Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth Wedding Vows via Vow Muse

Continuing with our Celebrity Wedding Vow Series whereby we, the Muses, write up our best guess as to what we think these soon-to-be-wed celeb couples may say to each other at the altar, we now feature sweet Reese Witherspoon and her new beau Jim Toth in all their vowing glory!

Jim and Reese from gossip.whyfame.com

Jim to Reese

Reese, I'm the luckiest man in the world. I know it's beyond cliche to say that, but hear me out: I'm marrying not just a beautiful woman, but a beautiful family that moves like the inner workings of a clock: intricately, delicately, sometimes breaking down but always picking up the solid ticking again. I love you, I love your children, and I want the best for all of us. I think this is worth mentioning: you are incredible. I've seen you dazzle a room full of strangers in a foreign country who have no idea who you are, but they're drawn to your warmth and smile; your words always bringing more and more people to talk. I've see you gracefully slip out of bafflingly complicated situations. And yes, you're one hell of an actress, too. Daring, bold, gorgeous. Let's stay up late talking about politics, get up early and make oatmeal for the kids, and shower each other with friendship, support, and most of all love.

Reese to Jim

It's peculiar how life works, isn't it? More curious still is how love works. Jim, we've both done a lot of living in our lives, achieved quite a bit, and experienced even more. I never would have been ready for you if we met sooner, so I'm glad we met later. You defy every expectation I have for a companion and partner—you don't cater to me, but you don't try to keep me in a tiny box, either. We balance each other like a perfectly matched yin and yang, and I look forward to building off of this balance even in unbalanced times. With my feet firmly on this Earth, and my heart circling the universe and back, I say sincerely on this day: I love you. 

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Info on Jim Toth found here, and Reese found here.

More Haiku a la Vow Muse

Yelp has now kindly invited us to two of their events to charm and entertain their guests with our quick and witty haiku creations. We posted about the latest event recently, but never got around to actually sharing some of the night's inspiring haiku. The time has come; here's the latest from the Vow Muse haiku think tank:

Topic: Vampires, by Alicia
Bella's newest love
The vampire squid from hell
Edward, move over

Topic: Cupcakes, by Angie
Warm and delicious
Cupcakes are so yum yum yum
Decadent heaven

Topic: Pandas, by Alicia
Do sadpandas wear
Sadpandapants? Or perhaps
Panda pajamas?

Topic: Two whining children, by Angie
The whine of children
Maybe sell to the circus?
Love them anyway

[Angie's favorite of the night:]
Topic: Bacon, by Alicia

Would you eat bacon

Were it made from the mighty

Hippopotamus?

Topic: Drama & a bad boss, by Angie
Oh lord, hate my boss
It's always something crazy
Totally drama

Topic: Va De Vie (a wedding planner at the event!!), by Alicia
Weaving the pieces
Of a joyous occasion
She is Va de Vie!

Topic: The long line to get into the event, by Angie
Admission to Yelp
The line's around the corner
Totally worth it

33 haiku and two hours later, it was time for Vow Muse to call it a night. Them's some good haiku-ings!

Want Vow Muse to formulate fabulously fun haiku at your event? Email us!!

Part 1: Nick Swisher and JoAnna Garcia's Wedding Vows Via Vow Muse

 Do you like baseball and acting? Ever think there shouldn't be a divide between celebrities and athletes? Well fear not: baseball phenomenon Nick Swisher and actress JoAnna Garcia tied the knot, bringing the two together and of course, giving them a chance to pen their own vows to each other. While Vow Muse had zippo to do with their Floridian wedding last month, we still thought we'd get our vow writing on for these two love-birds.

Athlete Meets Celebrity...Of Course Wedding Vows ensue!

From JoAnna to Nick:

Nick, I know I want you in my life forever. Of course, I didn't know that the first time we met, or even the second; it wasn't until we'd spent an evolving course of days, weeks, and months together that we'd built a relationship I could never live without. With you, I am able to empower others, and in turn, empower myself. But more importantly, with you, I am myself. I am never less than you. I am never more than you. You are never less than me, and you are never more than me. I love this about us, and could not dream of a better partner in life. Para mi familia, nomás sepan esto: Yo nunca soy menos que ustedes. Yo nunca soy más que ustedes. Ustedes nunca son menos que yo y ustedes nunca son más que yo.

