Picking a reading for our wedding was like searching for a needle in a haystack. There are innumerable poems, quotes, passages, and song lyrics to choose from. Eric and I are non-religious so that cut out passages from the Bible and other religious texts. We decided against song lyrics because most of them are too short and others were hard to wrap around without the actual music playing.

When you search the web for Wedding Readings, a lot of lists come back. And most of those lists are overused. Not that the readings are not beautiful, but I’ve heard many of them at other weddings. And everyone wants their wedding to be somewhat unique (given the generic format of weddings). We tweaked our search to cover more fantastical and literary passages. That’s when we came across Victor Hugo. I’ve never read Les Misérables. I’ve seen the musical (good) and watched the movie (awful). I don’t know it by heart, but when Eric and I read the following passage, we knew it was us.

Victor Hugo captures something that I find rare in most wedding readings, he captures the essence of love. The energy of it. While Eric and I are non-religious, we’re both very spiritual. When we decided to get married, it was Till Death Do Us Part. There’s a weight that comes with that commitment. And the words written by Hugo paint that commitment, that love for each other, in the same way that Eric and I do: cosmic. This passage is the drop from conscious to unconsciousness as you’re falling into dreams. It’s the blooming of a flower and quietness of snowfall. The weeping of a widow and hope spiraling out to the furthest reaches of the universe. It is love.