Home › Collections › Wedding readings for mother
Wedding readings for mother
A reading that names a mother — the one who raised you, the one you're marrying into, or the one you're carrying with you today — gives the ceremony a second heartbeat. It widens the moment beyond the couple without ever taking it from them.
These are the readings we suggest when a mum has a role in the service, or when you want to honour her from the aisle.
Readings that honour a mother
- 01
For a new beginning
by John O'Donohue, 1956 ~ 2008The delight when your courage kindled and out you stepped onto new ground
Read the full poem → - 02
Gift from the Sea
by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1906 ~ 2001The only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity – in freedom
Read the full poem → - 03
Habitation
by Margaret Atwood, b. 1939With wonder at having survived this far, we are learning to make fire
Read the full poem → - 04
House of Stone
by Carmen Bugan, b. 1970May your tears and your smiles happen always face to face.
Read the full poem → - 05
Learned in Kindergarten
by Robert Fulghum, b. 1937Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up
Read the full poem → - 06
Love, mere love
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806 ~ 1861Let temple burn, or flax and an equal light leaps in the flames from cedar plank or weed. And love is fire.
Read the full poem → - 07
Oh, the places you will go!
by Dr. Seuss, 1904 ~ 1991Things can happen and frequently do, to people as brainy and footsy as you
Read the full poem → - 08
On Love
by Kahlil Gibran, 1883 ~ 1931Let love be a moving sea between the shores of your souls
Read the full poem → - 09
On marriage
by Kahlil Gibran, 1883 ~ 1931Be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night
Read the full poem → - 10
The Wedding March
by Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1844 ~ 1889I to him turn with tears, whose wonder-wedlock deals triumph and immortal years
Read the full poem → - 11
Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver, 1935 ~ 2019You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Read the full poem → - 12
Zuccini Shofar
by Sarah Lindsay, b. 1958Let living room pianos invite unwashed hands
Read the full poem →
Choosing your reading
How many readings should we have?
One or two is typical for a shorter ceremony; three works well if you'd like to give more guests a role. Vary the tone so the ceremony doesn't sit on one note.
Who should read?
Choose people whose voices you love hearing — siblings, close friends, a parent, a chosen family member. Send the reading in advance so they can practise.