Writing your wedding vows can be a challenging task. Just imagine -- you will have to condense a lifetime’s worth of promises to the most important person in your life into just a few words. It’s only natural to feel the pressure and even be at a loss on what to write.
To help you get your creative juices flowing, here are 100 examples of unique wedding vows that you can use as inspiration in writing your own vows to your future spouse.
Classic Wedding Vows
You can never go wrong with a classic, and wedding vows are no exception. Classic wedding vows usually include all or some of the seven promises of a marriage, or some of their variations. Here are some of the best classic wedding vows that have marked the beginning of wonderful marriages all over the world.
One True Love
You are my one true love and nothing makes me happier than to marry you today. I am deeply grateful that you have accepted me into your life. You have shown me love, brought me joy and turned me into a better person. I promise to hold your hand and wipe your tears, support your dreams and share in your joys, listen to your woes and offer you advice. From this day forward, all that I have is yours and all that I am is because of you.
What I Can Promise
I can’t promise you the universe because it is not mine to give, but I promise you that everything I have is yours. I can’t promise you forever, but I promise to dedicate every second of my life to you. I can’t promise you material wealth but I promise that you will be rich in love and happiness. I can’t promise that we won’t have any problems but I promise to protect you and support you through any storm. I promise to love you, cherish you, respect you, ask forgiveness if I hurt you, and be faithful to you until my very last breath.
Variation of the Classic Wedding Vow
From this day forward, I vow to love you fiercely every single day of our lives. I will stand by you in good times and in bad times, in sickness as well as in health, for richer and for poorer. I will do everything I can to be worthy of your love. I will put you first in all matters. After today, I will be your wife/husband and that makes you the happiest person in the world. But I will also still be your friend, your confidant, your number one fan, your shoulder to cry on and your true and faithful lover for the rest of my life.
Variation of the Classic Wedding Vow
I, (the name of the bride), take you, (the name of the groom), to be my wife and my partner for life. I promise to accept you completely and cherish all that you are and all that you will be. I will be honest, grateful, supportive and loyal until my last breath. I promise to put you first and to forsake all others whenever I have to make a choice. Through the good and the bad, in sickness as well as in health, for richer and for poorer, I will love you all the way to eternity.
Promise of Happiness
We have done well together so far and now that we are married, I promise to keep on making you happy, both in small ways and big ways, every day for the rest of our life. There will be some low points from time to time but I promise we will make it through every storm. I will inspire you to be the best you can be, as I know you will inspire me to do the same. Together we will live in joy, happiness and unconditional love, all throughout the rest of our life.
Can’t Wait to Spend the Rest of My Life with You
It’s been 4 years since we met and never would I have imagined then that we are going to end up a married couple. But a lot has happened since then and today, I can’t think of spending a day of my life without you by my side. We have gone on so many adventures and overcome so many challenges. I am very happy at the way we support and uplift each other and push each other to be better. You are the love of my life and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.
Open Heart and Open Mind
With an open heart and an open mind, it is my privilege and honor to accept you into my life as my beloved wife. I love you for everything that you are, and that includes all your strengths and flaws. I have always believed in you as a person and I have faith that we will make a great married couple together. I am eternally grateful that our paths have crossed and that I am now about to be yours and you are going to be mine, for the rest of our lives.
Give Myself to You
On this sacred day, I promise to give myself to you and to always be loving and faithful. I vow to make you and our future family my priority at all times, before anyone else including myself. I promise to be by your side in sickness as well as in health, and throughout all the good and bad that life may bring. I will hold your hand and walk with you throughout the entire journey of our married life. You will never be alone because you have me, just as I know I have you, until the last day of our life.
True Love of a Lifetime
Not everyone is given a chance to find the true love of their life and so I am indeed thankful that I have found you in this lifetime. Right from the beginning, I knew that we were meant to be inseparable. Being with you always made me happy and now that we are about to become a married couple, that makes me the happiest and luckiest person in the world. I will cherish every moment that I have been blessed to spend with you and love you with an unwavering commitment for the rest of our lives.
My Heart’s Desire
When people used to ask me what my type was, I never quite knew what to answer. But from the first time I saw you, I knew that you were my heart’s only desire. You make me feel important and loved. You make me alive in ways I never felt before. You inspire me to become a better person every day. There is nothing more that I want than to be with you, love you, and cherish you for the rest of my life.
For Him Wedding Vows
In many weddings, all eyes are usually on the bride as she is considered to be the star of the show. But for the bride, her eyes are only focused on her future husband. Here are some of the best wedding vows for him that will make even the toughest groom become emotional.
More than Blessed
I began writing my wedding vow to you since the day we got engaged. I thought I had it perfect until last week. Then I got to see a whole new side of you that made me even more certain that I made the right decision in choosing you. Through all the last-minute decisions we had to make and the bride-zilla tantrums you had to endure, you stayed calm and supportive and loving. With you by my side, I know that I can get through anything. I’m not sure I deserve you but I am more than blessed to have you as my husband.
Richest Woman
You always say that you want me to have the best of everything – a beautiful house, a nice car, and just about anything that a girl could possibly want. I know you want to make me happy and I see and appreciate how you make the most valiant efforts to do so. But you don’t have to try so hard because you already make me the happiest woman just by being with you. I am already the richest woman in the world because I have you in my life.
Soulmate
I used to scoff at the idea of a soulmate and a true love. But then I met you and everything changed. It still amazes me to this day how you can have a heart so filled with love not just for me but also for the boys. They look at you with so much love and respect and I am eternally grateful that you have decided to take on the job of fatherhood without hesitation. I am the luckiest woman to have you and I promise to love and cherish you for the rest of my life.
Best Friends
We started out as playmates then became best buddies and confidants. You became the shoulder that I can cry on, my rock through the difficult times, and the one true love of my life. You have seen my lowest days and have been there to share the greatest joys. It still feels surreal that today my best friend is going to become my husband. I am beyond blessed and I promise to give my all in loving you and continuing to be a better person because of you as we start a new life as one.
Friend, Lover and Husband
On this day, you are no longer just my friend and lover but my husband. I am beyond thrilled that we are starting a long, happy life together filled with love and great moments. There will be ups and downs and I promise to be by your side through all of them. We will celebrate each success and overcome each failure as one. Together, we will build a life of hope, joy and love. I promise to put your first at all times and love you with every beat of my heart for the rest of my life.
So Much More Than a Husband
From this day on, you will be my husband and I will be your wife. But I will also be so much more. I will be your best friend through the good and bad times. I will be your support system when you are feeling low. I will be your nurse when you need care. I will be your number one fan who will cheer you on towards your dreams. I will deeply appreciate it if you do the same for me, but I will forgive you if you don’t. I will keep on loving you more and more every single day for the rest of our days.
Started as a Simple Crush
It started as a simple crush and I would have given everything for you to notice me and say hi. But love and fate definitely work in mysterious ways and look at where we are now. At the brink of starting a new chapter of our lives together, I am extremely blessed to have found you and even more that you have chosen to spend the rest of your life with me. You are the best husband a girl could ever want and I could wish for nothing else. I promise to love you as much as my heart can love, to bear the children that we will raise together, and to be yours for eternity.
