I love it when couples add a personal touch to their wedding ceremony. This personalisation may come in the form of unique song choices, vows you have written yourself, saying goodbye to traditions you don’t like, or including beautiful Bible readings!
Our list of Bible readings for your wedding ceremony cover a range of topics. Some celebrate romantic love between two spouses, some acknowledge that the love of God is what enables us to love, while others are perfect for a blessing or declaration of love, peace and joy. Select a verse or series of verses based on the message you want to focus on during your wedding ceremony.
Note: You don’t have to consider yourself religious or spiritual to choose Bible readings for your wedding ceremony. Simply select the verses that help you to articulate your love for one another and how happy you are to be getting married!
What’s with the brackets? The letters in brackets help to identify which translations of the Bible we’ve shared in this post. Feel free to look up your chosen Bible verses in Bible Gateway to see if there’s a different translation you prefer!
Featured image credit: Theodoro Photography
Related: How To Personalise Your Wedding Ceremony
1 Chronicles 16:34 (ESV)
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
Romans 15:5-6 (NLT)
May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NLT)
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.
1 Corinthians 13:1-8,11,13 (NIV)
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 John 3:18 (NIV)
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Mark 10:8-9 (NKJV)
And the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NIV)
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
1 John 4:18-19 (NIV)
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us.
Ephesians 4:32 (NLT)
Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
1 Peter 4:8 (ESV)
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (MSG)
Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping.
John 13:34-35 (NIV)
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
1 Peter 3:8-9 (ESV)
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
Romans 12:9-12 (NLT)
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
Song of Solomon 2:10,16 (NLT)
My lover said to me, “Rise up, my darling! Come away with me, my fair one! My lover is mine, and I am his. He browses among the lilies.
Ephesians 4:2 (NIV)
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7 (ESV)
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.
John 15:11 (NIV)
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Philippians 2:2-4 (NLT)
Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
Genesis 2:18-25 (ESV)
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Proverbs 3:3-6 (NLT)
Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Psalm 126:3 (NIV)
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.
