When my husband and I were looking to get married I knew I wanted a poem read in our ceremony. One I had read over and over since we'd got engaged and every time it made me tear up - I climb into my bathtub by Maria Giesbrecht. I have always had a soft spot for sentimental poetry and readings in ceremonies. Sometimes the only way to describe a feeling is to search for a poem that can say it. I have cried and laughed along with so many couples listening to the readings they have chosen. Something that is so unique to each couple; that will capture the essence of their relationship and who they are as people. I wanted to share some of my favourite poems and readings for ceremonies here - just in case you're looking to add a touch of sentimentality to your day. Always remember - these are for you in your ceremony - you can edit these in any way you like to make them yours!
The River by Carol Ann Duffy
Down by the river, under the trees, love waits for me
to walk from the journeying years of my time and arrive.
I part the leaves and they toss me a blessing of rain.
The river stirs and turns consoling and fondling itself
with watery hands, its clear limbs parting and closing.
Grey as a secret, the heron bows its head on the bank.
I drop my past on the grass and open my arms, which ache
as though they held up this heavy sky, or had pressed
against window glass all night as my eyes sieved the stars;
open my mouth, wordless at last meeting love at last, dry
from travelling so long, shy of a prayer. You step from the shade,
and I feel love come to my arms and cover my mouth, feel
my soul swoop and ease itself into my skin, like a bird
threading a river. Then I can look love full in the face, see
who you are I have come this far to find, the love of my life.
David's vows from Schitt's Creek
Patrick,
I have never liked a smile as much as I like yours.
I've never felt as safe as I feel when I'm with you.
I've never known love like I do when we're together.
It's not been an easy road for me but knowing that you will be there for me at the end makes everything okay.
Patrick Brewer, you are my happy ending.
I climb into my bathtub by Maria Giesbrecht
I climb into my bathtub the same way I fell in love with you
dipping my toes in then all at once/ which
is to say
I know nothing of slowness
which is to say it doesn't feel right
until I am fully submerged - ever!
I climb into my bathtub the same way I'll keep
loving
you/ until my skin is wrinkled
Untitled by R.M. Drake
but dear,
don’t be
afraid of
love, it’s
only magic.
The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
I will love you forever; whatever happens. Till I die and after I die, and when I find my way out of the land of the dead, I’ll drift about forever, all my atoms, till I find you again… I’ll be looking for you, every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one’ll ever tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you… We’ll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams… And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they won’t just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me.
Mouthful of Forevers (extract) - Clementine von Radics
I will kiss you like forgiveness. You
will hold me like I’m hope. Our arms
will bandage and we will press promises
between us like flowers in a book.
I will write sonnets to the salt of sweat
on your skin. I will write novels to the scar
of your nose. I will write a dictionary
of all the words I have used trying
to describe the way it feels to have finally,
finally found you.
And I will not be afraid
of your scars.
I know sometimes
it’s still hard to let me see you
in all your cracked perfection,
but please know:
whether it’s the days you burn
more brilliant than the sun
or the nights you collapse into my lap
your body broken into a thousand questions,
you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
I will love you when you are a still day.
I will love you when you are a hurricane.
