Your wedding vows are the most personal and important part of your ceremony. It is the opportunity for you to express your commitment to each other in a way that is uniquely yours. I have had couples write their own vows, choose from the selections below, or use those they have found in the multitude of books and internet resources about weddings. One couple I know chose verses from greeting cards they saved during their courtship. Another wrote ten reasons why they loved each other and promises they were making to each other. Couples have said the same vows to each other, said different things to each other or said their vows together at the same time.
I have
provided a few examples of vows below, but one of my favorites was
written by a couple and included in the book Handfasting and
Wedding Rituals by Raven Kaldera and Tanin
Schwartzstein.
It goes
as follows: I wish to join my life with yours, to stand by your
side and sleep in your arms, to be joy to your heart and food to
your soul, to work as partners and live as family while we grow old
together. I vow to love, honor and respect you. To hold you in my
heart, but not bind you to my will. I promise to listen carefully
and to speak the truth To stay with you throughout life’s struggles
and pleasures all the days of my life. Will you accept me and all
that I am? I will."
While I do
not know this couple, I sense that these vows beautifully express
their love and commitment as well as their concept of relationship.
I encourage you to give the selection or creation of vows some time
and attention.
SAMPLE VOWS (Additional options are available in the Reserved For Booked Couples section)
Shown below are
a few sample wedding vows. I can also work with you to create your
own. If there is something you want to express and can't seem to
find the right words, let me know. Please note the law states you
must say you take each other as his or her spouse. If you choose
vows that you do state this, you may say it in the expression of
intent or when you exchange rings.
I
________________ take you____________ to be my
(wife/husband/spouse) to have and to hold from this day forward,
for better or for worse, for richer, or for poorer, in sickness and
in health. I further promise to love you and cherish you, and
be faithful to you for as long as we both shall live.
I, __________,
take you_________ to be my (wife/husband/spouse). I know in my
heart that you will be a faithful friend, and a loving companion.
Today in the presence of God, our relatives, and our
friends as witnesses, I give to you my sacred vow that as your
(wife/husband I will always be with you and support you in times of
sickness and health and in times of joy or sorrow.
I promise
to love you completely, to comfort you during difficult times and
to encourage you to achieve your full potential. I will laugh with
you and grieve with you. I will share with you life's
simplest but most enduring pleasures. I will be truthful and honest
with you and cherish you for as long as we both shall live.
(Somewhere else in the ceremony you will state that you take each
other as your spouse.)
I________ take
you ___________, to be my (wife/husband/spouse), to have and to
hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer,
for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from
this day forward until death do us part.
I_________,
take you ____________ to be my (husband/wife/spouse), my partner in
life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you
more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and
respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully
through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face
together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day
forward for as long as we both shall live.
In the presence
of God and these our friends I take thee to be my
husband/wife/spouse, promising with Divine assistance to be unto
thee a loving and faithful (husband/wife/spouse) so long as we both
shall live.