From Nick to JoAnna:

JoAnna, I was certain I wanted a future with you from the first time we were apart, and every time after that. When I'm not with you, I feel as if there is an invisible cord between our hearts, pulling at us until we are together again. That tug makes me long for your presence, and I'm only at ease when you are near. With you, I am able to reach others, and in turn, reach myself. But more importantly, with you, I am home. I am never less than you. I am never more than you. You are never less than me, and you are never more than me. I love this about us, and could not dream of a better partner in life. I wish my grandmother were here to meet you, but I already know what she'd say: Joanna sparkles. Keep her close, ya hear?

So after this round of vows, it occurred to the Muses that we're not sure Nick Swisher would love what we've written for him. He's got a bit more of a sense of humor, and we think he'd ask for revisions. Stay tuned for later this week, when the Vow Muse blog posts our revisions for Mr. Swisher's wedding vows!

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We learned about JoAnna Garcia here and Mr. Swisher here.
Photo permission via Creative Commons from here.

Katy Perry & Russell Brand's "Wedding Vows" a la Vow Muse!

Well the truth is, Vow Muse didn't get asked to take part in helping Katy Perry and Russell Brand pen their wedding vows at their recent nuptials. But that didn't stop us from stepping into the world of imagination and wondering what words the pop-star and comedian might have exchanged privately! Want to step into Vow Muse's fantasy vows* for KP and RB? Read on.

What would Katy Perry and Russell Brand say during their wedding vows? Heck, we don't know either, so we nabbed our keyboards and put our thinking caps on.**

Russell Brand to Katy Perry:

My kit, my Kat,
Spend tea-time in my lap
We'll be rocking in style
Like before rocking down the aisle
I'll write you sweet melodies
Oh wait, that's your cup of tea
Kiss all the girls you desire
I'll love you even more for that quagmire
Please be honest, please be true
And I'll always do the same for you
Okay, enough of that rat-a-tat-tat
I love you too much for that serious crap.

Seriously Katy, you're a concoction too intoxicating to be without. You make me laugh, which is pretty freaking hard to do, and I can't wait to sweep you off your feet every single day of our lives. As long as you promise to pair the socks. You know I hate that.

Katy Perry to Russell Brand:

Russell, first, of course I'll pair the socks. Well, maybe I'll hire someone. Either way, we won't be sock hunters. Seriously though...I'm not sure what I can say here that I haven't whispered to you during bad movie premieres, shouted from the rooftops during crazy nights in London pretending to be chimney sweeps, and shared via email with every single person witnessing us today. You give me hope for the future, you make me forget the past, and you provide me with security, support, and back-up vocals in the shower. Baby, I'm honored to pair your socks, to make you popcorn with honey-butter on it, and to sit with you in bed when you're sick nursing you back to health. I want to do everything with you.

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* All our research for the writing of Katy Perry and Russell Brand's vows was taken from the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katy_Perry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Brand

** Picture used with permission from under Creative Commons from cutekatyperry.com. If someone smart and in charge feels this is incorrect, please tell us and we'll figure it out! 

Haiku at Yelp Helps

One (out of many) of Alicia's fabulous ideas: promoting Vow Muse by writing free haiku poems for people!

If you're like me, you may have been first introduced to the haiku in the Japanese Historical Literature class of your writing Master's program. Not! I first heard the word spoken by the timeless* Wayne Campbell:



You may remember our post regarding a stint at a Yelp Helps! event in Berkeley in October where we were stationed as the designated haiku makers of the night. With Garth as our inspiration**, we chatted it up with countless Yelpers that night and wrote approximately 33 haiku (haiku is plural for haiku) on a variety of topics.

Here's how it went: after chatting up the patron for a few minutes and explaining what it is that a Muse does, we asked said patron to give us a topic. They did, and it was often something we had been chatting about beforehand or just something they like. Muse #2 would then step in and distract the patron (envision tap dancing and puppet shows...) while Muse #1 took two minutes or less to write out a topical haiku. The pressure was on!

Most "customers" were very happy with their haiku and impressed with our efforts. Here's a few of our faves from that night:

Topic: Calm, generous, loving - a nice lady, by Alicia
A balmy breeze that
Already feels at ease
Having just met her

Topic: Sex, by Angie (yeah, he tried to throw me for a doozy; I showed him)
The birds and the bees
Females and males all around
Dim the lights down low

Topic: A hyper doggie named Dylan, by Alicia
Dizzying Dylan
Chasing flying bananas
Adorably, duh

Topic: Hula, by Angie
Aloha hula
Grassy hips swing with the wind
Elegant movement

Topic: Sandwiches, no mayo, by Alicia
No zest for this guy
Between two slices of bread
Simplistic heaven

Topic: College Track (a non-profit at the event), by Angie
On track for college
A leg up from mom and dad
Climb the life ladder

You may notice that we're not absolute sticklers for the 5-7-5 syllables rule, and if you read the wiki article, apparently even haiku aren't always sticklers for this rule as it's a loose translation of the rules from the Japanese language. Either way, we try our best and everybody seems to have a great time.