Two Puzzle Pieces
Out of the billions of people on the planet, it constantly amazes me how I managed to not only find the best one, but end up marrying him as well! It’s uncanny how we complement each other perfectly, locking together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that will only fit with each other. I must have done something really good in my past life to deserve having you as my husband. I will work hard to stay worthy of your love and keep on giving you unwavering love and support, as you always do for me. I promise to love you and care for you in all the ways I know how, for as long as we both shall live.
Unconditional Support
Ever since I can remember, you have given me unconditional support throughout all the crazy dreams and ideas that I have had. You never question my sanity but are always there to support me whenever I need it. For that, I love you from the bottom of my heart. I know that I can depend on you for anything. You are always there for everything I need, even during the times that I didn’t even know I was in need. Thank you for all your love and support and I promise that I will give you the same kind of unconditional devotion in our entire life as husband and wife.
Avowing My Love
I, (the name of the groom), avow my love for you, (the name of the bride), as I receive you into my life as my husband. You are the kindest, most thoughtful and smartest man that I have had the pleasure of knowing. I promise to always cherish you and respect you every day for the rest of our lives. I promise to always do my share in making our marriage work, to ask for forgiveness if I hurt you, and to forgive if you hurt me. Together we will build a wonderful life as a married couple and face the future as one.
For Her Wedding Vows
Most men are not very vocal about their feelings so it’s only natural that a groom might find it a challenge to write his wedding vows for his future wife. Here are some examples that would make your bride fall in love with you even more.
Best Decision
After years of knowing each other, months of being engaged, and the last two weeks scrambling over last minute wedding preparations, I am more than convinced that asking you to marry me is the best decision I have ever made. You constantly amaze me with your kindness, patience, wisdom and positivity. I am the luckiest man alive to have you as my wife and I promise to love, honor and cherish you every single day for the rest of my life.
Promises
I may not be the best husband in the world but I promise to always be the best husband that I can be to you. I promise to love and respect you for who you are and to uphold your freedom in making your own individual choices. I promise to support you in your dreams, celebrate your triumphs and comfort you in failure. I promise to provide for your needs and to strive for your happiness for the rest of our days together.
Proudest Moment
Standing beside you here today is the proudest moment of my life. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that one day I will be marrying the most beautiful girl on the planet, who also has the purest heart, the most brilliant mind, and the gentlest spirit. I have no doubt that you will be the best wife anyone could ask for and a wonderful mother to our future children. From this moment until death do us part, I will dedicate my life to honoring you, caring for you, and loving you with every fiber of my being.
Love That Keeps Growing
I love you with my whole heart today, and I will love you more tomorrow, and I will keep on loving you more and more every day of our lives, until death do us part. I promise to love you in every way possible, through all the good and bad times that come our way, with a passion matched only by my commitment to honor and respect you as a woman, as an equal, and as my one and only wife.
Finding Our Way Back to Each Other
On this day, it would be nice to promise you that we will create a perfect life together, with nothing but happiness and love, gorgeous children and a beautiful home. But no marriage is perfect. I can’t promise that we won’t fight and that there won’t be problems along the way. But what I promise you is that no matter what challenges or difficulties come our way, our love will prevail. We will always find our way back to each other because we belong together until the end of our days.
I Choose You
We have both been through a lot in life and it took us a while to find each other. What started out as friendship quickly blossomed into a strong, loving and supportive relationship. Today, I wish to thank you for accepting and loving not only me but also my family. I promise to give you unconditional love and to keep the sparks of our love burning throughout the years. I chose you then, I choose you today, and I will choose you above all else every day until death do us part.
From Now Until Forever
From now until forever, I promise to love you and to be faithful and to stand by your side. Through the good times and the bad, you can expect me to be there holding your hand, supporting you and giving you protection when you need it. From now until forever, I will serve you in all the ways possible and put you and your needs above all else, including myself. I will love you more as each day passes until the sun stops shining and the world stops spinning. I promise to be your faithful and loving husband from now until forever.
You’ll Never Be Alone
I promise that I will never leave you and that I will always be by your side through thick and thin. I promise that I will never take you for granted and that I will put you first in all the decisions I will make from this day forward. I promise that you will never be alone and that I will always be by your side. Together, we will weather the toughest storms and celebrate the most joyful triumphs. I promise that starting today, the two of us will be as one, united in an undying love for the rest of our lives.
I Give Myself to You
Today is the day that I give myself to you as your husband. As I take your hand in marriage, I pledge my undying love to you that will keep on growing stronger and stronger every day. I can’t wait to wake up every morning by your side and to live each day of my life by your side. I promise to give you the highest priority at all times, above myself and everyone else. I give myself to you along with everything that I have and everything that I am, today and all the days of our lives.
Luckiest Man
You are the only person in the world who knows me completely, including my deepest darkest secrets, and you still agreed to marry me. For that reason alone, I am already truly blessed. I still need to pinch myself to be sure that this is real and that you are indeed going to be my wife and I am going to be your husband. I vow to work hard to be worthy of the position. You are my best friend and true love, and I am the luckiest man to be marrying you.
Romantic Wedding Vows
Weddings are obviously romantic occasions and what could be a more romantic part of the ceremony than the exchanging of the wedding vows? When creating your own wedding vow to your future spouse, the idea is to express your lifelong commitment to them and to declare your promise of loving them and making them happy for the rest of your lives together. Here are some very romantic wedding vow examples that you can take inspiration from.
My Everything
I know I don’t own you but I call you mine because you are my everything. You are my world, my life, my sun and my moon, my forever and my one true love. I never knew that love like this could exist until the day I met you. And now that I have found you, I intend to hold on and never let go. You have given me more love than I have ever known in my life and I promise to be worthy of that love. I love you and I always will until my last breath.
Unconditional Love
I am far from perfect and for that, I am all the more grateful for your acceptance and love. Standing here today, I feel a mixture of pride and joy and a huge amount of luck that of all the people in the world, you have chosen me to marry and spend the rest of your life with. I don't have much to offer but I promise to give you my unconditional love in all the ways possible, and to strive to always be the kind of partner that you deserve and nothing less.
Started Out as Friends
From the first day, I saw you, you held me captive with your enticing eyes and winsome smile. You magnetized me further with your warm and sincere personality. I am very happy that we started out as friends. We got to know and understand one another on a deeper level, and I knew then that what we have is so much more than a shallow and fleeting attraction. I will love you through the good and bad, as I know you will love me. You are the best friend I have ever had and I am more than blessed for the gift of marrying you.
Fairy Tale with a Happy Ending
I used to be a skeptic about love and thought that happy endings only happen in movies and fairy tales. But you came along and gave me my own fairy tale with a happy ending. From being a cynic, I became a hopeless romantic. With you around, everything in my life became immersed in beauty, hope, joy and love. But as I marry you today, this is not yet our happy ending. It will be a joyous beginning to the new chapter of our life as a married couple, and I couldn’t be happier to be your bride.
Amazing
One of my favorite things about you is that you don't realize just how amazing you are. You have touched so many people's lives with your kind words and thoughtful gestures that come so naturally that you don't even give it a second thought. Each day that I have known you, you become even more amazing in my eyes and for that, I just keep on loving you more and more. It is my honor to spend the rest of my life with you and to call you my husband/wife.
Person I Want to Spend My Life with
You have been my best friend for the longest time ever. You are the only person that I want to spend the rest of my life with. I promise to support you through all your dreams and endeavors. I promise to stand by you in good health and take care of you in sickness. I promise to love you unconditionally for worse and better, for poorer and for richer. From this day forward, I promise to love you and be faithful to you for as long as I live.
