What people said

“For our 50th wedding anniversary, we wanted something different. Perhaps a poem.

We had seen Richard in Edinburgh, telling stories in verse, and asked him to write a poem for us. Although to us he felt like an old friend, he knew nothing about us. He set about learning as much as he could about our lives, including borrowing family photographs. 

The poem he produced was a perfect mixture of straight narrative, humour and - just a little - sentiment. We loved the poem, and so did our friends when he came to the party and delivered it to an astonished and delighted audience.”

– Valerie Strachan

“I wanted a special gift for our 30th wedding anniversary. Richard and I met up a couple of times to discuss the poem, and he spoke to our kids to get more info. The result was a perfect poem that was both funny and heartfelt and told the story of our relationship from the day we met up until the anniversary.

The only downside was other husbands were furious that I had set the bar so high in the gift stakes! Richard is such a lovely guy and so easy to work with. The whole process was terrific fun.”

– Jon Cooper

“Having seen many examples of Richard's work over the years, and obviously loved them, we naively commissioned him to marry us. No real idea what that might mean or look like, but Richard was happy to be our poet vicar and work it out together.

We didn't want a traditional wedding ceremony but something a little more personal, less formal, with some added wit and humour from Richard.

This led to a beautiful process of us boring Richard for hours with our stories, foibles and faux pas, which were magically crafted into the most incredible, personal, funny and heart-warming wedding ceremony we could have wished for.

People still see us and talk about Richard's ceremony now, all these years on. He has a beautiful mind and a way of making you feel that you've helped shape the work, when actually he did all if not most of the work.”

– Cass Mathers

“I commissioned Richard to make a poem for my Dad's funeral. I appreciated how seriously Richard took the creative process (me telling stories about Dad; him listening and examining). He seemed to take care over even the small details. Richard's an amazingly perceptive person and I feel like he saw us exactly as we were. 

The finished poem is deeply precious to me. All the details and care produced an astoundingly true image of Dad. I had been worried that the memories would fade, but this piece preserves the joy of the relationship as it had been in a powerful way. Richard's an exceptional writer and I truly feel that nothing else, and nobody else, could have captured how that relationship felt so sensitively. I utterly cherish this poem.”

– Ailsa Robertson