I have many friends who are currently on the path to marriage or are already planning their walks down the aisle. My best friend is one of them, and as Maid of Honor, it’s my duty to help her with anything she may need. The other night she told me she was trying to pick a scripture for the ceremony and my immediate response was “Girl, I gottchu!” It’s moments like this when my Catholic schooling really comes in handy, especially when the bride does not own a bible and I, well, have multiple.

The bride to be told me that her pastor had sent her a list of possible options, but that she could also find a piece of scripture or hymn herself and get it approved for the wedding. I immediately read down the provided list, opened Pinterest for some other possibilities, grabbed my bible, and began reading.

Once I had narrowed down the list to options that I really think the happy couple would like most, I then typed them up in a google doc for the bride and groom to choose from. So without further adieu, here’s a list of the best possible scripture verses for your wedding ceremony!

1. Song of Songs 8:6-7

“Close your heart to every love but mine; hold no one in your arms but me. Love is as powerful as death; passion is as strong as death itself. It bursts into flame and burns like a raging fire. Water cannot put it out; no flood can drown it. But if any tried to buy love with their wealth, contempt is all they would get.”

2. 1 Peter 4:8

“Love each other deeply, because love makes up for practically anything.”

3. Romans 12:9-18

“Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another. Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion. Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times. Share your belongings with your needy fellow Christians, and open your homes to strangers. Ask God to bless those who persecute you - yes, ask him to bless, not to curse. Be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep. Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties. Do not think of yourselves as wise. If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody.”

4. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-13

“Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass. For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial; but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear. When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am an adult, I have no more use for childish ways. What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete - as complete as God’s knowledge of me. Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.”

5. 1 John 3:11-18

“The message you heard from the very beginning is this: we must love one another. We must not be like Cain; he belonged to the Evil One and murdered his own brother Abel. Why did Cain murder him? Because the things he himself did were wrong, and the things his brother did were right. So do not be surprised, my friends, if the people of the world hate you. We know that we have left death and come over into life; we know it because we love others. Those who do not love are still under the power of death. Those who hate others are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life in them. This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us. We too, then, ought to give our lives for others! If we are rich and see others in need, yet close our hearts against them, how can we claim that we love God? My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.”

6. Matthew 19:4-6

“Jesus answered, ‘Haven’t you read the scripture that says that in the beginning the Creator made people male and female?’ And God said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.’ So they are no longer two, but one. No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together.”

7. John 15: 9-17

“I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you. The greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them. And you are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father. You did not choose me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of him in my name. This, then, is what I command you: love one another.”

8. Jeremiah 29: 11

“I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to bring you hope and a future.”

9. Song of Solomon 3:4

“I have found the one whom my soul loves”

10. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

“It is better to have a partner than to go it alone. Share the work. Share the wealth. If one falls down, the other helps. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

11. Ephesians 3:17

“and I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love”

12. Philippians 1:9

“I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more, together with true knowledge and perfect judgment”

13. Ruth 1:16

“Where you go, I’ll go. Where you stay, I’ll stay.”

14. Isaiah 43:1-4

“Israel, the Lord who created you says, ‘Do not be afraid- I will save you. I have called you by name - you are mine. When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials that come will not hurt you. For I am the Lord your God, the hole God of Israel, who saves you. I will give you Egypt to set you free; I will give up Ethiopia and Seba. I will give up whole nations to save your life, because you are precious to me and because I love you and give you honor.’”

15. James 1:17

“Every good and perfect gift comes from above; it comes down from God, the creator of heavenly lights, who does not change or cause darkness by turning.”