Modern & Unusual Wedding Readings for Your Ceremony

If you’ve read the classics and thought, lovely but not us, this is your shortlist. These modern, non-religious wedding readings are heartfelt without being saccharine, clever without being cold, and perfect for humanist wedding ceremonies, outdoor weddings and non-traditional weddings in North Wales and Cheshire.

‍A Vow – Wendy Cope

If you want a reading that feels honest, human and quietly funny, A Vow by Wendy Cope is a perfect fit. It’s simple and conversational, but taps into something much more profound, the idea that real love isn’t about perfection, it’s about turning up and choosing each other anyway.

Cope’s words land beautifully in modern, non-religious wedding ceremonies because they sound like something you might actually say. No frills, no grand declarations, just a truthful reflection on what it means to promise someone your best - even when you can’t promise perfection. It works wonderfully in intimate ceremonies or outdoor weddings across North Wales and Anglesey, especially if you want something sincere but not sentimental.

I cannot promise never to be angry;
I cannot promise always to be kind.
You know what you are taking on, my darling,
It’s only at the start that love is blind.

And yet I’m still the one you want to be with
And you’re the one for me – of that I’m sure.
You are my closest friend, my favourite person,
The lover and the home I’ve waited for.

I cannot promise that I will deserve you
From this day on. I hope to pass that test.
I love you and I want to make you happy.
I promise I will do my very best.

I Wanna Be Yours — John Cooper Clarke

I Wanna Be Yours has become something of a cult classic for alternative weddings, and for good reason. It’s funny, offbeat, and brimming with personality, while still managing to feel deeply romantic.

The poem works brilliantly for modern humanist or non-religious weddings because it brings together humour and affection in a way that feels completely natural. Guests recognise the rhythm instantly, and its quirky imagery makes it unforgettable.

It’s ideal for non-religious weddings where you want laughter woven through the emotion, or for couples who share a love of music, poetry, or a bit of northern grit. This reading is a bit of a crowd pleaser, and it never fails to get a smile.

I wanna be your vacuum cleaner
breathing in your dust
I wanna be your Ford Cortina
I will never rust

If you like your coffee hot
let me be your coffee pot
You call the shots
I wanna be yours

I wanna be your raincoat
for those frequent rainy days
I wanna be your dreamboat
when you want to sail away

Let me be your teddy bear
take me with you anywhere
I don’t care
I wanna be yours

I wanna be your electric meter
I will not run out
I wanna be the electric heater
you’ll get cold without

I wanna be your setting lotion
hold your hair in deep devotion
Deep as the deep Atlantic ocean
that’s how deep is my devotion

Marriage — William Letford

There’s something beautifully ordinary about this poem, and that’s exactly why couples love it. Marriage isn’t about grand gestures or cinematic romance. It’s about the quiet, everyday partnership that builds a life - the breakfasts and shared beds, the tiny rituals that make love real.

William Letford captures that feeling perfectly. His words are rooted in real life, celebrating the messy, funny, comforting truth of being with someone for years on end. It’s a piece that fits seamlessly into humanist and non-religious wedding ceremonies, especially for couples who value honesty over perfection and laughter over formality.

I’ve seen this read beautifully by six different guests who took a couple of sentences each at a wedding at Llyn Gwynant Barns, where the simplicity of the landscape mirrors the poem’s grounded tone. It also works for vow renewals and intimate elopement ceremonies, where couples want something mature, tender and unpretentious - a reflection of love that’s grown, not just begun.

I could take this opportunity
to wish you love and happiness
but you've already got that.
No, my wish for you

is the incidental, the ordinary,
to know someone
by the way their fork moves across a plate,
to see the majesty in someone's back, sleeping.

My wish for you
is twenty thousand mornings
climbing out of bed together.
My wish for you
is twenty thousand sunsets
that you can't see
because the curtains are closed and
you're sitting in a room talking about
nothing in particular.

Let the special occasions
take care of themselves,
learn to recognise
the wonder in the everyday.

My wish for you is a life lived together
filled with breakfasts, suppers, spoons and pillows.

Mouthful of Forevers — Clementine von Radics

If you want a reading that makes people feel something but still sounds like it belongs in this century, this is the one. Mouthful of Forevers has become a modern classic for humanist and non-religious weddings because it captures love after life has already happened - not the first rush of romance, but the deep, real kind that arrives when you’ve both seen a bit of the world.

Clementine von Radics writes with emotional precision. Their words are raw, modern, and unapologetically romantic without ever tipping into cliché. It’s a brilliant choice for couples who’ve lived a little, loved before, or found each other later in life. The poem celebrates vulnerability and healing, but it’s also fiercely hopeful, and is perfect for couples standing at the start of a new chapter together.

I am not the first person you loved.
You are not the first person I looked at
with a mouthful of forevers. We
have both known loss like the sharp edges
of a knife. We have both lived with lips
more scar tissue than skin. Our love came
unannounced in the middle of the night.
Our love came when we’d given up
on asking love to come. I think
that has to be part
of its miracle.

This is how we heal.
I will kiss you like forgiveness. You
will hold me like I’m hope. Our arms
will bandage and we will press promises
between us like flowers in a book.
I will write sonnets to the salt of sweat
on your skin. I will write novels to the scar
of your nose. I will write a dictionary
of all the words I have used trying
to describe the way it feels to have finally,
finally found you.

And I will not be afraid
of your scars.
I know sometimes
it’s still hard to let me see you
in all your cracked perfection,
but please know:
whether it’s the days you burn
more brilliant than the sun
or the nights you collapse into my lap
your body broken into a thousand questions,
you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

I will love you when you are a still day.
I will love you when you are a hurricane.

Still not sure which reading fits?

That’s exactly what I’m here for. As a wedding celebrant in North Wales and Cheshire, I help couples choose readings that sound like them, not like everyone else. Let’s plan a ceremony that’s warm, modern and genuinely yours - send me a message and we’ll start from there.

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