Poems have been woven into weddings for as long as they've been celebrated. They appear as readings during the ceremony by a friend with a good voice, as handwritten messages inside cards, or as vows crafted by the couple themselves, pulling a few lines from Neruda or Mary Oliver and then adding their own touches. The best wedding poem doesn't just convey emotion — it finds it. It articulates feelings that the couple already has but hasn't quite managed to express.
Typically, people are looking for a few different types of poems: something brief and straightforward for a ceremony reading, something warm and perhaps a bit humorous for a toast, something softly spiritual for a religious setting, or something so uniquely personal that it could only belong to these two individuals. The poems that resonate most at weddings are those that view love not as a feeling that appears fully formed, but as a choice, a practice, a journey that two people embark on together over time. That's the sentiment most guests remember.
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Poems About Weddingin the open canon
You're either standing at a kitchen table with a printout, scrolling through your phone as the best man at midnight, or you're part of a couple who decided to skip the usual "Corinthians" and want something that genuinely reflects who you are. Wedding poems are often sought after in these moments of pressure — you…
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§01 Opening
On wedding
A reader's preface to the theme — what to listen for as you move through the poems below.
§04 Reader's questions
On wedding, frequently asked
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A few that consistently work well: **"i carry your heart with me"** by E.E. Cummings (short, easy to remember, and emotionally direct), **"Union"** by Robert Fulghum (simple and warm), and **"The Owl and the Pussycat"** by Edward Lear for couples looking for something playful. For a more literary touch, **"Having a Coke with You"** by Frank O'Hara is a popular choice at modern ceremonies.
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That depends on how you define famous. **"How Do I Love Thee?"** by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is likely the most well-known wedding poem in English. E.E. Cummings's **"i carry your heart with me"** competes closely in terms of how often it's used in ceremonies. Pablo Neruda's **Sonnet XVII** ("I do not love you as if you were salt-rose") is the most sought-after when it comes to translations.
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**"I carry your heart with me"** by E.E. Cummings is a compact 12 lines that hits every note. **"Scaffolding"** by Seamus Heaney is another brief piece that delivers a powerful conclusion. For something even shorter, check out **"The Art of Marriage"** by Wilferd Arlan Peterson — while it's prose-poetry, it resonates with many readers.
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Mary Oliver's **"When Death Comes"** offers a fresh perspective on shared life, steering clear of religious themes. **"Having a Coke with You"** by Frank O'Hara is straightforward, secular, and humorously poignant. **"Touched by an Angel"** by Maya Angelou resonates with couples seeking emotional depth while avoiding dogma.
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Yes, many couples do this—either by reciting an entire poem as their vow or by taking a few lines and crafting their own words around them. Neruda's sonnets, Rumi's love poems, and Wendell Berry's **"The Country of Marriage"** are popular choices for this. Be sure to consult your officiant first, as some religious ceremonies require specific vow language.
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Ogden Nash penned a number of short, comic poems about marriage that still resonate today—**"A Word to Husbands"** is just four lines long and always gets a chuckle. **"To My Dear and Loving Husband"** by Anne Bradstreet leans toward the earnest side instead of funny, but it complements a humorous speech nicely. If you prefer something more irreverent, check out modern poets like **Taylor Mali** or look for light verse crafted specifically for toasts.
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The text starting with *"Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter to the other"* is often referred to as an Apache blessing, but its true origin is uncertain. Most scholars believe it comes from a 1947 novel by Elliott Arnold. While it’s a lovely sentiment that fits well in ceremonies, it’s important to recognize that it likely isn't a traditional Apache text.
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Short and warm is the aim for a card. A single Rumi couplet, the final stanza of **"i carry your heart with me,"** or a few lines from **"Scaffolding"** by Heaney all work perfectly. If you prefer to write something yourself, crafting a four-line rhyming stanza is simpler than it seems—just focus on the couple specifically instead of general notions of love.