Here are some of the hymns we particularly recommend for use during a wedding service. Please note that some of the verses are sometimes omitted from the longer hymns.
All creatures of our God and king
lift up your voice and with us sing
Alleluia, alleluia!
Bright burning sun with golden beam,
soft shining moon with silver gleam,
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Swift rushing wind so wild and strong,
white clouds that sail in heaven along,
O praise him, alleluia!
New rising dawn in praise rejoice,
you lights of evening find a voice;
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Cool flowing water, pure and clear,
make music for your Lord to hear,
Alleluia, alleluia!
Fierce fire so masterful and bright
giving to man both warmth and light,
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Earth ever fertile, day by day
bring forth your blessings on our way,
O praise him, alleluia!
All fruit and crops that richly grow,
all trees and flowers God's glory show;
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
People and nations take your part,
love and forgive with all your heart;
Alleluia, alleluia!
All who long pain and sorrow bear,
trust God and cast on him your care;
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Death, once the ancient enemy,
hear now our Easter melody,
O praise him, alleluia!
You are the pathway home to God,
our door to life through Christ our Lord;
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Let all things their creator bless
and worship him in lowliness,
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
and praise the Spirit, Three-in-One,
O praise him, O praise him,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! after Francis of Assisi 1182-1226
W H Draper 1855-1933
All things bright and beautiful,
all creatures great and small,
all things wise and wonderful,
the Lord God made them all. Each little flower that opens,
each little bird that sings,
he made their glowing colours,
he made their tiny wings. The purple-headed mountain,
the river running by,
the sunset and the morning,
that brightens up the sky; The cold wind in the winter,
the pleasant summer sun,
the ripe fruits in the garden,
he made them every one: He gave us eyes to see them,
and lips that we might tell
how great is God Almighty,
who has made all things well. Mrs C F Alexander 1848
Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
there is no shadow of turning with thee:
thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not,
as thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided,
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth;
thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
T O Chisolm
Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
o'er the world's tempestuous sea;
guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,
for we have no help but thee;
yet possessing every blessing
if our God our Father be.
Saviour, breathe forgiveness o'er us;
all our weakness thou dost know;
thou didst tread this earth before us,
thou didst feel its keenest woe;
lone and dreary, faint and weary,
through the desert thou didst go.
Spirit of our God, descending,
fill our hearts with heavenly joy;
love with every passion blending,
pleasure that can never cloy;
thus provided, pardoned, guided,
nothing can our peace destroy.
J Edmeston 1821
Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,
whose trust, ever childlike, no cares could destroy,
be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,
your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.
Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,
whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe,
be there at our labours, and give us, we pray,
your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.
Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,
your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace,
be there at our homing, and give us, we pray,
your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.
Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,
whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm,
be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray,
your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.
Jan Struther
Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven, to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown:
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.
Breathe, O breathe, thy loving Spirit
into every troubled breast!
Let us all in thee inherit,
let us find thy promised rest;
take away the love of sinning,
Alpha and Omega be;
end of faith, as its beginning,
set our hearts at liberty.
Come, almighty, to deliver,
let us all thy grace receive;
suddenly return, and never,
never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing;
serve thee as thy hosts above:
pray, and praise thee, without ceasing;
glory in thy perfect love.
Finish then thy new creation,
pure and spotless let us be:
let us see thy great salvation,
perfectly restored in thee.
Changed from glory into glory,
till in heaven we take our place;
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love and praise.
C Wesley 1707
Now thank we all our God
with hearts and hands and voices,
who wondrous things hath done,
in whom his world rejoices;
who from our mother's arms
hath blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.
O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessèd peace to cheer us;
and keep us in his grace,
and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills
in this world and the next.
All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given,
the Son, and Holy Ghost,
supreme in highest heaven,
the one eternal God,
whom earth and heaven adore
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.
M Rinkart c.1647
O worship the King,
all glorious above;
O gratefully sing
his power and his love:
our Shield and Defender,
the Ancient of Days,
pavilioned in splendour
and girded with praise.
The earth with its store
of wonders untold,
Almighty, thy power
hath founded of old;
hath 'stablished it fast
by a changeless decree,
and round it hath cast,
like a mantle, the sea.
O tell of his might,
O sing of his grace,
whose robe is the light,
whose canopy space;
his chariots of wrath
the deep thunder-clouds form,
and dark is his path
on the wings of the storm.
Thy bountiful care
what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air,
it shines in the light;
it streams from the hills,
it descends to the plain,
and sweetly distils
in the dew and the rain.
Frail children of dust,
and feeble as frail,
in thee do we trust,
nor find thee to fail;
thy mercies how tender,
how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender,
Redeemer and Friend.
R Grant 1833 based on metre of W Kethe 1561
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven,
to his feet thy tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
who like thee his praise should sing?
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King.
Praise him for his grace and favour
to our fathers in distress;
praise him still the same for ever,
slow to chide and swift to bless.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Glorious in his faithfulness.
Father-like, he tends and spares us,
well our feeble frame he knows;
in his hands he gently bears us,
rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Widely as his mercy flows.
Angels, help us to adore him,
ye behold him face to face;
sun and moon, bow down before him;
dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace.
John Goss, 1800-80
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation;
O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation:
come ye who hear, brothers and sisters draw near,
praise him in glad adoration.
Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth,
shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth:
hast thou not seen all that is needful hath been
granted in what he ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee,
surely his goodness and mercy shall daily attend thee:
ponder anew all the Almighty can do,
he who with love doth befriend thee.
Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore him!
All that hath life and breath come now with praises before him!
Let the amen sound from his people again:
gladly for aye we adore him.
J Neander 1680
tr. C Winkworth 1863 and P Dearmer 1906
The King of love my Shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his
and he is mine for ever.
Where streams of living water flow
my ransomed soul he leadeth,
and, where the verdant pastures grow,
with food celestial feedeth.
Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
but yet in love he sought me,
and on his shoulder gently laid,
and home, rejoicing, brought me.
In death's dark vale I fear no ill
with thee, dear Lord, beside me;
thy rod and staff my comfort still,
thy cross before to guide me.
Thou spreadst a table in my sight;
thy unction grace bestoweth;
and, O, what transport of delight
from thy pure chalice floweth!
And so through all the length of days
thy goodness faileth never:
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
within thy house for ever.
H W Baker 1868
The Lord's my Shepherd, I'll not want,
he makes me down to lie
in pastures green; he leadeth me
the quiet waters by.
My soul he doth restore again
and me to walk doth make
within the paths of righteousness,
e'en for his own name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through death's dark vale,
yet will I fear no ill;
for thou art with me, and thy rod
and staff me comfort still.
My table thou hast furnishèd
in presence of my foes;
my head thou dost with oil anoint,
and my cup overflows.
Goodness and mercy all my life
shall surely follow me;
and in God's house for evermore
my dwelling-place shall be.
W Whittingham c. 1524-79,
F Rous 1641 and others
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