Wedding quotes for speeches, cards and signs

Good wedding quotes are short, sourced and easy to say aloud. The table below lists eight public-domain lines, each with its author, work and link, plus twelve original lines we wrote and label as ours. Copy any card, keep it to one quote per speech and say the author out loud.

Many quote lists online give no source at all. We left those out. If we cannot link the text, it is not here.

Quote table: public-domain lines with their sources

Table: the eight public-domain quotes on this page, with word count and spoken time (our estimate, assumptions below)

Assumptions: word counts are for the quote text only, and seconds use 130 words per minute, our assumed calm pace, rounded to whole seconds. Real rooms add a pause for the glass, so allow a few more seconds.

Pick by length

Table: how our twenty quotes split by length (our estimate, assumptions below)

Assumptions: the same 130 words per minute as above, applied to the text of each quote without the attribution line. The counts include the public-domain lines and our original ones together.

Type the length of your own draft into the box above to see how much room a quote leaves you. Published advice keeps a whole speech under five minutes, and one source puts a reception toast at a minute or two. A quote that fills a tenth of that time is already doing a lot.

Public-domain quotes to copy

Each card below carries the author and work as its last line, so Copy puts the source on your clipboard with the words. Tap Copy under any card.

Steady and certain

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:

William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116

And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12, King James Version

Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.

Song of Solomon 8:7, King James Version

Sonnet 116 is about love that stays put when things change, which makes it a natural close for a toast to a couple who have already been through something. The cord line fits a speech about two families joining. The waters line is eleven words, so it also suits a card.

Tender and devoted

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese, Sonnet 43

Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.

Ruth 1:16, King James Version

The Browning lines suit a close friend who knows the couple well enough to say “I love thee” in a room of people. The Ruth passage is a promise of loyalty to a person and a family, which suits a parent welcoming a new in-law. We cut it at a natural pause. The full passage is on the linked page.

Generous and practical

My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.

William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

Ecclesiastes 4:9, King James Version

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.

1 Corinthians 13:7-8, King James Version

The King James text says “charity” where modern Bibles say “love”. If you read it aloud, say the word in the text and add one line of your own, or your guests may wonder. For the full ceremony-reading side of these passages, see the Bible verses used in vows and the page of readings for the ceremony.

Original lines, labeled as ours

We wrote these twelve. They are not quotes from anyone, and you do not have to credit them. Change names, swap words and make them yours.

For a toast

To the two of you: may the good days be loud and the hard days be shared.

Our line, free to use

May your home be loud with friends, quiet when you need it, and always the first place you want to be.

Our line, free to use

To the couple who make the room feel warmer: may you never lose the habit of choosing each other.

Our line, free to use

Please raise a glass to [Name] and [Name]. Long may they argue about directions and agree about everything else.

Our line, free to use

For a card

You found each other. The rest is just practice.

Our line, free to use

Here is to the two of you, and to every ordinary Tuesday you will make better.

Our line, free to use

Some people build a life. You two are building a place where the rest of us always feel invited.

Our line, free to use

Love is the thing you keep noticing about someone after you have stopped being surprised.

Our line, free to use

With a smile

Marriage is deciding, over and over, who gets to be wrong about the thermostat. We wish you many happy compromises.

Our line, free to use

They say opposites attract. We say you two just got very lucky with the details.

Our line, free to use

For a sign or guest book

Sit anywhere you like. Everyone here is on the couple’s side.

Our line, free to use

Leave a wish, a joke or advice. Tonight, all three count.

Our line, free to use

How a quote fits inside a toast

A quote is a bridge, not the speech. Here is a worked example of where it sits and how much room it takes.

The lead-in matters more than people expect. Do not announce “here is a famous quote.” Say what the line means to you, then read it. For example, “When I think about [Name] and [Name], I think of how steady they are. Shakespeare wrote it better.” Then the lines.

Mistakes with quotes, and what to do instead

• Using a quote nobody can place. If you cannot explain why it fits in a sentence, drop it and write that sentence instead.
• Attributing a line you cannot source. Many lines online are credited to a famous name with no proof. Use ones you can link, or write your own and say nothing about authorship.
• Reading the whole poem. Two to four lines carry the idea. The rest costs you the room.
• Stacking three quotes. The second one weakens the first. Pick the best and move on.
• Skipping the author’s name. One spoken sentence is enough: author, then work.
• Putting the quote first with no context. A line without a reason sounds like filler. Say one real thing, then read it.

If the speech still needs its overall shape, the skeleton with a time budget shows where a quote sits among the other parts. For a short version, see a short toast.

Where each quote works best

For a card that needs wishes rather than a quote, the wedding wishes page has lines written to be signed. If you are writing as the groom’s closest friend, the best man speech walks through the structure. You can also see full worked speeches by role for how a quote sits in a finished draft.

Send this page to someone writing the speech

Copy this note and send it to the person writing the speech or the card.

Found a short list of wedding quotes where every line has its source, plus a dozen original ones you can use without crediting anyone. I liked [quote]. It takes about [seconds] seconds aloud. Which one do you want to use?

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Updated November 5, 2026 by bigdaydesk editorial