Posted by
We've featured plenty of offbeat weddings with inspirational poetry — including a poem that was a literal part of a ceremony as an aisle runner. We love poems used as wedding readings or wedding vows! Thanks to newlyweds Kenzie and Evin (and Walt Whitman), today we have both! We recently featured their wedding in beautiful Puerto Rico with a small excerpt from their vows. Here's the unabridged version that includes lots of Walt Whitman wedding quotes!
Kenzie and Evin had been a couple for 8 years when they got married in Puerto Rico, a return to the first place they'd traveled to together. Travel has always been a big part of their relationship, so naturally their vows reflect that adventurous spirit: excerpts from the Walt Whitman poem “Song of the Open Road.” Additionally, there was a reading that was a mashup of both “Song of the Open Road” and Whitman's “Song of Myself“:
Officiant: “Welcome! We are here today in gorgeous Puerto Rico to celebrate the wedding of Kenzie and Evin. We gather with them as they embark on this new part of their journey together. Life's journey is dynamic; it is a journey of becoming. This is a great day, but it is not an end, there is much more to come. We are excited for what the future holds for Kenzie and Evin.
Love is what we all share. It is the great unifier, our one universal truth. No matter who we are, where we have come from, what we believe, we know this one thing: love is what we are doing right. And that brings us here today to the union in matrimony of Kenzie and Evin.
A time to pause, look back, and smile at all the moments that brought you here, and a time to look ahead at all the moments that are still to come. Love is the experience of writing your story, it is not one moment, not even this moment: it is every moment of sharing your life.
This ceremony is a symbol of how far you have come and a symbol of the promises that you will continue to make to each other living your lives together. This marriage does not mark the beginning of a new relationship for you; rather, it is an acknowledgement and a celebration of the love and life you created as a couple.
You are here to affirm the choice you make every day to stand as partners and to love each other as you have done through all the adventures and surprises life has offered. Kenzie and Evin, do you give yourselves to each other in marriage? [We do]
Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect each other through the best times and the uncertain times? [We do]
Now, you will exchange your marriage vows – I want you to hold hands, look into each other’s eyes, take a deep breath, and ENJOY this moment:
Evin:
I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? Will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?Kenzie:
I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? Will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?
Officiant: Kenzie and Evin, you will now exchange rings as a symbol of the promises you have made here today and of your ongoing commitment to each other.
Kenzie: I give you this ring as a reminder of our union in all times, in all places, and in all ways.
Evin: I give you this ring as a reminder of our union in all times, in all places, and in all ways.
Officiant: Although this ceremony is a celebration of love and commitment, it is also a legal union, and it is my duty to ask that if any person knows of any impediment to this marriage they should speak now.
Look into each other’s eyes and take a deep breath again, let the emotions you are feeling right now take over for just a couple of seconds more so that you always have this moment in time engraved in your heart and soul.
Jeff, reading additional poetry by Walt Whitman:
Allons! whoever you are come travel with me!
Traveling with me you find what never tires.
The earth never tires,
The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first, Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first,
Be not discouraged, keep on, there are divine things well envelop’d,
I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.
Allons! we must not stop here,
However sweet these laid-up stores, however convenient this dwelling we cannot remain here,
However shelter’d this port and however calm these waters we must not anchor here,
However welcome the hospitality that surrounds us we are permitted to receive it but a little while.The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains of my gab and my loitering.
I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.The last scud of day holds back for me,
It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow’d wilds,
It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,
I effuse my flesh in eddies and drift it in lacy jags.I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.
Officiant: By the power of your love and commitment, and the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, with great joy, I now pronounce you married!”
Seeking more inspiration for your wedding vows? Need to come up with a reading or speech for a friend or family's big day? Looking for a poem that won't make you barf?! We've got you covered!
About the Author: Offbeat Weditors
Working tirelessly to bring you stimulating content day after day, the Offbeat Wed editors will not sleep until you've gotten your offbeat fix.
