Why is a children's book about rabbits being read at weddings?

By Lucy Wallis BBC News

More and more people are including children's books in their wedding readings. Why?

When Hannah Larkin married her husband Jason, she had three readings, but one stood out - a reading from Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney.
In her late teens, Larkin had fallen in love with the story of Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare and their attempt to articulate their love. It remained one of her favourite books.
Said hares try to outdo each other in their hyperbolic declarations of love for each other.
A sample section runs: '"I love you all the way down the lane as far as the river," cried Little Nutbrown Hare. "I love you across the river and over the hills," said Big Nutbrown Hare.'

Amelia enjoys Guess How Much I love You at Hannah and Jason Larkin's wedding

It might seem saccharine stuff to a hardened cynic but many brides and grooms seem to feel differently.
"Although it's a children's book, it resonates with adult life because it's about the infinite nature of genuine love," says Larkin. At the wedding at a hotel in the New Forest, her sister read the entire book. Her husband's goddaughter Amelia looked up at her, mesmerised by the story.
The "classic" Christian wedding reading is 1 Corinthians 13, with its ruminations on faith, hope and love (or charity), but modern couples are varying their readings, says Bernadette Chapman, director of the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners.
"That's the big thing with weddings now... it's about [the couple's] personalities," says Chapman. Children's literature has become so popular because it's inter-generational and everyone can relate to it.
"They're trying to choose readings that are easy to understand, that are fun to read and fun to listen to and just bring a smile to people's faces."

Chapman says readings from children's books have become popular among remarrying couples who want to give children from previous relationships a key role by reading from a favourite story.
One of the most popular readings is taken from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. It tells the tale of a small stuffed rabbit and its longing to become real through the love of a human.

When actress Drew Barrymore married Will Kopelman in 2012, Kopelman's sister read a passage from the book. Prince William and Prince Harry read alternate lines from it at the wedding of Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall.

The growing popularity of wedding blogs has prompted more creativity in the choice of reading, Chapman says.
But why does children's literature continue to have such resonance? Prof Maria Nikolajeva, director of the University of Cambridge-Homerton Research and Teaching Centre for Children's Literature, says that children's books give us a shared experience.

Nikolajeva's daughter had a reading from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery at her wedding and Nikolajeva read from The Velveteen Rabbit during the ceremony.

Popular choices

• Guess How Much I Love You (Sam McBratney)
• The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
• Winnie-the-Pooh (AA Milne)
• The Velveteen Rabbit (Margery Williams)
• The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
• Oh The Places You'll Go (Dr Seuss

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Footnote:
The Bookman was well ahead of the play on this one. When Annie and I were married, 18 years ago next month, we had Guess How Much I Love You Read as part of the ceremony.