Poetry

It was the BeeGees who originally said in a beautiful piece of music… ‘It’s only words and words are all I have to take your heart away’

Indeed, readings and poems are often a way of incorporating a beloved family member or close friend into your special day. Often a favourite aspect of a ceremony, just what readings to have can be incredibly and daunting.

Here is a selection of favourite poems and readings from some of my ceremonies.

These are of course only suggestions, please feel free to choose a poem or reading that has resonance for you and your partner.

BUT, If you fancy having a go at writing your own poem I’m more than happy to help you with the process- let’s create something brand new!

Here are a few of my favourite poems that you might like too- take a look & let’s talk more about what you like.

Couple holding hands and walking in a scenic outdoor landscape during sunset, with rolling hills and mountains in the background.
All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don’t mean anything
When you’ve got no one to tell them to
It’s true… I was made for you

I climbed across the mountain tops
Swam all across the ocean blue
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules
But baby I broke them all for you
Because even when I was flat broke
You made me feel like a million bucks
You do and I was made for you

You see the smile that’s on my mouth
It’s hiding the words that don’t come out
And all of my friends who think that I’m blessed
They don’t know my head is a mess
No, they don’t know who I really am
And they don’t know what I’ve been through like you do
And I was made for you

All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don’t mean anything
When you’ve got no one to tell them to
It’s true… I was made for you

Oh yeah, well it’s true

that I was made for you.
— The Story by Brandi Carlile:
The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours.
The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.
A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause.
For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.
— The Life That I Have by Leo Marks
How love came in I do not know,
Whether by the eye, or ear, or no;
Or whether with the soul it came
(At first) infused with the same;
Whether in part ’tis here or there,
Or, like the soul, whole everywhere,
This troubles me: but I as well
As any other this can tell:
That when from hence she does depart
The outlet then is from the heart.
— Of Love, a sonnet. Robert Herrick:
From the beginning of my life
I have been looking for your face
but today I have seen it

Today I have seen
the charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face that I was looking for

Today I have found you...
I am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you
with a hundred eyes

My heart has burned with passion
and has searched forever
for this wondrous beauty
that I now behold.
— From The Love Poems of Rumi
Said the pelican to the elephant,
“I think we should marry, I do.
’Cause there’s no name that rhymes with me,
And no one else rhymes with you.”

Said the elephant to the pelican,
“There’s sense to what you’ve said,
For rhyming’s as good a reason as any
For any two to wed.”

And so the elephant wed the pelican,
And they dined upon lemons and limes,
And now they have a baby pelicant,
And everybody rhymes.
— From “The Romance” by Shel Silverstein:
A newlywed couple sharing a kiss at their outdoor wedding, surrounded by friends and family, with flower petals falling from above.