Partner for Life
As we begin our marriage today, I swear to you that I will love you and cherish you every day until our last. I promise to encourage you in your aspirations and to give you advice when you need it. Together, we will celebrate each success that we have and work together to recover from each failure. Every day, I will work hard to keep the spark of our marriage alive. I will not only be your spouse but also your best friend, lover, adviser, confidant and partner for life.
A Rare Blessing
They say true love comes when you least expect it. When I first looked into your eyes, I knew you were the one. It’s hard to explain the feeling but I knew right there and then that I was ready to spend the rest of my life with you. A love like this is a rare blessing and I am very grateful to have been blessed. I promise to take care of you, to put you first at all times, and to love you to the ends of the earth. From the first moment till now and all the way to forever, I will be yours completely.
Love and Cherish You Forever
As I look into your eyes today and hold your hand in front of our families and friends, I vow to love you forever and to cherish you to the end of our lives. I will look into your eyes with love and tenderness and hold your hand with passion until we are old and gray. You will never be alone through the good times and the bad for I will always be here for you and with you. In sickness as well as in health, for richer and poorer, I will love you as I loved you then and will keep on loving you more every day for as long as we live.
Lifelong Partner
I take your hand today in marriage and accept you as my lifelong partner. I promise to always be honest with you, to communicate openly and to listen attentively. I promise to keep you safe and protected in times of distress and to share your joy in times of triumph and success. I promise to you my unconditional love, support, faith, respect and devotion as we begin our lives together as a married couple.
Funny Wedding Vows
While many people stick to classic weddings, some couples prefer to start their married life on a lighter note by exchanging funny wedding vows to each other. This is actually a wonderful way to relieve some of the pressure on the couple and it is also a great way to entertain the guests and make the ceremony so much more memorable and light-hearted. It’s also effective for keeping tears at bay that might otherwise ruin perfectly good mascara.
When writing your funny wedding vows, it’s also very important that you don’t go beyond what is acceptable. Incorporating humor in the light things is fine but hitting below the belt and embarrassing your future spouse on sensitive issues is most definitely not alright.
The following funny wedding vow examples are infused with some sense of humor but they are no less romantic and filled with love. You can read through them to get some inspiration but you will quickly see that it’s actually not hard to write your own funny wedding vows, simply by adding some light humor into your promises of love and commitment.
Shopaholic Wife
I, (the name of the groom), take you, (the name of the bride), to be my lawful and wedded husband, to have as well as hold from this very day forward, for worse and better, for poorer and richer, and for even poorer especially after I max out our credit cards after I go binge shopping for clothes that you will return to the store if they do not compliment my figure or are in the wrong color, also in sickness as well as in health, to love as well as to cherish, until death do us part.
Bathroom Chores
You are the love of my life and I promise to do everything that I can to keep you happy and make you feel loved. Because of this, I will do my best to remember to put down the toilet seat when I am done. I also promise to replace the roll of toilet paper if I use it all up. I will even remove the hair clogging up the drain in the shower even though I am bald and none of it is mine. These promises all show how much I love you and the great lengths I will go to in order to prove it.
Love You like Coffee
With our family and friends as our witness, I happily and proudly receive you into my life as my husband. I vow to love you as much as coffee and my Games of Thrones book collection. I promise that I will never coerce you into binge-watching old Gray’s Anatomy episodes and that I will try to understand football so I can cheer with you as you watch the games. I promise to stay quiet and keep the curtains closed when you have a hangover. And through it all, I promise to cherish you and stay faithful to you for the rest of our lives.
Growing Old Together
Other young couples make grand promises to each other, not realizing that many of those promises are too idealistic to keep. While my love for you is as unconditional and as pure as it can be, my promises to you are a little more realistic. I would be perfectly happy if we could just grow old together. I promise to appreciate your beauty through the wrinkles and gray hair and saggy bosom. I promise not to laugh at you while you look for the glasses that are sitting on your head. I will even change your diapers, after you help change mine. A lifetime with you is all I want, I couldn't ask for anything more.
Friends T-shirt
In the years that we have known each other, I have told you how much I love you hundreds of times, sometimes several times in a day. I have already promised to love you until I die and to honor you and respect you and all that. But today, I want to add that I love you more than my Friends t-shirt signed by all the cast members. I also promise to not force you into watching their old episodes unless you feel like it. I am absolutely delirious about becoming your wife and I can’t wait another moment until I can call you my husband.
Bride’s Funny Wedding Vow
I promise to love you every day for the rest of my life. I promise to cherish you, respect you, and honor you. I think I don’t have to obey you so I’ll just leave that promise for the dog. But I will make up for it by promising to try and learn how to change a flat tire and also to check the oil on my car. I will even learn the names of the players of your favorite basketball team and cheer with you when they score a basket and get furious with you when the referee makes a bad call. Oh and I promise to make your favorite snacks for the game and eat them with you as well. I love you with every beat of my heart and it is my utmost joy to spend the rest of my life with you.
Groom’s Funny Wedding Vow
You are the most beautiful woman in the world and I am the luckiest man to be marrying you. As my way of showing my gratitude for my immense good fortune, I promise to love you unconditionally and to stay faithful to you for the rest of our lives. I promise to be a good provider to you and our future children. I promise to put my dirty clothes into the hamper and to take out the garbage without being told. I will squeeze the toothpaste tube the right way and will even put the toilet seat down when I'm done. I also promise to remember your birthday and our anniversary each year. I love you and I can't wait to spend forever with you.
Protect You from Spiders
In front of our family and friends today, and with the blessing of God, I take you as my beloved husband. I vow to love and cherish you for better or for worse, for poorer and for richer, in sickness as well as in health. I vow to comfort you in times of sadness, support you in the face of challenges, and protect you whenever a spider crawls into the room. I promise to get rid of it quickly so that you don’t end up screaming like you always do when it crawls up your leg. I love you and I promise that I am yours for the rest of my life.
Wrinkles, Haircuts and Shopping
I take you today as my lawful wedded wife, and I couldn’t be more thrilled because I am the luckiest man to be marrying my best friend. I promise to love and cherish you all the days of our lives, even when we start to get wrinkles, gray hair, and unwanted pockets of flab on random areas of our bodies. I promise to compliment you every time you get a new haircut. I promise to pretend not to notice when Amazon deliveries arrive more and more frequently at our doorstep. I will love you through anything and everything and promise to find you gorgeous even when you are in granny panties.
BTS and TikTok
I take you today as my lawful wife, and I promise to love you dearly and fiercely, despite your obsession with BTS and K-Pop music even if you don’t understand a single word in Korean. I promise to watch and like all your TikTok videos but I will not promise to participate in them. I promise to apologize if I do something terrible to you in your dream that I am not even accountable for, just so that you won’t get mad at me. That’s how much I love you today and I will keep on loving you more and more in the years to come until the very last day of my life.
Traditional Wedding Vows
There used to be strict rules when it came to wedding vows, regardless of the culture or religion. But these days, the officiating entities have become more lenient, leading to the blossoming of poetic and creative wedding vows. Still, many couples prefer to stick to the traditional wedding vows that are more solemn and considered by many to be more sacred.
