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An Example of Personal Wedding Vows

Of all the things I write for Something True, personal vows are my favourite. I find them so moving, every. single. time. But, while I love them, they’re not really something I can share on my website or social media, precisely because they are so personal.

Except for these…

Do you remember that old Southern Comfort ad set on a train?

In December I was talking to a friend of mine about some vows I was writing, and how much I love writing about love – but specific love. Putting the particular way that someone feels about their partner, after the singular journey they have been on together, into words. This is a friend I have known for almost 20 years. We have seen one another through relationships that were not...

The Biggest Surprise on Our Wedding Day

My family is pretty musical. Not in a “Wow, you should hear them!” kind of way. More like – most of us play an instrument. Some of us (my sister) play five. Some of us (me) probably only play a handful of times a year. But… enough that it’s in our family bones. I grew up surrounded by music. My mom is a music teacher, and when I think back...

My Gran, Ryan Gosling, and a Pink Wedding Dress

If I had to pick one word to describe my gran, I would choose “formidable”.

Don’t get the wrong idea – she was many things. She had one of the best laughs I’ve ever heard, which I heard often. She was kind, often in very practical ways. She was adventurous and capable and loved a good story – especially if the person telling it was a good looking man.

Falling in Love Is Like Owning a Dog

When we started planning our wedding, one of the first things we knew we wanted was for our dog, a rescue Scottie called Eleanor, to be there. She ended up walking down the aisle with my husband (they had their own song) and she was quite put out that we seemed to want her to go and sit down with the other guests during the ceremony. Rude.

Six Questions to Ask When You Officiate a Wedding

Have you been asked to officiate a wedding? The scripts I’ve written for people to lead the ceremonies of close friends or family have been surprisingly moving for me. Learning about a couple through the eyes of someone who knows them well and loves them is quite beautiful.

Leaps of Faith: Into Strange Vans, Into Life

Just before the pandemic – with uncannily lucky timing – my boyfriend (not yet husband) and I took six months off work and travelled the world.

Even just writing that sentence feels surreal, years later, when we have the photos and memories to prove that it actually happened.

Personal Vows on Your Wedding Day

If you decide to write your own wedding vows, there are so many formats that they can take – it really depends on what you want, and what feels like the best fit for you.

My favourite format is a combination of joint vows and individual appreciations.

Love Is Not a Grenade

There are probably bigger fans of Elizabeth Day out there… I mean, it’s quite a big world. But I still think I could, fairly reasonably, claim one of the top spots. I love her books. I love her podcasts (Do you know how many sentences I start with, ‘I was listening to this episode of How To Fail…”). I love her newsletters. I love her Instagram. Which is where, to...

Five Things We Did Differently in Our Wedding Ceremony

My husband and I got married later than a lot of our friends. This meant that, by the time we sat down to plan our own day, we’d been to a lot of weddings and watched people create beautiful days that felt like an expression of their personalities and relationship. And we wanted ours to feel completely like us – most particularly when it came to our ceremony.

Joy and Jonathan

I absolutely loved working with Joy and Jonathan. Not only do we have a similar philosophy about travel and adventure (i.e. more is more), but they had obviously thought a lot about their relationship, what they value, and the life they are building together, which made for really interesting conversations.

I love their love story: South Africans who met while living in Berlin (still their home), and became good friends…

How Do You Choose a Wedding Reading?

Asking a parent, friend or family member to do a reading as part of your ceremony can be a lovely way to make it more personal. But choosing the right reading can be tricky – where do you start?

The fun part, I think, is that wedding readings don’t have to be super traditional – they can be a bit quirky or fun, if that feels more like “you”.

Something Old, Something New

One of my earliest memories is standing in a garden, blinking into the light. I am wearing a soft pink dress (with frills and lace), holding the hand of my older cousin, who is about double my height and the most impressive person in the world. I am three years old and have been given the exquisitely important job of Flower Girl at my uncle’s wedding. It’s the best day...