Poetry & Readings

You don't have to include poems or readings in your ceremony, 

but here are a few of my favourites just in case you choose to! 

A Love Like the Sea – Witney Hanson

They say that love starts with a spark

And that may be true, but if I were to wish you a love

I wouldn’t wish fire for you.

You see, fire is powerful, it burns bright and then it’s gone.

It’s beautiful and warm, but it doesn’t last long.

So instead of wishing you a love that burns, I wish you love like a river that twists and turns.

It changes and flows, it is powerful and free, but it consistently finds its way back to the sea.

And so like the water, I hope your love is ever growing, ever changing.

I hope it’s powerful and free, and may you always find each other – like the river finds the sea.

Valeria, From Conan the Barbarian

Let's take what we have while we live. I have never had so much as I do now. Many times, I've faced the world with no one to know. I would look into the lives of others whilst I was in the coldest dark and I would see figures holding each other in the night, and I always passed by. You and I, we have warmth. That's so hard to find in this world. 

On this occasion, let it be someone else that passes by in the night. Let us take the world and make
it give us what we desire. All the gods, they cannot sever us. If I were dead and you were still fighting for life, I would come back from the darkness. Back from the pit of hell to fight at your side.

Marriage is not a Piece of Paper

Marriage is not a piece of paper lying folded in a file,

It’s two people on a journey, they hope will make them smile.

Two people courageously placing their hearts out on the line,

Two people bravely facing their fears gained over time.

Two whole and happy people, who want to share their lives.

To hold hands through life’s lessons and celebrate good times.

To have someone who knows us, but loves us all the same,

Someone who makes us light up by whispering our name.

If marriage was a piece of paper, it would be a piece of art

Hanging in a gallery, stirring people’s hearts.

And as they gazed into it – that marriage in a frame,

Their thoughts on what made marriage would never be the same.

It tales a little kindness, and a whole heart full of love,

Loyalty and understanding, some starlight from above.

It takes strength and true compassion, and words that do not hurt,

Two people on a journey that want to make it work.

To be there for each other – even more when things get tough.

First you choose each other, then just keep choosing love.

i carry your heart with me – e e cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
                                  i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Maybe

Maybe we are supposed to meet the wrong people before we meet the right one so when they finally arrive we are truly grateful for the gift we have been given.

Maybe it's true that we don’t know what we have lost until we lose it but it is also true that we don’t know what we’re missing until it arrives.

Maybe the happiest of people don’t have the best of everything, but make the best of everything that comes their way.

Maybe the best kind of love is the kind where you sit on the sofa together, not saying a word, and walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you ever had.

Maybe once in a lifetime, you find someone who not only touches your heart but also your soul, someone who loves you for who you are and not what you could be.

Maybe the art of true love is not about finding the perfect person, but about seeing an imperfect person perfectly.

When I’m asked to describe you - Whitney Hanson

When I’m asked to describe you

I ramble off a series of words,

All of them too small, all of them you’ve likely heard.

I say you’re lovely,

But you don’t get it.

I don’t mean the way you appear,

It’s the way that when I speak you seem to be the only one who hears.

I say you’re captivating,

But you don’t get it.

It’s not only your ocean deep eyes,

It’s the stories hidden behind them,

The intricacies of your mind.

I say your courageous,

But you don’t get it.

It’s not the façade that you put on –

It’s the part of you that’s left when all the walls are gone.

The part of you that’s imperfect. Immeasurable, unmistakably true.

Not the outer shell,

But the most real part of you.

So, when I’m asked to describe you,

Know that words can never go that deep.

Words are not enough to capture the part of you I see

When I’m asked to describe you,

Please read between the lines.

You are more than the words in any language can describe.

Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog - Taylor Mali

First of all, it’s a big responsibility, especially in a city like [edit]
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
When you’re walking down the street late at night,
and you have a leash on love,
ain’t nobody going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defence?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn’t like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.
Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain, just to let love know...
Don’t you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.
It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you until you’re all wound up and can’t move.

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love,
stop and talk to each other on the street.

Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.