Love.

What a small word we use for an idea so immense and powerful it has altered the flow of history, calmed monsters, kindled works of art, cheered the forlorn, turned tough guys to mush, consoled the enslaved, driven strong women mad, glorified the humble, fueled national scandals, bankrupted robber barons, and made mincemeat of kings.

How can love’s spaciousness be conveyed in the narrow confines of one syllable?

Love is an ancient delirium, a desire older than civilization, with taproots stretching deep into dark and mysterious days.

The heart is a living museum. In each of its galleries, no matter how narrow or dimly lit, preserved forever like wondrous diatoms, are our moments of loving and being loved.

- Diane Ackerman, from A Natural History of Love

Posted February 21, 2008 7:50 AM by Editor | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

And you thought Elvis only did Vegas!

Blue Hawaii is one of the classic Elvis movies. In it he experiences a Hawaiian wedding, Elvis-style.

It is kind of romantic! I love the way bride and groom come from either side and meet one another in the middle. That's really how marriage should be!

He sings the "Hawaiian Wedding Song," with background singers, some chanting in the native language.

Don Ho was also widely known for crooning that number. Andy Williams is as well.

Interestingly, there is also a reading commonly referred to as the "Hawaiian Wedding Song."

I never noticed before that the reading is not the same as the lyrics to the song -- althought the sentiments are sort of similar. It is a classic as well but perhaps we should call it the Hawiian Wedding Poem? It goes like this:

Here all seeking is over, the lost has been found, a mate has been found to share the chills of winter-- ow love asks that you be united. Here is a place to rest, a place to sleep, a place in heaven. Now two are becoming one, the black night is scattered, the eastern sky grows bright. At last the great day has come.

The Blue Hawaii Wedding package is, by the way, a staple of the Las Vegas Elvis wedding industry.

Posted February 5, 2008 7:05 PM by Editor | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

This is a lovely reading from the Christian tradition used in the ceremony of Jackie and Pete. It was offered by the bride's aunt as a sweet blessing on their marriage and to honor the family's faith. It was adapted from a prayer by Rev. Edward M. Hays, from his book Prayers for the Domestic Church.

Blessed are you, Lord, Our God,
Who crowns marriage with Love and Affection.

Lord of Love,
We thank you for the gift of married love.
In your wisdom and generosity you have blessed the union
of man and woman with deep beauty in the song of love.

A sacred unity arises when two hearts are fused as one
in the Love of the Eternal One.
We thank you, God, for this holy gift.

Creator of life, your loving union with your people
is symbolized in wedding feasts and intimate unions.
No other vocation in life have you, Lord, so richly blessed
by interlacing intimacy and affection in the sacred union of hearts and bodies.

As we share in the joy and wonder of marriage
so also must we share its burdens.
But moments of loving affection, so human and holy, lighten our trials
and nourish us day by day in our common journey.

May the happiness and union that we celebrate this day
bless us and sustain us all our lives.

Blessed are you, Lord Our God,
Who Crows Marriage With Love and Affection.

- Adapted from Prayers for the Domestic Church, by Rev. Edward M. Hays.

Posted December 27, 2007 6:28 AM by Editor | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Another really popular wedding reading these days is "i carry your heart with me" by e.e. cummings, who had a penchant for writing in lower case letters and liberal use of parenthesis.

The reading was popularized when Cameron Diaz read it at her sisters wedding in the movie, "In Her Shoes."

It is lovely and romantic, but hard to read for the average person because it is difficult to decide where one thought ends and another begins. So, with apologies to e.e., I usually sort through the sentences and put them into easy to read groupings when a bride asks a friend or relarive to read this at her wedding.

Here's what we did for Michael and Jessica's wedding last weekend. The groom's twin sisters shared the reading, alternating back and forth. The effect was terrific!

Introduction: Now the groom’s sisters Angelina and Stephanie read I Carry Your Heart With Me, by e.e. cummings.

Angelina: i carry your heart with me
(i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it

Stephanie: (anywhere i go you go,my dear;
and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)

Angelina: i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)
i want no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

Stephanie: and it's you who are whatever a moon has always meant.
And whatever a sun will always sing is you.

Angelina: here is the deepest secret nobody knows

Stephanie: (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 the soul can hope or mind can hide)

Angelina: and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Posted November 24, 2007 9:36 AM by Editor | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This