Writing Your Own Wedding Vows

Want to write your own vows but don’t know where to start?

I believe your Vows are the most important (and most special and beautiful!) part of any marriage ceremony – they are the promises you want to pledge to each other for the rest of your life together. They are the words which reflect your dreams together, your love and your special connection. They are the words you will fall back on in years to come to remind you of the commitment you have made to each other. They are the foundation for your marriage.

No pressure right? For many, writing personal vows is a very daunting task. That’s where a good celebrant comes in.

Here are a few suggestions to help get you inspired…

Wedding Vows Date Night

Plan a special date night and spend some time beforehand writing down separately the following points:

• What marriage means to you
• What values/belief systems you want to instil in your marriage
• What sort of wife/husband you want to be
• Dreams you have for your future together
• What you want to bring to your partnership to ensure it is the best it can be.

Then on your date night share each of your pieces of paper with each other. Here you have probably the most precious thing you will ever write. See how many points are the same and talk about which ones mean the most to you. Then narrow them down to the points that matter the most to you both and script them as promises to each other. I can help you at any stage along the way.

Surprise Vows

Keeping your vows a surprise from your partner can make for a really unique and special moment in your ceremony. The reaction on your partner’s face when they hear your beautiful words for the first time is priceless, both for you and your guests. Be sure the photographer knows to capture it on camera!

However, if you do decide to go with this approach, I recommend you set some guidelines, such as the approximate length (number of words), whether to include humour or not.

Saying that, don’t worry too much that each of your vows may have a different tone or talk about different elements of your relationship. Your vows reflect your personalities and your unique union, and therefore, will always be perfect.

If you do decide to go for the surprise option, I recommend sending your vows to me (separately) for review. That way, I can provide feedback if I think there is any great discrepancy in length, tone etc. and you can decide whether to revise (or not) without ruining the surprise.