Tips for finding wedding vows that best suit your needs

October 4, 2008

If you decide to get married in a civil ceremony, you have the option of writing your own wedding vows. To many this is an extremely attractive proposition where a large measure of personal resonance can be incorporated into the marital promises a bride and groom make to one another. With the multitude of possibilities and the ever growing number of acceptable alternatives to the traditional vows, what are the steps to take in deciding what you will say?

Religious Views

Is religion to be included in the wedding ceremony or do the marrying couple want a more secular approach? This factor alone will play a large part in the style of vows you choose to use.

All in Agreement

Does your partner want to write their own vows as well? You both must be agreement as to the process that will be involved. Maybe your future wife prefers the more traditional approach. Talk also with the official who will be leading the service and ask for his or her advice. Then discuss various possibilities and ideas with your family and friends.

Work Together

If you have agreed to spend the rest of your lives together then this part should be easy. Discuss thoroughly what you want included and the general pattern of the special moment. Talk about the past, about when you first met, fell in love and proposed. Grooms, recollect what made you ask for her hand in marriage and how nervous or excited you were. Brides, do the same but how you felt to be on the receiving end of his proposal.

Spend time alone together writing poetry, reading creative writing books, listening to music whilst all the time contemplating using any little snippets of inspiration you get from such sources as material to build into your vows.

When you’re in the right mood, talk to one another about your feelings, your love and your future dreams. You’ll find many treasures that you share by doing this which would be ideal to use on the special day.

Finally decide on the number of lines you will create or a general time frame. This will prevent one partner speaking for ten minutes and the other for only ten seconds, which would cause much embarrassment.

Write and Practice

Once you have all the main points you want to include, then start writing the vows individually. Prepare to spend a lot of time on this and do not be afraid to rip pages up and toss them away if they are not to your liking. The vows in any type of wedding ceremony are the most important aspect of the whole day for you are making promises to your spouse in front of everyone, thereby solidifying your union as a married couple. You need to make them perfect.

Once you have the final scripts, then practice in front of a mirror. Stand upright and annunciate clearly and with confidence. Repeat over and over again until you have fully memorised your vows and can say them without slipping up or pulling faces. By saying them out loud you will also discover whether anything needs changing.

By following these steps you will enter into the special day with a renewed sense of conviction and self-assurance about the choices you have made and what the future holds. You will also make your spouse’s day more memorable.

Alternatively you can hire a professional writer to create a unique and very personalised set of wedding vows that you will remember for the rest of your lives. I can do this for you for a very reasonable fee. Contact Me.

Posted by Edward | Filed Under Journal | 1 Comment 

Poetry Prompt 9 - ‘Birthdays’

October 3, 2008


It happens to be my birthday today (3rd October) and so in light of this I’ve decided to make this week’s poetry prompt theme ‘Birthdays‘.

Take this subject in any way you wish. Perhaps the birthday of your child was recent or is upcoming, what preparations did you arrange? What was your last birthday like and does it bring forth positive or negative feelings? Maybe old grandpa Joe liked to smoke his pipe whilst reading the newspaper whilst all around were celebrating his birthday. I know I celebrate my cat’s birthday, what about you?

Perhaps you might be a fan of any of the below who share a birthday today and can weave their names and birthdays into your poem or perhaps more suitably, a Limerick or two.

Chubby Checker - famous for the dance song ‘The Twist’.
Erik Bruhn - ballet dancer and teacher.
Gore Vidal - author, playwright, social critic and Liberal.
James Herriot - Yorkshire author of “All Creatures Great and Small”.
Gwen Stefani - Rock singer.

When you have completed the poem, post the direct link in the ‘auto-links’ box below and also make a comment in the comment’s section. Before or following this, take time over the coming week to visit other entries from fellow poets and add a friendly comment or two regarding what you felt about their poem. This last part is vital if we are all to gain value from this exercise.

Remember, this is not a competition. If you need any help or advice, then either contact me or pose a question in the comments section and I’m sure someone will be available to give you a hand.

Posted by Edward | Filed Under Weekly Poetry Prompt | 2 Comments 

Friedrich Schiller’s Overdue TV Licence

October 2, 2008

One of Germany’s most famous poets and playwrights, Friedrich Schiller, was recently ordered to pay his television licence despite having been dead and buried for over 200 years.

The German licence-collecting agency, GEZ, threatened legal action if he did not promptly pay the fee of €17 (£14). The nation notorious for its red tape did not relent when the headmaster of the primary school bearing Schiller’s name in Weigsdorf-Köblitz in Saxony, to which the bill was sent, had relayed the simple fact that “the addressee is no longer in a position to listen to the radio or watch television”.

GEZ replied that unless Herr Schiller could prove he was not in possession of a television set or radio, then the bill had to be paid.

Michael Binder, the headmaster, finally settled the confusion. He said: “I told the GEZ that Herr Schiller has not been with us for quite some time, and included his curriculum vitae with my letter.”

A spokesman for the agency later apologised saying “We have to deal with such a huge amount of data, that something like this can happen, and the name Friedrich Schiller is not so unusual that it stood out as strange. We will now alter his status in our computer system.”

Friedrich Schiller is famous for his poem ‘Ode to Joy‘ which was later adapted by Ludwig van Beethoven into the fourth and final movement of his Ninth Symphony. It is now also the anthem of the European Union.

Posted by Edward | Filed Under News | Leave a Comment