Wedding vows are pretty important. Vows are intended to be public declarations of love and promise to one person. Vows are meant to be kept FOREVER. Vows are a pretty big deal. And lately I’ve been thinking about how best to do them.

I might be able to say the standard “’til death do us part” vows in front of my immediate family, but I don’t want to say our “real” vows in front of anyone else. It feels too private to me.

George and I are going to say our “real” vows before we do the legal ones. And before I put on makeup because I’m a huge sap and I’ll probably cry my eyeballs out. But that’s ok.

Since I’m a librarian and a great lover of books, I’ve been looking for a passage or a book that best expresses my feelings. This NYPL post from Kristy Raffensberger, a children’s librarian, has some great suggestions.

But in some ways I want to find my own. It’s the thrill of the hunt.

Here’s the few books I’ve found so far…

This book was obviously intended for the love between a parent and a child, but I think it describes romantic love, as well.

Small, a little fox, questions Large, a big fox, if he would love her (or if she would love him– it’s quite androgynous) in increasingly silly scenarios.

“If I were a grumpy grizzly bear, would you still love me? Would you still care?” “I’d always love you, no matter what,” responds Large.

I can definitely be a grumpy grizzly sometimes and I’m sure George could relate to this one.

Guess How Much I Love You
Sam McBratney (Author), Anita Jeram (Illustrator)

Again, probably meant for parental love, but relevant regardless.

This lovely bedtime tale follows Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare through a series of charming declarations.

It begins with “I love you as high as I can hop!” said Little Nutbrown. And ends with Big Nutbrown’s declaration “I love you right up to the moon.”

A Lovely Love Story
Edward Monkton

I cried at work reading this one. So embarrassing.

Such a cute premise. Two dinosaurs meet and fall in love. One is an emotionally distant dino and the other dino has a penchant for shopping. Regardless of flaws, they learn to accept one another as they are.

“Together they stand on the hill, telling each other stories and feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs. And that, my friends, is how it is with love.”

Have you stumbled across any good wedding readings? I’d love to hear them in the comments!

love,
melanie