In Your Own Words

13/09/2024

It's wonderful to write typewriter poems, and it's even more friendly with two! Loved poem-ing for with Sabrina at an epic fundraising gala on Navy Pier this evening. We rocked out a Haiku Happy Hour 🥳 two examples here are "Trusting Yourself" and "Being Single" 🌷

30/05/2024

Keep screaming.

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20/02/2024

Cute little snippet from a Typewriter Poetry gig! This organisation brought their colleagues together for a Christmas party and I was there to help them celebrate!

10/07/2023

First wedding anniversary - PAPER 🩷

I brought this photo with me to my new home in Chicago when I moved earlier this year because I loved receiving it that much!

& had such a brilliant wedding in Berlin this time last year: surrounded by friends & family, doing things thoughtfully & in their own way, and dancing like mad until the wee hours! Being their celebrant was a real joy - and extra special as Denise & I reconnected having first met when we were 4 years old. This job takes ya all sorts of fabulous places!

Happy Anniversary you guys (and 👋 to Dexter) 🍻

04/07/2023

I'm still here 🎉☺️

Re-post from a 4th gone by. Heading to a pool party this evening but this afternoon I'm at home, working on two new commissions - a wedding ceremony poem & a wedding ceremony script - and finishing up a poem from a twin to her twin 💕

Check out my page for examples of my work & get in touch so we can find your own words!

25/01/2022

Repost my fabulous little sister who got engaged on a fabulous mountain top last week to fabulous Ali & everything is just fabulous 🎿❤️ I'm ecstatic & in the week since I've written a wedding speech in full, without having yet been asked to make one 😁

Been a bit quiet on here over Jan cos, well, Jan. I hope you've also been enjoying a bit of hibernation, & I hope it has involved fewer frantic tax returns than mine (will I ever learn? Nope).

02/12/2021

💫 Christmas present poem 💫

This was a 2020 Christmas commission celebrating a couple who'd had a tricky year (I imagine you can relate). They'd battened down the hatches & turned their home into their own personal wonderland, listening to upbeat Scandi music & growing tomatoes in their London garden.

Their sister wanted to commemorate how well they'd turned a tough situation into a hopeful & even joyful one.

Poems are about anything you want - whatever is special to you.

12/10/2021

💫 GEORGIE, from her bridesmaids 💫

Can you like FEEL the energy of this woman?! That's what the poem intended - to capture the joyful whirlwind she is! Her bridesmaids threw her a grand hen party but wanted her to feel extra special, so they commissioned a little something to read to her at the first hen party dinner. Apparently there were whoops rather than tears 😅

Congratulations Georgie!!
https://instagr.am/p/CU7IeiWMoBZ/

06/10/2021

I'm a typewriter poet! I can be at your event - your wedding reception, your birthday party, your naming ceremony - perched at my keyboard, ready to write a poem in minutes in response to any prompt you give me. For your guests, the poems are a funny or touching keepsake from the day - also, A6 as standard, poems make especially good gifts to slip into cards or little picture frames.⁠
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Stories behind the photo:⁠
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🌟It was shot in my back yard in Chicago by , a wedding & events photographic wizard! I'd Jason met through my wonderful actor colleague Eunice playing Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (I was Margaret - she's the one that f***s it all up...with style).⁠
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🌟I bought my typewriter in Chicago. It was constructed in 1961 for Sears, a huge department store on Michigan Avenue - but it was actually part of a limited line made in London, UK! A delicious blend of two of my identities 👭🏻⁠
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🌟My machine had been fixed up by a guy called Eric, who became a friend, and who is still the only person I know who can fix a broken typewriter (do you know any in the UK? Because that would be useful info!). ⁠
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Hope my typewriter & I get to see you at an event soon!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
https://instagr.am/p/CUsJWFNNya7/

29/07/2021

💫 Helen 💫

Loved doing this one!
The brief:

👯‍♂️ Friends who'd met in year 7 & been close ever since - the sort who can pick up after time apart as though no time has passed at all

📸 Helen is a talented photographer & designer who despairs of teal...which happens to be the colour Mariel has painted her living room

😂 We wanted to sprinkle through all their in-jokes from school, whilst emphasising that the time they spend together now is just as special - often, they gather to eat Mariel's mum's infamous blueberry cake

Thanks so much for letting me share in your relationship for a moment - I don't take the privilege lightly!

Who would you commission a poem for?

28/07/2021

✌️ The Blonde Crew ✌️

When Helen's birthday came around earlier this year, Mariel reached out to me so that we could create something special to celebrate her friend.

