Which, unlike the flowers and the cake,
Will not wither or decay. A promise, not to obey
But to respond joyfully, to forgive and to console,
For once incomplete, we now are whole.
I vow to bear in mind that if, at times
Things seem to go from bad to worse,
They also go from bad to better.
The lost purse is handed in, the letter
Contains wonderful news. Trains run on time,
Hurricanes run out of breath, floods subside,
And toast lands jam-side up.
And with this ring, my final vow:
To recall, whatever the future may bring,
The love I feel for you now.
Above: Image by Jacob Lund on Shutterstock
6) “Rings” by Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy is currently the British Poet Laureate, and “Rings” was written for the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton in 2006. Isn’t it stunning?
I might have raised your hand to the sky
to give you the ring surrounding the moon
or looked to twin the rings of your eyes
with mine
or added a ring to the rings of a tree
by forming a handheld circle with you, thee,
or walked with you
where a ring of church-bells,
looped the fields,
or kissed a lipstick ring on your cheek,
a pressed flower,
or met with you
in the ring of an hour,
and another hour . . .
I might
have opened your palm to the weather, turned, turned,
till your fingers were ringed in rain
or held you close,
they were playing our song,
in the ring of a slow dance
or carved our names
in the rough ring of a heart
or heard the ring of an owl’s hoot
as we headed home in the dark
or the ring, first thing,
of chorussing birds
waking the house
or given the ring of a boat, rowing the lake,
or the ring of swans, monogamous, two,
or the watery rings made by the fish
as they leaped and splashed
or the ring of the sun’s reflection there . . .
I might have tied
a blade of grass,
a green ring for your finger,
or told you the ring of a sonnet by heart
or brought you a lichen ring,
found on a warm wall,
or given a ring of ice in winter
or in the snow
sung with you the five gold rings of a carol
or stolen a ring of your hair
or whispered the word in your ear
that brought us here,
where nothing and no one is wrong,
and therefore I give you this ring.
7) “I Carry Your Heart With Me” By E. E. Cummings
A beautiful poem by E. E. Cummings (or e e cummings, to use his stylised, lower case spelling) that would be especially perfect as part of the couple’s wedding vows.
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.
8) “From the Song Dynasty” by Nick Drake
Nick Drake’s “From the Song Dynasty” is a lovely poem with some especially magical final lines.
The tale survives of two men
Who fell in love “at first sight”;
Who shared everything
In unbounded intimacy
Including the pillow
And the red embroidered coverlet
Which had been in the family
For generations.
Whether they had bad days,
Domestic arguments
Or inappropriate dreams
We do not know –
No doubt such burrs
Were worked away by time
Polishing its story;
How they found each other
And lived together all their lives,
And died on the same day,
And were buried by the grieving town
On Mount Luofo’s peak
With their pillow and red coverlet;
And a pine tree grew
Out of the grave
Like the character for longevity
And true love.
Such is the legend.
I like to think of them,
Pan Zhang and Wang Zhangxian,
In the crowd of well-wishers
Waiting in the April sunshine,
Yes, under white cherry trees
In full bloom, for us
Here and now, on this day
Early in the century,
In our very best suits and ties,
With our new rings
Growing warm on our fingers
Like keepsakes of light
Saved from the stars.
9) “I Take” by Imtiaz Dharker
This is almost a stylised take on the tradition “I do”s and definitely one of our favourite wedding poems!
I take
your body where love takes place
I take
your mouth where my life takes shape
I take
your breath which makes my space
I take
you as you are, for good
I take
you with open arms, to have
I take
you to have
and to hold but not to hold
too hard
I take
you for farther for closer
for sooner for later
till
death tries to get us
and we laugh and we stall
and we tell it to call us some other
fine day because we are busy today
taking our tea with buttered
hope and
I take
thee
I take
thee.
10) “All I Want” by Afurbie
This is a gorgeous wedding poem that’s simple, direct, but beautiful and would be right at home in a wedding vow or wedding speech.
All I want is to love you, for the rest of my life.
I want you to be the one; I’ll wake up every morning with you by my side.
Knowing that no matter what happens, I’ll be able to come to your loving arms.
All I want is to share everything with you.
To be able to talk about our ideas, our dreams and little every day things.
Things that make us laugh, and the not so little things that we can’t help worrying about.
All I want is to give you is my love.
As a place you, can always come to for acceptance.
The simple comfort that silence brings, when things left unspoken, can still be understood.
All I want is to grow old with you, to watch our life unfold.
All I want is to love you forever.
11) “I’d Choose You” from ‘The Chaos of Stars’ by Kiersten White
This is one of the simplest but most beautiful wedding poems, and like many of the others on our list is also a great fit for non-religious wedding readings.
And I’d choose you;
in a hundred lifetimes,
in a hundred worlds,
in any version of reality,
I’d find you and I’d choose you.
Style your own gorgeous Contemporary Vintage wedding theme.
3 Wedding Money Poems
Wedding poems, while a beautiful addition to wedding vows, readings, and speeches, can also be used when asking for a gift of cash. Even if they don’t expect gifts, some couples worry that their guests may buy them something that they don’t need and want to ensure they don’t waste their money—for couples also know that some guests will want to give them something for their wedding.
In situations like this you can set up a wedding gift list so that your guests know the things that you need/want and they can choose which gift, if any, they want to buy. Alternatively, you could give guests the option of giving money towards something of your choice (such as a honeymoon). Still, couples worry about the etiquette of this—that it may come across as cheeky or assumptive. Therefore, many couples turn to wedding money poems to add a fun or funny twist. Here are just three of our favourite, but you’ll find a full list of wedding money poems here.
1) Simple and straightforward:
If you were thinking of giving a gift to help us on our way,
A gift of money in a card would really make our day!
2) Giving the option of a gift of money:
We’ve lived together for quite a while,
With all our pots and pans,
And as we don’t need homely gifts,
We have another plan!
We know it’s not traditional,
But it’s easier that’s for sure,
To have no wedding list at all,
Your attendance means much more!
For those of you who do insist,
We have a savings pot,
A small gift to add to this,
Would really mean a lot!
3) A contribution to the honeymoon:
We know it’s traditional to write a list
But in this case there is a slight twist
Our home is complete with the usual stuff
And the things that we have are good enough
Our dream is to honeymoon in a foreign land
And walk along the beach hand in hand
We hope you don’t think of us as being rude
And that our request is not misconstrued
But a contribution to our honeymoon pot
Would be appreciated such a lot
But the most important thing to say
Is that you are there to celebrate our day!
For more beautiful wedding poems, check out these beautiful Valentine’s Day poems (complete with some lovely poems that are perfect all year round and for any occasion).