Here are some of the traditional wedding vows that you can choose from, most of which are also variations from the standard templates used in many formal wedding ceremonies around the world.
From This Moment
I have been waiting for this day for a very long time because today is the day that I can finally be completely yours and you can be completely mine. I promise that from this moment, I will always be there for you in any way that you need me. I will give anything to make you happy and to support you and to care for you. I swear that I will love you and only you from this moment until my very last breath.
I Belong by Your Side
I have met many people and been to many countries but the only place I truly belong is by your side. My heart has found its home in you. You have captured my wandering spirit and tamed my wild heart. I have traveled far and wide, not knowing that I already have everything I need when I am beside you. No matter where the winds take me, I now have a place to come home to, and that is with you.
Because of You
It’s because of you that I wake up with joy each morning, for I am eager to spend every waking moment with you. It’s because of you that I believe in love, because you showed me a love that’s more powerful than anything I’ve ever seen before. It’s because of you that I strive to be a better person, for I want to make you happy. Today I pledge myself to you as your partner for life, and I promise to love you with every beat of my heart.
Forevermore
I look at you now and still can’t believe that you are finally going to be mine and that I am going to be yours forevermore. I have dreamed of this moment for so long and now that it has finally come true, I am beyond grateful and beyond blessed. There is no one in the world that can compare to you. You are everything I need in my life and I promise to cherish you for as long as I live. Forevermore is a very long time and that is how long I plan on loving you.
Love without Bounds
I love you today as I have loved you for a long time now, and I will continue loving you all the way to eternity. My love for you knows no bounds and I vow to prove it to you in small ways and big ways, every day that we are married. My love will never fade over time. As sure as the sun rises every morning, I will wake up each day with even more love for you than yesterday. Life is short and I promise to spend every second that I have been granted on this earth for loving you and making you happy.
Partner for the Rest of My Life
Today, amidst our family and friends who love us and share in our joy, I choose you, (name), to be my partner for the rest of my life. I am blessed, honored and eternally grateful for the gift of spending the rest of my life as your partner. In every way that I can, I promise to be your inspiration and support. More importantly, I promise to love you for better and for worse, in sickness as well as in health, for richer and for poorer, for the rest of our days.
Where You Are is Where My Heart Is
You are the reason for everything that I am and everything that I do. You turn my weaknesses into strengths, and make my dreams a reality. Right here and right now, I promise that my life will now be yours forevermore. Your dreams are going to be my dreams, and your sorrows will be my sorrows. Fate might take me to different places but I know that I will always come home to you. Where you are is where my heart is and where I am supposed to be. I have found my home in you and I plan on staying for the rest of my life.
Choose You Every Single Day
Today, I will take you to be my spouse. With God as my witness, along with our families and friends, I promise to choose you every single day for the rest of my life. I promise to laugh with you, cry with you, grow old with you and build a family with you. I will honor you and respect you. I will love everything about you that I already know and everything that I will get to know in the years to come. I give you my hand in marriage. I give you my unconditional love. I give you all of me, today and for the rest of my days.
Bind Myself to You in Marriage
I, (the name of the bride or groom), take you, (the name of the bride or groom), to be my wife/husband, my best friend, my partner in crime, and my lover for life. Together, I promise that we shall overcome all problems and woes that life might throw our way, and we shall rejoice in every good thing that we are blessed with. I promise you my unwavering commitment and constant love. With these vows and all the unspoken words in my heart, I bind myself to you in marriage until my very last breath.
Love You More Than Myself
I love the person that you are today and the person that you will become in the future. I will always listen attentively and communicate with an open mind and an open heart. I will give you advice and learn from your wisdom. I will give you my support and accept the support that you give me. Together, we will revel in our successes and grieve our losses, then uplift each other to grow and move forward. I will give you my whole being and love you more than myself, starting today until the rest of our life.
Orthodox Wedding Vows
One of the trademarks of an orthodox wedding vow is that it typically includes the words love, honor and respect. It is not a requirement but the religion places high value on these three virtues, particularly on honor. It is also notable that most Greek and Eastern Orthodox weddings are more focused on the actual ceremony and the tradition that it involves, instead of the recitation of vows. As a matter of fact, many Greek orthodox weddings, in particular, do not even include the recitation of the vows.
Not only is the emphasis on the rituals but some common wedding rituals are even performed three times. For instance, the rings are passed between the bride and the groom three times. The couple is also led by the priest three times around the altar.
The repetitions are supposed to represent the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Trinity. It is also said that this is the origin of the popular saying, “third time’s the charm” as it is supposed to bring good luck for the newlywed and the marriage in general.
In spite of this focusing on the rituals, exchanging vows in an orthodox wedding is still possible and perfectly acceptable. For the couples that want to share promises to each other during the wedding, many of them typically do so in a separate moment after the wedding ceremony or during the reception.
Greek Orthodox Wedding Vow Example
I, (the name of the bride or groom), take you, (the name of the bride or groom), as my wedded wife/husband and I promise you love, honor and respect. I promise to be faithful to you at all times and to never forsake you until the day that death parts us. So help me God, in the Holy Trinity and all the Saints.
Blessed by God
(Name), with Christ as my witness and in the presence of our loved ones, I take you to be my lawful wedded wife/husband, to live as one in the sacred relationship of marriage blessed by God. I pledge to you my unwavering love and complete support. I promise to respect and honor you, forsaking all others, and to be only yours for the rest of my life.
With God as My Witness
With God as my witness, I promise to protect you, provide for you, support your endeavors, and fulfill your desires. I promise to keep God at the center of our relationship so that our love will grow steadfast through the years of our marriage. I know I must have done something really good to deserve having you in my life. Every day, I will work hard to be worthy of your love and devotion. I promise to love, respect, honor, and cherish you until my very last breath.
Perfectly Imperfect Love
I am a self-admitted hopeless romantic who has always dreamed of finding that person who will love me and whom I will love for the rest of my life. And wouldn’t you know it, you came along. It hasn’t been a perfect relationship, nor will it ever be. But I love that we can agree to disagree and that we resolve all our problems without pride and that we always forgive with a humble heart. I promise you now to continue loving you and to continue accepting your love, as we take our perfectly imperfect love and enter the sacred union of marriage with Christ at the center. For all my days and for all of eternity, I will be yours completely.
To Serve Christ as Husband and Wife
I love you with all my heart. For the longest time, it has been my fervent wish to marry you so we can serve Christ as husband and wife. Today, that wish is coming true and I welcome it with gratitude and joy. In the life that we are going to have together, there will be challenges and obstacles but I promise to hold your hand every step of the way. We will overcome all these trials through the teachings of Christ. With full commitment, I promise to love you and honor you and to stay faithful no matter what. Together, we are going to build a family and a home that is filled with love and faith and the glory of God.
Blessed and Chosen
I am blessed and grateful that you have chosen me today to become your partner in marriage and in life. In the same way, I have also chosen you then, as I choose you now and as I will choose you every day for the rest of my life. It gives me extreme joy to spend forever with you. You make me strive to be a better person. In our sacred union, I promise that we will keep on growing together in Christ and that our lives will be filled with laughter, love and faith. Most importantly, I promise to continue choosing you and to be worthy that you have chosen me.
