Wedding reading
A Red, Red Rose
Robert Burns
“A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns is a poem read at a wedding ceremony. It takes about 45 seconds read aloud, usually by a guest reader. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
O my Luve is like a red, red rose That's newly sprung in June; O my Luve is like the melody That's sweetly played in tune. As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in luve am I; And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry. Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun; I will luve thee still, my dear, While the sands o' life shall run.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
What it is about
Scots dialect. Give the reader the words in advance so it does not ambush them.
Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: Scottish · plain love · until the seas run dry · short · a reader with an accent.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “A Red, Red Rose” take to read aloud?
“A Red, Red Rose” takes about 45 seconds read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “A Red, Red Rose”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “A Red, Red Rose” runs about 45 seconds, which is a manageable amount to hand to a friend or family member. Give them a printed copy of their own, in a size they can read without their glasses, and tell them where to stand and how you will introduce them.
Can “A Red, Red Rose” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Checked word for word against a full-text edition that is itself the authority — a Project Gutenberg or Wikisource transcription, a publisher’s own edition, or the issuing body’s page.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the vows, the ring exchange, the pronouncement — and the timing that holds them together. Answer some questions about the couple and get the whole ceremony, written out, with this reading in its place.