This ceremony reading comes from an 19th century English poet, yet the sentiment feels entirely modern. Monna Innominatai (Wish I Could Remember) by Christina Rossetti is a sonnet that will resonate with couples who have been together forever, or who knew each other for a long time before they fell in love. It's about the kind of chance, forgettable encounters that often lead to the greatest love stories - which makes it a beautiful, and fitting wedding reading.

Monna Innominatai (Wish I Could Remember) by Christina Ross

I wish I could remember that first day,
First hour, first moment of your meeting me,
If bright or dim the season, it might be
Summer or Winter for aught I can say;
So unrecorded did it slip away,
So blind was I to see and to foresee,
So dull to mark the budding of my tree
That would not blossom yet for many a May.
If only I could recollect it, such
A day of days! I let it come and go
As traceless as a thaw of bygone snow;
It seemed to mean so little, meant so much;
If only now I could recall that touch,
First touch of hand in hand – Did one but know!

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Photo by Emma Jervis via One Fab Day