To Love You More Than I Love Myself
For years, you have been my closest friend, my confidante, my wingman, my partner in crime, and the only person who knows me inside out. Today, you take on a new role as that of my husband. Aside from being dashingly handsome, you are also smart, kind, generous, compassionate, attentive and loving, and I am more than lucky to be the woman that gets to marry you. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I solemnly vow to love you more than I love myself, to support and care for you, to cherish and honor you, every day for the rest of our lives.
Traditional Russian Orthodox Wedding Vow
So help me God, one in the Holy Trinity and all the Saints, I take you today as my wife/husband. I accept you in your entirety, loving all the parts that I already know and trusting that I will love the rest of you that I have yet to know. I promise to honor your integrity and to trust in the unconditional love that you have declared for me, throughout the good and bad times that life may bring. I promise to give you support during all the times that you need it and to ask for your support when I need it. From this day onwards, I choose you as the man/woman that I wish to spend forever with.
Forever Lover and Lifetime Companion
As I hold your hand and as we stand in front of God, I vow to be your forever lover, your lifetime companion, and your best friend for all time. I promise to be an equal partner in parenthood, your most honest critic and your greatest fan. I promise to be your partner in crime, your travel buddy, your mentor, your adviser, and your support crew. All this I swear to you in all solemnity and with full commitment, in a vow with a lifetime of validity.
I Offer You My Heart
On this holiest day, with Christ as my witness, I offer you my heart and all the love that it is capable of giving. I promise you that I will take care of your heart as gently as I know you will take care of mine. I will always hold your hand and stay by your side as we go on the journey of marriage. Together we will live, learn, love and honor each other every day for the rest of our life.
Celtic Wedding Vows
Celtic wedding vows are some of the most poetic and romantic in history, and have been very popular for centuries, long before the contemporary wedding vows came to be. These vows are a great way to pay homage to a couple’s Irish, Welsh or Scottish roots but they can also be used by anyone who appreciates Celtic poetry. Most of these vows include some variation of the popular lines that have been passed down from generation to generation.
Also, in addition to the distinct poetic quality of the vows, Celtic weddings are unique for their music. Bagpipes are typically played in Viking weddings by players dressed in the traditional kilts with plaid patterns, which incidentally are prepared by the groom and the wedding party.
Marriage of Equals
I do not ask to own you nor will I be owned, for we belong to ourselves. I do not ask to command you nor will I be commanded, for we are free persons. But I will give you everything that I own and I will serve you in all the ways that I can. I promise that yours is the only name I shall call at night and that yours are the only eyes I will smile into in the morning. I will live with you and for you in a marriage of equals until my very last day.
Traditional Celtic Wedding Vow
I pledge to you the first cut of my meat as well as the first sip of my wine.
From this day on, I will cry out only your name in the night and smile only into your eyes in the morning. I pledge to have your back like you have mine and to protect you from grievous words from anyone. I pledge that no stranger shall hear my grievances for our marriage is sacred. Above all else, I pledge to love, honor and cherish you throughout this lifetime and all lifetimes after.
One True Love of My Life
I look at your eyes and I see stars in the night sky. I look at your smile and I see the bright morning sun. I see your story in every person I meet. I see your reflection in every place I go. I vow not to let any evil befall you. I will protect you all the way to the highest mountain and into the deepest trenches of the sea. You are my sunshine, my music, my core, and the one true love of my life.
Blood of My Blood
You are the blood of my blood, bone of my bone. I give you my body, that we might be one. I give you my spirit, until our life is done. I shall not seek to change you in any way. I shall respect you, your beliefs, your people, and your ways as I respect myself. I shall honor you above all else and if we have arguments, we will keep it to ourselves and not tell strangers our grievances.
Sacred Vow
On this day, I pledge to you in peace and love that I will stand with you as your wife/husband for the rest of my life. Each day that we are married, I promise that we will stand heart to heart and hand in hand. Nothing will break our Sacred Vow as it is heard and confirmed by the Great Spirit and it will hold us together from today and for all the rest of our days.
I Will Keep on Loving You
For as long as there is music in the world, for as long as I hear the melody singing in my heart, I will keep on loving you. For as long as my mind is capable of thinking, for as long as my heart is capable of loving, I will keep on cherishing you. I cannot bear being apart from you for even a moment. Your name is the only name that I cry out in the night and your eyes are the only eyes I will smile into when I wake up in the morning. For as long as the world keeps spinning, for as long as there is love, I will keep on loving you.
Example of Traditional Celtic Vow of Bride and Groom
I take thee to be my wedded wife, to have as well as to hold from this day onward, for better and for worse, for poorer and for richer, for fairer and for fouler, in sickness as well as in health, to love as well as to cherish, until death do us part, according to the holy ordinance of God, and thereunto I plight you my troth.
I take thee to be my wedded husband lawfully, to have as well as to hold from this day onward, for better and for worse, for poorer and richer, in sickness as well as in health, to be bonny and buxom at the bed and board, to love as well as to cherish, until death do us part, according to the holy ordinance of God, and thereunto I plight you my troth.
Another Classic Celtic Wedding Vow
By the power that Christ brought from Heaven, may you love me. As the sun follows its course, may you follow me. As light to the eye, as bread to the hungry, as joy to the heart, may their presence be with me. Oh one that I love, until death comes to part us asunder.
Traditional Handfasting Vow
Blessed be this union with the gifts of the East.
Communication of the heart, mind, and body;
Fresh beginnings with the rising of each Sun.
The knowledge of the growth found in the sharing of silences.
Blessed be this union with the gifts of the South.
Warmth of hearth and home,
The heat of the heart’s passion
The light created by both to illuminate the darkest of times.
Blessed be this union with the gifts of the West.
The deep commitments of the lake,
The swift excitement of the river,
The refreshing cleansing of the rain,
The all-encompassing passion of the sea.
Blessed be this union with the gifts of the North
Firm foundation on which to build,
Fertility of the fields to enrich your lives,
A stable home to which you may always return.
Variation of the Handfasting Vow
Now the two of you are joined together with a rope that will not break so easily. Your hands are being bound together before you say your wedding vows to represent the lifetime unity of your two lives. As one, you shall grow in love and wisdom, you will have a marriage that is strong, and you will have a love that will endure this lifetime and many other lifetimes to come.
Catholic Wedding Vows
It is now very popular for couples to write their own wedding vows so that they can fully express everything that they want to say to their betrothed. But for Catholics, marriage is a very solemn union and is one of the holy sacraments of the church. As such, most couples do not feel the need to modify the vows, and the practice is actually not encouraged. Thus, there is not much variety in the Catholic wedding vows as you will see. Most of them retain the standard wording, with just a few modifications to reflect the personality and the preferences of the couple.
In some Catholic countries, however, the churches are more lenient and so couples are already allowed to write their own vows. What some modern-day Catholics do is to take a few minutes during the reception to say a few meaningful words to their new spouse, perhaps even some verses from the bible, as an addition to the customary vows that were pronounced during the actual wedding ceremony.
It is also customary in Catholic weddings that before the pronouncement of the vows, the priest or marriage officiant will ask the bride and groom three questions to confirm their intentions of entering into the sacrament of marriage.
- “Have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?”
- “Will you honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?”
- “Will you accept children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the law of Christ and the Church?”
To each of these questions, both the bride and groom are expected to respond with “Yes” or “I will”. Afterwards, the ceremony will then proceed to the recitation of the vows, either in the standard format or in the words of the couple.