I really love commissions for birthdays! A poem isn't like any other gift. It says (literally says!) so much about your relationships & how adored you are by those around you; it makes you smile, laugh & cry (well, mine do!). I think, why save a poem for a once-in-a-lifetime wedding, or wait until a funeral? Why not tell your best ones how great they are every year?

I'll be posting Helen's full poem in a little bit but here's a taster:

"Sit down here, next to me
In my teal living room, with a cup of Earl Grey tea
Cuddle up and, as this afternoon goes by,
I'll tell you that I love you, and the reasons why

I'll tell you that I'm grateful for year seven,
When (thank you Mr Wyndham) I found Helen,
Life has changed throughout the years, it's true,
But it's still made better by The Blonde Crew"

Thanks so much for Mariel for letting me share this pic of The Blonde Crew on Helen's birthday - looking joy-filled & excellent! 😁 stay tuned for the full verse & meantime - who needs to know how much you rate them? Who would you commission a poem for?
https://instagr.am/p/CR3bmO4BO3L/

20/07/2021

If you want to see more great writing from In Your Own Words that's JUST what YOU need it to be, please take this survey - https://mailchi.mp/e9a8a3046962/quick-hey-there

Thanks for pausing here with me - I’d appreciate your help. I’ve made a brief survey that will tell me what my clients want more (or less) of from In Your Own Words. Even if you haven’t been a client in a while or have yet to be a client, I’d adore your feedback. Please do share this with fr...

15/07/2021

💫 Kate & Sam 💫

Kate & I were working together when I started In Your Own Words. She was supportive of my poems from the off & always said she'd hire me if she ever got married. Several years later, she kept her word & I was THRILLED to write this reading for her & Sam ☺️

When writing a poem, I get to know you a little & subsequently design your own unique questionnaire to uncover the details that deserve a feature! Here are some things Kate & Sam shared that meant I could write this:

🏑 They met at university whilst on male & female hockey teams, known as Lions & Pussycats

🍾 The night they got engaged, they got bladdered on champagne & called everyone they knew to share the good news

🏘️ Their favourite song is Tom Rosenthal's 'Home'

❤️ When addressing each other they say, 'hey lovely'

Huge joy & love to Kate & Sam - thank you for inviting me to be part of your wedding day!

Want to know what your poem would say? So do I. Let's chat: [email protected]
Words:
Photo:

04/07/2021

💫 AMERICAN HOLIDAYS 💫

I'm a dual UK/US gal so I gotta keep track of goings on across the pond!

Last year on the 4th of July, I was living in the States & working in my local grocery store in Chicago. I was tipped by customers who felt so sorry I was working this holiday - little did they know that, as I'd been brought up in England, I had no deep childhood attachment to it... This poem reflects my thoughts as I cycled home, the atmosphere brimming with joy, the smell of hot dogs, & firework smoke.

Americans have a lot of holidays! You might have heard of another summer one - Juneteenth, on 19th June, now a federally recognised American holiday making its way into the international consciousness. It commorates the end of slavery in the USA as Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to finally tell the slaves of their freedom over two years after Lincoln had declared it.

4th July celebrates American independence, so let's acknowledge that true independence is pretty relative, & that for many the fight is still on!

Next up - Labor Day on 6th Sept, honoring the contributions of working people to the success of their country. Not sure how I feel about this one tbh but according to my mother, I just can't wear white after it 🤷‍♀️

Holiday or otherwise, hope you're having a stunning weekend with your loved ones.

30/06/2021

💫 Words when words matter: THE ADOPTION EDITION! 💫

Breanna & Steven are adopting a baby. They've read books, been to seminars, had endless conversations - then, they were ready to take the final step. Their US adoption agency wanted them to write a book about themselves to share with expectant parents.

WRITE a BOOK?! Yuh huh.

I'm so thrilled they called me - this is exactly the kind of challenge I love. Breanna & Steven needed to communicate their truth in an authentic & welcoming way, blending heart with all that they'd learned, speaking directly & emotionally of themselves to a very important audience.

With the help of a fantastic graphic designer, the words soar off the page & their book is now out there in the world!

Wishing Breanna & Steven ALL the luck & love for this next stage of the adoption journey!

What do you think? Do you have an emotional writing challenge & need some help? Don't hesitate to be in touch.

08/03/2021

If you like people and love, you'll like - my podcast! Today, listen to Tash answer the question, "What makes you happy?" and get ready to wish you were by the sea...

“I think you just have to put yourself out there and do it, and not be embarrassed.” Season 2! Why not eh?! Welcome back to the podcast, and Tash talking about water. Basically this episode is about water. Also sun, also podcasts (conveniently) - but mainly water! Tash’s enth...