Wedding reading
A Lovely Love Story
Edward Monkton
“A Lovely Love Story” by Edward Monkton is a prose reading read at a wedding ceremony. It takes about a minute and a half read aloud, usually by a guest reader. It is still in copyright, so the words are not reprinted here — the reader brings a printed copy.
Why the words are not printed here
Still in copyright. "Edward Monkton" is a pen name of Giles Andreae, so a licensing search under Monkton dead-ends — look for Andreae. It is a short illustrated fable; print it from the book or the card and let the reader hold that.
Pieces still in copyright are listed by title and author only — we name them and tell you where to get them, but we do not reproduce the words. Public-domain text is printed in your script in full.
What it is about
The dinosaur one. A minute long, and about as easy as a reading gets.
Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: the fierce dinosaur and the lovely other dinosaur · a very short illustrated fable · sweet and silly · a nervous reader · children present.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “A Lovely Love Story” take to read aloud?
“A Lovely Love Story” takes about a minute and a half 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 Lovely Love Story”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “A Lovely Love Story” runs about a minute and a half, 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 Lovely Love Story” be printed in a ceremony script?
Not by us. It is still in copyright, so we name it and point you at a copy rather than reprinting the words. Still in copyright. "Edward Monkton" is a pen name of Giles Andreae, so a licensing search under Monkton dead-ends — look for Andreae. It is a short illustrated fable; print it from the book or the card and let the reader hold that.
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.
Other readings that suit the same service
- On Becoming Real, from The Velveteen Rabbit55 secondsMargery Williams
- Oh, the Places You'll Go!a minute and a halfDr. Seuss
- On Marriage, from The Propheta minute and a halfKahlil Gibran
- from Extracts from Adam's Diary — selected entriesa minute and a halfMark Twain
- from The Importance of Being Earnest, Act Itwo minutesOscar Wilde
- On marriage, from The Devil's Dictionary — five definitionsa minute and a halfAmbrose Bierce