Poetry just has that quality of perfection that can add elegance, romance and warmth to your wedding day.
Not just any wedding poem will work though and you may have to ask yourself a few good questions to get to that perfect wedding poem.
What is it for? A wedding poem can be used in a variety of ways.
You can have a wedding poem for example for your invitations, programs, vows and favors.
The right wedding poem will depend on what it is used for.
You can also have a wedding poem for all the above-mentioned items.
Having too many poems however may be an over kill.
A wedding poem for an invitation may have to incorporate such details as your names and instructions such as RSVP or formal attire.
If you want these in your invitation wedding poem then you may have to hire a writer to do the rhyming for you.
A wedding poem for programs and vows should be easy to read and understand.
You do not want your guests to keep on trying to understand your drawl or nudge each other for clues to what you said.
Vows are really very personal gems and should be personally written by yourselves instead of a ghostwriter.
What are we like? Of course no two people are the same but you and your intended must have something in common.
Your wedding poem should therefore fit your collective characters.
If you grew up with alternative music then you would do well with alternative type free verses rather than the more sappy romantic rhymes.
In the first place you should also be clear with each other if you are each comfortable with having a wedding poem.
Not everyone is.
What should it say? Even though you love rock and alternative music, you do not have an excuse to write a wedding poem that screams of cynicism.
You are getting married because you love the person, right? Nobody gets married to inflict misery on oneself.
Focus on positive messages that will leave you and your guests with good memories of the event.
Do I like free verse or rhyme? A lot of people seem to think that poetry is all about rhyming verses.
You can have that for your wedding poem but you can always go for free verse.
Some people find it easier to write more meaningful lines with free verse so do not force yourself if you are not natural with rhymes.
Should I borrow from a famous author? Famous writers always know best how to express the right words.
You may have to think about the issue of attribution though.
Nobody, not even a dead poet, would appreciate having his work copied or dissected into little choice pieces.
You may however, have one of your friends read or record his poetry reading with music and play it over the sound system as you cut your cake.
Who are my guests? Some couples simply do not mind what people think of their wedding poem since it is their day after all.
Be sure however that you are really comfortable with people's opinions.
If you are a college professor then you might have a whole room of polite literature majors who are only really dissecting your poem in their minds.
On the other hand, you may also have guests who really cannot relate with any form of poetry and may end up swapping puzzled "what was that" glances as you read your verses.