Writing Wedding Vows: Tips by the Expert

When traveling out of the country for your wedding, all of your family and friends may not be able to attend the big event. However, many of them will be there virtually — if you stream your wedding to your loved ones back home — or, at the very least, they will see videos of your wedding ceremony when all is said and done. This makes your wedding ceremony that much more important because guests who cannot attend your wedding in-person don’t have the distractions of food, drinks, music, and distance. Instead, their experience is all about your ceremony and the love you and your partner exhibit.

Additionally, no matter where you’re having your wedding, traditional ceremonies are becoming less popular. This has compelled couples to write their own wedding vows instead of using the traditional ones we’ve all heard time and time again. People want something more personal than “Until death do us part” or “In sickness and in health.” Because while these traditional promises are wonderful, they do not describe your love for your partner in a way that’s personal or unique. 

Your wedding vows’ promises section is your opportunity to make a series of commitments to your significant other. This can be difficult for many couples, mainly if they have never written wedding vows before. This added pressure can make wedding planning more stressful than it already is, and no one wants that. 

Make Realistic Promises

We all get caught up in the emotions and majesty of our wedding day, and that rings true all the way down to our wedding vows. Every couple wants to promise the world to each other, but it is important to stay grounded in reality. You are making promises that you intend to adhere to for the rest of your marriage and life, so make sure that you will keep the commitments that you make in your wedding vows. That being said, it is much easier to keep all of your promises if you do not make too many of them. 

Limit The Number Of Promises

When writing your wedding vows, there are likely hundreds of promises that you want to make to your significant other. Unfortunately, there is only so much time during your wedding ceremony. 

Trust me, none of your guests want to hear 20+ promises during your vows. Aim for between six to eight promises at the very most. When you keep it around that number, you can cover all of the important parts of your life — all while keeping your guests’ attention. That also leaves a chance for you to make a joke or two with your promises. 

You Can Be Lighthearted

Many couples believe that their wedding vows have to be completely serious. Marriage is a serious commitment, after all. You can absolutely include some funny or lighthearted promises in your wedding vows, though! It is your wedding ceremony, and you and your significant other can do what fits your relationship. A humorous promise made during your vows can light a smile on your significant other’s face that you will remember for the rest of your life. 

The possibilities of promises to make in your wedding vows are endless. Stay true to your relationship and create wedding vows that speak to and resonate with your significant other. Give yourself some time to write your wedding vows as well; you don’t want to be stressed out scribbling down your vows minutes before your ceremony, much like everything in the wedding planning promise, the more time and grace you give yourself, the better.

Article contributed by Alexis Dent, the founder of XO Juliet, the wedding industry’s leading wedding vow and marriage proposal writing service.