Standard Version of the Catholic Wedding Vow
Priest: Since it is your intention to enter into the covenant of Holy Matrimony, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church.
Groom: I, (the name of the groom), take you, (the name of the bride), to be my wife. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness as well as in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.
Bride: I, (the name of the bride), take you, (the name of the groom), to be my husband. I promise to be faithful to you in good times and in bad, in sickness as well as in health, to love you and to honor you all the days of my life.
Traditional Catholic Wedding Vow
Groom: I, (the name of the groom), take you (the name of the bride) to be my lovely better half. I give you my promise to be true and devoted to you through all the good and the bad times, through good and poor health. With God’s blessing and under His watch, I swear to love, treasure and honor you for as long as I live.
Bride: I, (the name of the bride), take you (the name of the groom) to be my better half. I give you my promise to be encouraging and amorous to you through all the good and the bad times, through good and poor health. With God’s blessing and under His watch, I swear to love, respect and cherish you for as long as I live.
Traditional Catholic Wedding Vow with Response
Priest: Do you, (the name), take (the name), to be your wife? Do you promise to be true to her in good times and in bad, in sickness as well as in health? Will you love her and honor her all the days of your life?
Groom: I do.
Priest: Do you, (the name), take (the name), to be your husband? Do you promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness as well as in health? Will you love him and honor him all the days of your life?
Bride: I do.
Variant of Classic Catholic Wedding Vow
My beloved (name), in the presence of God, our families and our friends, it is with the utmost gratitude and the deepest joy that I take thee to be my wife/husband. I pledge to be faithful to you no matter what hardships and challenges might come our way in the years to come. I promise to love you and care for you in the best way that I can, through health and sickness, for as long as we both shall live.
Classic Roman Catholic Wedding Vow
I, (the name of the bride or groom), take you, (the name of the bride or groom), to be my wife/husband. I promise to stay true to you through the good and the bad times, in sickness as well as in health. I promise to honor you and to love you until the last day of my life. (name), wear this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness in the name of the Holy Trinity.
Gift from God
You are a God-given gift, the answer to my prayers to have someone who will love me and whom I will love for the rest of my life. I prayed for the right person to come along at the right time, and God gave me you, and I am extremely thankful every day because of you. You are the light in my universe, my better half, the reason for everything that I am and everything that I do. You are the best gift that I have received and I intend to treasure you and love you for as long as I live.
Better Version of Myself
In the presence of God, I whole-heartedly choose you as my partner for the rest of my life. You inspire me to become a better version of myself. You have shown me love that empowered me to do things I never thought I could. In return, I swear to love you with every fiber of my being, stay faithful to you every second of my life, and stand by your side through the good times and the bad. I promise to always put you ahead of anyone including myself. These are things I promise to do starting today, and all the way to the last day of my life.
God at the Center of Our Lives
As your partner for the rest of our lives, I promise to love you and work tirelessly to give you the happiness that you truly deserve. I promise to be generous, patient, and joyful in all the things that I do. I promise to be mindful in treating you with kindness and compassion at all times, for all the days that we are together and even when we are apart. I promise to keep God at the center of our lives and to do my part in making this marriage thrive. I promise to respect you and honor you on all the days of our marriage.
Yours until the End of Time
On this day, I take you into my life as my partner, my best friend, and my one true love. With every step of our journey in marriage, I will be by your side. I will give you comfort during the difficult times and I will cheer with you during the joyous moments. I will accept you completely for all that you are and for all that you are going to become in the years ahead. I will be yours and you will be mine until the end of time.
Gratitude for Each Day
I pledge to show my gratitude for each day that I am blessed to spend with you. Some days will be good and some will be bad. Some will be a breeze and some will be stormy. No matter what kinds of days life lays before us, I promise that we will go through each and every single one of them together. I promise to give you all the support, comfort, assistance, appreciation and care that you will ever need. Above all, I promise to love you throughout everything, and this is a promise that I say to you in front of God and all our family and friends.
Protestant Wedding Vows
Just like other religious wedding vows, there is a standard format that is followed in many Protestant weddings, as can be seen in the first example. However, it is acceptable to deviate a little bit so that the bride and groom can add their own personal messages to one another as they exchange wedding promises.
Traditional Protestant Wedding Vow
In the name of the God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I take thee to be my wedded husband/wife. I vow to have and hold you from this day onward, for better and for worse, for poorer and for richer, in health and in sickness, to love, cherish, serve and honor, until the last breath of my life. This is my vow according to God’s holy ordinance, and thereto I plight thee my troth.
Traditional script for the exchange of rings: I offer you this ring as a representation of my unending love and devotion. With all that I am and all that I have, I honor you, in the name of God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Christ-Centered Marriage
I, (the name of the bride or groom), wholeheartedly take you, (the name of the bride or groom), to be my one and only husband/wife. With a joyous heart I accept you into my life and just as Christ is to the church, I will be as faithful and loving to you as your husband from this day forward. I promise to lead you as Christ leads me and that we will live our lives together in love, faith and hope in God. In all our actions and throughout all our days, I promise to honor the guidance of Christ through the Word and by His Spirit. I pledge to you my undying love and complete devotion for the rest of our days.
A Love from God
I love you with a love so pure and selfless that I know it must only come from God. In becoming your husband, it is my fervent hope that we will spend the rest of our lives together in serving Christ and living his Word through our actions. I promise to be loving and faithful to you, and to always give you guidance and protection as Christ does to the church. For the rest of my life, I promise to be your faithful husband.
Example from the Protestant Wedding Sourcebook
In the presence of God and before our family and friends, I, (the name of the bride or groom), take you, (the name of the bride or groom), to be my wife/husband. All that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you. Whatever the future holds, I will love you and stand by you, as long as we both shall live. This is my solemn vow.
Marriage is a Lifetime Commitment
On this day, it is my honor and privilege to become your wife/husband, and I promise to be faithful to you until the last of my days. I fully understand that marriage is a lifetime commitment and I do not enter this relationship lightly. With the blessing of Christ and with the total commitment of my heart and mind, I promise to fulfill all my obligations to you as your lifelong partner. I will encourage and support you, understand your desires and comfort you through your sorrows. Together we will bear children and raise a God-centered family. I dedicate my entire being to you in this marriage and that is my solemn vow to you in the presence of God.
Before God and the Church
Today I take you as my faithful wedded husband. Before God and His Church, and in the presence of our dearest family and friends, I vow to love you and honor you in all the ways possible. I vow to be a faithful wife and to support you in all your endeavors. I vow to bear and raise your children in the spirit of Christ. I promise to care for you in sickness as well as in health, to stand by you for richer and for poorer, until death do us part.
Vow of a Faithful Wife
I, (the name of the groom), take thee, (the name of the bride), to be my husband, and before God and our family and loved ones, I vow to be a faithful wife. I promise to love you, respect you, comfort you, support you, forsake all else, and remain true to you for as long as I live. Everything that I have is now yours, and everything that I am is because of you. I will stand by you in poverty and in wealth, in sickness as well as in health, until the very last day of my life.
My Utmost Joy, Privilege and Blessing
It is my utmost joy to be married to you. In return for this privilege and blessing, I promise that I will stay faithful and true to you, and always tell you the truth in all things. I promise to honor and respect you at all times and in all ways. I promise to give you support and help whenever you need it without you having to ask. I promise to give you my complete trust and surrender. I promise to forgive you when you do wrong just as God has forgiven us, and also to ask for your forgiveness when I do wrong by you. I promise to strive to be better and to keep God at the center of our lives all the time, starting today and for as long as we live.
