A CODA BY MICHAEL SYMMONS ROBERTS

We pledge to wake each morning face-to-face,
to shun the orders of the busy sun,
we promise to disturb each other's peace.

And we will, yes, gaze at the pining moon,
will pick out brine-blown glass-gems from the sand,
will read our future scratched onto a stone.
We're naked, till we wear each other's scent
and recognise it quicker than our own.

You start and finish me, you're my extent.
I speak these words to many and for one.

ADAPTED FROM A CHINESE POEM

I want to be your friend
Forever and ever without break or decay.
When the hills are all flat
And the rivers are all dry,

When it lightens and thunders in winter,
When it rains and snows in summer,
When heaven and earth mingle
Not ’til then will I part from you.

LOVE IS TEMPORARY MADNESS - CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN

Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion.

That is just being "in love" which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.

KNOWING WHAT LOVE IS BY PAUL BONADIO

Foreigner, the classic ‘80s synth rock outfit, once sang: “I wanna know what love is”
At some point we have all said this to ourselves.
Is love a sudden jolt when you meet the person you want to spend your life with?
Is it an elderly couple holding hands walking into the supermarket?
Is it a new born puppy dog nestled in a basket of flowers?

Maybe it’s all of these things. 
Maybe it’s none of these things.

Whatever it is, I’m glad <bride name> and <groom name> have found it.
You had it when you first saw each other.
You’ll have it when you hold hands walking to the supermarket.
And you’ll have it when you buy your first puppy.

You want to know what love is?
Love is nothing. 
Love is everything.

THE LIFE THAT I HAVE BY LEO MARKS

The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours.

The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.

A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause.

For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.

ANCHOVIES LOVE BY PAUL BONADIO

Love isn’t rainbows. It isn’t sunny days. It’s not about eating grapes on a scenic mountaintop.

Love is sharing.
It’s about leaving enough hot water in the morning. It’s about heating up the car so it’s warm when they get inside. It’s about cooking extra so they have enough for lunch the next day.

Love is patience.
Love is sitting through Home & Away even though you hate Home & Away. It is about waiting for them to come home so you can watch the last episode of Narcos together. 

Love is sacrifice. 
It’s about getting extra anchovies on your pizza even though you hate seafood. It’s about cleaning the sink when you’ve finished shaving. It’s about putting your dirty clothes in the washing basket. 

Love is strength.
Love is ignoring the snoring. It’s about eating that scotch fillet even though it’s half cooked.

The love you have is unique in its own special way. Its warts and all. And it’s worth every effort, every fight and every ounce of energy you have.
This is your love – and no-one else’s.

THE PRINCESS BRIDE BY WILLIAM GOLDMAN

"Do I love you?

My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches...I have stayed these years in my hovel because of you. I have taught myself languages because of you. I have made my body strong because I thought you might be pleased by a strong body. I have lived my life with only the prayer that some sudden dawn you might glance in my direction. I have not known a moment in years when the sight of you did not send my heart careening against my rib cage. I have not known a night when your visage did not accompany me to sleep. There has not been a morning when you did not flutter behind my waking eyelids...

I love you. Okay? Want it louder? I love you. 

LOVE IS FRIENDSHIP CAUGHT FIRE BY LAURA HENDRICKS

Love is friendship caught fire; it is quiet, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection, and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present, hopes for the future, and does not brood over the past. It is the day-in and day-out chronicles of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories, and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you do not have it, no matter what else there is, it is not enough.

THE POWER OF LOVE BY HUEY LEWIS

Love don't need money, and it don't take fame
It don't need no credit card to ride this train
It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes
But it might just save your life
That's the power of love.

THE PROMISE BY HEATHER BERRY

Within this blessed union of souls, where two hearts intertwine to become one, there lies a promise. Perfectly born, divinely created, and intimately shared, it is a place where the hope and majesty of beginnings reside.

Where all things are made possible by the astounding love shared by two spirits. As you hold each other’s hands in this promise, and eagerly look into the future in each other’s eyes, may your unconditional love and devotion take you to places where you’ve both only dreamed. Where you’ll dwell for a lifetime of happiness, sheltered in the warmth of each other’s arms.

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