Spring is here and life looks to be returning to normal, so we can now get excited about weddings again. If you are starting to plan the details of your ceremony, you may want to think about having a friend or family member read a poem that was specially written for you.
Poetry is a beautiful way to mark a special occasion, which is why it’s such a common feature at weddings, and one of the questions I’m often asked when planning a ceremony is, ‘Do you know any nice readings or poems we can use?’
My answer to that is yes, however there is every chance the guests will have heard the chosen poems before. Many of us will have heard the same poems repeatedly when attending ceremonies for family and friends. If you would like to make your own wedding ceremony unique, why not take it up a notch and have a bespoke poem for your special day?
Living in Central London, I often pass a couple of gents who sit with a snazzy blue typewriter on the Southbank just between the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre with a terrific view over to St Paul’s Cathedral. They are often there, even in winter but mostly on nice sunny days. The poets offer a fantastic service, and the deal is you just pay what you like.
I thought I would approach them and see if they could write personalised wedding poems for couples. It was Edmund who was working when I popped along and of course his answer was yes.
I explained I was a wedding celebrant and asked if he would he like to write me a poem? He got to work straight away, and within minutes I had my very own poem, entitled, “The Wedding Celebrant”.
I won’t tell you how much I paid, just in case you think I’m a cheapskate. Sufficed to say, he seemed pretty happy with the amount. There was already a queue forming so I quickly shuffled along.
A few weeks later I was passing and this time it was Luke who was typing away. I asked again if he would write something for me, and within minutes I had another beautifully written poem:
By Luke Davis (Poet for Hire)
“Joined in holy, unholy or wholly matrimony
That means;
Togetherness
Forever-ness
You & I.
It means;
To have arrived at our destination, at the end of the road, done wondering
It means, this is where we want to be
It means, this is the Garden of Eden
It means, the two of us
In Eden
It means;
That other,
That lover
First glimpsed in a childhood dream
In fervent fantasy
In ideal
Formulated in the soul
Realised, made flesh, stepped out of the dream and into life
You; tangible, living, breathing.
You.
You as the one from the fairy tales
The; ‘too good to be true’ – come true
The impossible miracle of love,
Love gained and love returned
Desire felt and fulfilled, satisfied and replenished
No better bliss than this
In paradise of one another.”
I asked a friend of mine who is a published poet to read the poem for me. It sounded fantastic when delivered properly and with passion.
These two prolific writers clearly love what they do. Once they know your names and a bit about yourself, given time they would come up with something really meaningful for your big day, a poem the guests would be talking about for a long time after.
You could even hire these two real life poets with a typewriter to attend your wedding celebration and take requests on the spot. What a unique form of entertainment and one which would leave your guests with their own special keepsake.
So the next time you are out walking or sightseeing in London, I strongly recommend a visit to the Poet for hire: wordtrade.co.uk