Nothing Short of a Miracle
It is nothing short of a miracle that you have chosen me to marry, out of all the people in the world, and for this I am infinitely blessed. I willingly and openly enter into this sacred union and take you as my spouse, knowing that the journey is not going to be perfect and that there will be bumps along the road. But I promise to let our love endure so that we can navigate all the difficulties and come out stronger than ever. I promise to keep God as the focus of our lives, and to love and honor you until forever in accordance with the teachings of Christ.
Welcome You into My Life
With the blessing of Christ and in front of our beloved friends and family, I fully welcome you into my life as my lawfully wedded wife/husband. I promise to give you a lifetime of companionship, unconditional love, overflowing support, and an abundance of respect. I promise to love you with pure intentions until the day that we both must leave this world.
Tips & Guides for Writing Wedding Vows
With all the examples that we have compiled, you probably already have an idea of what you want to say in your wedding vows and how you are going to say them. But before you begin writing, here are a few more tips and guides from wedding experts that you can follow so that you can create the best and most heartfelt wedding vows for your future spouse.
Start Writing Your Vows Early
A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that writing wedding vows will not take a long time, precisely because they are actually very short when completed. But when you actually get down to it and start trying to write, you will quickly discover that it is much harder than it seems. For most people, getting started is the hardest part but then, it doesn’t really get easy until you are done.
In order to avoid the panic of not getting your vows written on time, you can start in the weeks or even months before your wedding. This will give you plenty of time to lay out your thoughts carefully and to make necessary revisions if something does not sound right.
Read Wedding Vow Samples for Inspiration
This tip is especially useful if you have no idea how to begin or what to say. Your wedding vows should have your own personal touch and must come from your own experience and emotions, but reading other vows can get your creative juices flowing and help you get started on your own script. A quick search online will show you hundreds of unique wedding vows that you can use to pattern yours after, or simply to give you an idea of what to say.
Decide on a Style with Your Partner
As you can see in the examples above, there are many different styles of wedding vows that you can use in your ceremony. You can either use the traditional vows that are typical of many conventional religious ceremonies, or you can write your own wedding vows that express exactly what you are thinking and feeling. You should also decide between using a completely solemn vow or something with a sense of humor.
Some couples consult with each other on deciding the type of vows to use but there are also those that choose to keep their vows a secret from their partner until the day of the wedding. These are all important matters that you should discuss prior to actually writing the vows.
List Your Favorite Qualities about Your Partner
Think of the things that you like most about your partner, and about the kind of relationship that you have. What is it that attracted you to them in the first place? Why do you want to spend your life with them? What are the challenges that you have overcome together? How did your relationship change you as a person? Jot down all your thoughts because these are great things to include in your wedding vow.
Think of Promises to Make
You can narrow down the list further down the line but at this point, you can just write down all the promises that you want to make to your partner. It can be something general like promising to support them through thick and thin, or something more particular and light-hearted like promising to put down the toilet seat after using it. Don’t restrict yourself and just get the list going.
Avoid Using Clichés
The internet is rife with hundreds of great wedding vow ideas. Some of these are lines from movies and books, while others are taken from real wedding vows that other people have used in their ceremonies. There are also some good ones that sound very romantic and poetic, but they might not necessarily reflect your own thoughts and feelings.
Furthermore, they might already be overused and have already been heard by your audience multiple times. Even if they match what you want to say perfectly, they might not sound sincere if they are already considered to be wedding vow clichés. A little creativity will come in handy to change the popular wedding vows a bit so that you can make them entirely your own.
Skip Inside Jokes and Cryptic Messages
When writing your wedding vows, keep in mind that you will have an audience. You are including them as part of your wedding ceremony so it won't make sense if you use references in your wedding vow that they will not get. Also, it is advisable to keep your wedding vows wholesome. As a rule of thumb, imagine watching your wedding video 10 or 20 years from now. Make sure you don't include anything embarrassing or incriminating in your vows that you would regret seeing when you are a bit older.
Keep It Realistic
Many young couples write wedding vows that are extremely romantic, forgetting that life is not perfect. It would be better to include a mention of when things might not be as ideal as you hope and say something in your wedding vows on what you promise to do in such situations.
Mention the Future
On the day of your wedding, you are freshly in love and eager to spend the rest of your life together. But it won’t be an infinite honeymoon after the wedding is over. Surely, you plan to have an amazing time together in the future. Perhaps you want to build a family or travel the world together. List these plans down because they can be wonderful to add to your wedding vows.
Keep It Under Two Minutes
Long wedding vows tend to bore the audience so it is best to make it brief. For many couples, this is one of the most difficult parts. There are so many things that they want to promise their partner that they find it difficult to cut out some parts. If this is the case, the best thing to do is to identify the most important parts and just keep those. You can then write a letter to your partner where you can pour out everything else that your heart wants to say, then give this to them as a gift on your wedding day.
Practice Reading Your Vow Out Loud
This is actually necessary for the previous step, as you can time yourself to see how long your vow takes to read. But aside from confirming the length, reading your vow out loud will also help you identify potential stumbling blocks that your tongue might trip over during the actual wedding day. See if your script reads smoothly and listen to yourself as you speak. Some words might not sound right when spoken even if they look good on paper. By reading out loud, you will have the chance to change these words and make your vow better.
Check for Spelling and Grammar Errors
Aside from running Spellcheck on your wedding vows, it would be good to have a trusted friend proofread them for you. It can be embarrassing not just for you but also for your spouse if you proudly recite your vows at the altar, not knowing that it is riddled with grammatical errors.
Print a Clear Copy
A lot of brides and grooms have the intention of memorizing their wedding vows and reciting them flawlessly during the ceremony. However, nerves can easily set in especially on momentous events. There is a high probability that you will forget some (or even all!) the words of your vow when it is time to say them, even if you had no problem reciting them in your sleep before the wedding. Have multiple copies printed or write it manually if you have nice handwriting. Keep a copy for yourself and have a trusted person keep another copy just in case.
Helpful Guide Questions to Answer When Writing Your Wedding Vows
One of the most effective ways to deal with a mental block while trying to write your wedding vows is to answer some simple questions about your relationship and your partner. Here are some of the most helpful questions that you can use.
How did you feel when you first met your future spouse?
Maybe you started out as friends, or perhaps you didn’t really notice one another during that first meeting. Or maybe you knew right at the beginning that you will be spending the rest of your life together. Whatever the circumstances, this could be a good way to begin writing your wedding vows.
How did you finally fall in love?
Another very interesting part of a relationship is the point where friendship turned to love. Think of that moment when it struck you that you do love this person and talk about how you felt during that moment. The beginning of a love story is always a hit and the audience is definitely going to ooh and aah if you include yours in your vow.
What effect has your partner had on you as a person?
A lot of people talk about how their significant other has turned them into better people. You can take that cue then delve into more specific details of how they have changed you for the better.
How do you imagine your life to be after 20 years or 50 years?
Talk about what you expect your life to be with your partner in the future. This is a good part to be creative and fun, especially since the future has obviously not happened yet and you can say anything you imagine.