Want Vow Muse to formulate fabulously fun haiku at your event? Email us!!

*Who are we kidding, Wayne was so 1990s. But still totally enjoyable.
**Garth Algar's alleged haiku was actually not even close. But it didn't make the movie any less awesome.

Tablescape Photoshoot Part II

Recalling last week's post, Vow Muse was invited to contribute to a photoshoot of two tablescapes for two fictional couples, executed, basically, to show off the superb talents of Ms. Mary Phan and her team of fabulous wedding consultants.

After providing some vows for "Ben and Holly", the second part of our assignment with Mary was to submit a few relevant and engaging quotes for the second fictional couple's tablescape. We were provided another "bio" of this couple, which described the groom as a tasteful but starkly formal corporate lawyer who fell for a creative and unconventional fashion editor. She is adventurous while he keeps to more classical tastes and their wedding is to be a blend of both, formally themed "Black, White, and Pink all Over".

With these guidelines, we searched for quotes centered around love and romance, but also that pointed out the importance of happiness and uniqueness of each partnership and the people within them. These two people don't need to be a mirror image of each other to have a successful life together. Here are a few of the quotes that we provided to Mary:

"Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

"I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out." ~Roy Croft

"Love is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction." ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Mary liked these quotes best:

"Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." ~Franklin P. Jones

"In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities." ~Janos Arnay

And here are a few of the pictures that included the written word from the photoshoot on August 4, 2010. All photos courtesy of Silva Stills & Cinema.

Photos by Silva Stills & Cinema

Tablescape Photoshoot Part I

In late July, Vow Muse stumbled upon Ms. Mary Phan, the chief wedding planner for Very Merry Events. We sent her a friendly email to introduce ourselves and generally spread the good word about VM. Mary kindly responded with a request to participate in a photoshoot she was organizing by requesting we pen a few words to contribute to the tablescapes.

The format was this: wedding planners and other consultants love what they do, but they always have to do everything someone else's way. The bride wants fuscia not violet. The groom wants Guiness not Pinot Noir. The bride's mama wants circular tables not square. Obviously this is what they are paid to do; wedding consultants make someone else's day exactly what they want it to be. Which can be totally fabulous. But, what if the wedding planner had her druthers? That's what this photoshoot was about.

Mary and a team of handpicked consultants designed, created and photographed wedding tables for two fictional couples on a beautiful August day earlier this year. They made up all the details (including in-depth descriptions of each of the couples' personalities, preferences and even hobbies) and then set to work creating a perfect wedding setup.

What was a Muse to do with all this? Mary requested some custom written vows and quotes to sprinkle around the tablescape and let Vow Muse do the dirty work. She gave us the "fact sheet" on both of the couples and her feeling of what these fictional folks would want. Here's what VM delivered:

For "Ben and Holly" who are described as "successful young suburbanites", he a respected engineer and she a talented graphic designer, who "enjoy the tranquility of a quaint cabin, brisk hikes, or slow bike ride" along with indulging in literature both as avid readers and as occasional writers. It was their hope to share their passion for the written word and respectful love of nature with their wedding guests.

Drawing from the couple's strong ties to nature and the neutral gender roles of these two people, Vow Muse contributed this monologue of wedding vows for the groom:

"I am drawn to you like a flower to sunshine; the unstoppable force of nature, timeless in its sincerity, unwavering in its devotion. Gentle as a summer breeze, strong as the roots of an ancient redwood, beautiful as a misty rainbow, you are the only woman in this wide world for me. It is on this day that I vow to cherish your kindness, your keen intelligence, your gentle soul for as long as we both shall live. It is this day that I will forever remember as we frolic in the great seas together, stroll the forest hand in hand and pedal side by side into all the sunsets to come with laughter and joy to light our path. It is on this day, my love, that I give myself entirely to you—and you to me—in exchange for a lifetime of learning, loving, and, above all, happiness."

Mary loved how we incorporated the woodsy theme into the verbiage, weaving the nature theme throughout the text. Under normal circumstances we would have gone through a few revisions to make sure each word of each phrase sounded exactly right and may have ended up writing a second draft that was quite a bit different (sometimes people need to see what they don't want to realize what the do want). But in this case since the bride and groom were fictional, they were quite easy to please.

Stay tuned for how Vow Muse addressed the second couple for this photoshoot, and for some of the beautiful pictures taken by Silva Stills & Cinema.