Are there parts of the traditional wedding vow that you can really relate to?
Even if you plan on writing your own personal wedding vows, it is perfectly alright to take some lines from the traditional format. In fact, it is usually a good idea to use some version of the standard vows because it preserves tradition and lends more solemnity to your promise.
Why have you decided to marry your partner?
Think of the reasons why you chose to marry your partner out of all the people in the world. The answer to this question can actually make up the main content of your wedding vows.
Is there something you are most excited about in being married?
You will definitely go through a lot of ups and downs during your marriage but there might be something that you are looking forward to the most. It can be something big like starting a family or something smaller like waking up next to your spouse every morning. This can turn into a teary or a funny moment in your vows, depending on what you write and how you write it.
Steps for Writing the Content of Your Wedding Vows
It can be a little bit intimidating to write your own wedding vows, but this is something that many couples today opt to do instead of using the standard templates used in a traditional ceremony or recommended by some religious sectors.
Customized wedding vows allow a couple to express their own thoughts and emotions more eloquently and freely than they can ever do with a standard template. We have already listed some helpful tips on how to write your wedding vows. Now, here are the basic steps that you should follow especially if you are at a loss on how to get started on your script.
1. Make notes of what you want to include in your wedding vow.
As mentioned earlier, jot down any idea that you might have that can be included in your wedding vow. These include things about your partner, things about your relationship, your plans for the future and of course, the promises that you want to make to your future spouse.
2. Organize your thoughts.
Wedding vows can take on any form but the ideal format follows a simple 4-part outline that begins with an affirmation of your love. Next, you would praise the good qualities of your bride or groom, then declare all the promises that you wish to make. End it with a final pledge that includes staying true to all that you have promised until death do you part.
3. Write the vows.
Using your notes and following the outline, you can now start the actual writing of your vow. Many people have a hard time getting started so it can be helpful to read other wedding vows so that you can be inspired. However, it is very important that you write from the heart. Remember that this is your wedding we are talking about and not anyone else’s so make sure that your vows are an accurate expression of your own intentions and promises to your future spouse.
4. Proofread what you have written.
Do not underestimate the importance of correct spelling and grammar, especially in something as important as your wedding vows. If you are not that confident in your own knowledge of the English language, you can always ask someone to check it for you.
5. Edit and revise.
Even if you have finished writing your wedding vows, it is a good idea to read them again and again lest you discover something that you need to change prior to the actual ceremony. If there is even the smallest detail in your vows that you think needs to be changed, by all means, do it. When you have finally completed your final draft, print it on a nice piece of paper then practice saying it out loud so that you won't find yourself stuttering or stumbling over complicated words when you finally recite your vow at the ceremony.
Determining the Length of Your Vows
Wedding vows really don’t have to be long. When spoken out loud, they usually last anywhere between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. The average vows last about 1 minute. This is the ideal length that allows you to say the most important things you want to say to your future husband or wife, while also keeping your guests from zoning out or getting bored.
Succinct and meaningful is the best way to go, unless you have a really interesting story to tell that is both relevant to your vows and entertaining for your audience. Otherwise, a vow that is too long will just be dragging unless you have a real gift for the spoken word and are able to hold the attention of your audience for that long.
To be safe, watch for the number of words while you are writing your vows. Keep it less than 200 and you probably won't exceed a minute even if you read it at a rather slower pace.
Writing Vows for Renewal of Marriage
In the last decade or so, it has become very popular for married couples to "get married" again in order to renew their vows. A marriage renewal is a perfect opportunity to reaffirm their promises to each other.
Typically done as part of the celebration of the 10th, 25th or 50th wedding anniversary, a vow renewal ceremony is pretty much like a first wedding but more intimate, with only a handful of guests. Couples can actually renew their vows at any time they wish, and there are no clear cut rules on how to write your renewal vows. If you have a major wedding anniversary coming up and are interested in how to renew wedding vows, here are some general guidelines that you might find helpful.
New versus Old
Unlike the wedding vows in the original ceremony, vows for the renewal of marriage are almost always written by the couple on their own. It is perfectly fine to use the same vows you used originally but it is much more recommended that you write new ones that are more fitting to your current situation.
Familiar References
These vows usually contain a lot of references to the life that the couple has already had together and the experiences that they have shared so far as a couple. It’s somehow like an evaluation of how your marriage has been so far, and you can talk about the changes that you both have gone through.
Sharing of Feelings
In a vow renewal, you can simply tell your spouse everything that is in your heart and why you want to marry them again. It’s also a good time to express gratitude and appreciation to your spouse for all that they have done so far.
Reaffirming of Your Love and Commitment
The best way to end your renewal vow is by telling your spouse how much you love them and by reaffirming your commitment to love and cherish them until the end of your days.
The 7 Promises of Marriage
In a marriage, couples usually make a multitude of promises to each other. Some of these are small, like promising to pick up the laundry after work. Some are bigger, like promising to quit smoking. But of all the promises that are made within a marriage, the ones that are mentioned in the vows during the wedding day hold the most weight and are considered to be the most sacred.
The traditional wedding vows include seven promises that a couple makes and intends to keep for a lifetime.
Promise #1: To have and to hold from this day forward
This is a promise of acceptance of the other person and their entire being, inclusive of all strengths and faults. It also professes the promise of loving one another regardless of how both people change over time as individuals.
Promise #2: For better and for worse
Good things and bad things are both going to happen over the course of a marriage. With this promise, a couple asserts their decision to stick with each other regardless of what events are going to transpire in the future.
Promise #3: For richer and for poorer
Money is one of the most common causes why couples quarrel and why relationships eventually fall apart. At the start of the wedding, the couple clearly avows that money will not be the cause of the marriage's demise.
Promise #4: In sickness and in health
Having to take care of a person on occasion is no biggie but when one spouse falls gravely ill for the long term, it can take a toll on the other person and ultimately on the marriage. This promise declares faithfulness despite the health condition of either spouse.
Promise #5: Forsaking all others
This promise means that once they are married, both spouses consider the other to be the most important person in their lives. When the time comes that they have to choose between their partner and a family member, a best friend, a boss, or anyone else, the partner would always have priority.
Promise #6: To love and to cherish
Couples are typically head over heels in love on their wedding day so it’s easy to make this promise, but it’s not always easy to keep. More than just physical attraction, loving and cherishing involves spiritual, mental and emotional bonding that grows over time.
Promise #7: Till death do us part
This is a commitment that both spouses make indicating that they will be loyal to their partner and to the marriage for the rest of their life. Obviously, it’s not that easy to keep this promise, which makes it all the more sacred.
Interesting Trivia about Wedding Vows
Couples have been reciting wedding vows for centuries but there are still a lot of interesting facts and stories about these sacred promises that most people are not aware of. Here are some of the most fascinating things that we have unearthed.
Who Invented the Original Wedding Vows?
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, is credited for coming up with the wedding vows that are now considered to be the standard format across a lot of religions and cultures. It was originally published in the Book of Common Prayer, also by Cranmer.
Do Wedding Vows Exist in the Bible?
The bible does not contain wedding vows as we know them today but there are several passages and verses that couples can take from the bible in order to augment to the wedding vows that they have already written. For instance, the passage from Ephesians 5:25 addresses husbands and tells them why they should love their wives. Genesis 2:24 talks about how couples should forsake other people in favor of their partner.