Is the thought of writing your own wedding vows daunting to you? Are you stuck on where to start? Are you feeling overwhelmed trying to get the perfect words out? Do you just want some inspiration?
If you answered yes to any of the above, read on, my loves!
You’re right to be feeling all the emotions when thinking about and writing your wedding vows; it’s no easy feat.
There can be a lot of internal pressures when trying to sum up your love for your significant other, let alone having to do it in a few short sentences.
If you’re up for the challenge of writing your own wedding vows, view my top five tips below to help you get started.
If you’re one of my amazing couples, I’ve got your back and I’ll send you a bunch of sample vows to give you all the inspiration you need. As your celebrant, I’m here to help every step of the way.
Here are my five top tips for writing wedding vows!
1. Brainstorm – Yep, just like your old high school essays, I recommend brainstorming being the best first step. I encourage you to make a dot point list of your thoughts, the things you love about your partner, the things that make you laugh, the traditions you’ve formed in your relationship, anything that you feel is unique about your partner/relationship. Highlight the ones you might like to share in your vows.
2. Give real insights - After witnessing over 300 brides and grooms share their wedding vows, giving your guests a little insight into what makes your relationship special always leads to seeing your partner radiating with happiness with every word you speak. It could be vowing to continue cooking pancakes each Sunday morning or being quiet while watching the Tour De France at 2am– giving real insights is not only special, but also quite humorous for your guests. Keep that balance in your vows; light-hearted and sentimental words are the way to go! You’ll have your partner crying and laughing.
3. Take your time – Unlike that high school essay, your wedding vows shouldn’t be rushed moments before they need to be submitted! Give yourself plenty of time to get them right. You might start writing and then get writer’s block. That’s totally normal, I get it too when writing ceremonies. Just come back to it in another moment, another day, whenever you’re feeling up to it.
4. Don’t copy and paste – Please don’t get me wrong, finding a little inspiration and structure is a good idea but don’t just copy your entire vows from google. People will know (I will know) and more importantly it will be far more special for your partner if you try to write wedding vows that are genuine and unique to your relationship.
5. Keep it short and sweet - Remember, although you may want to try and squeeze everything you feel about your partner in your wedding vows, you just can’t. If you really want them to know how you feel and can’t fit it into your vows (without your guests starting to feel lovesick), write a card or letter and have someone deliver it to your partner on the morning of your wedding; that will likely make them feel so special and loved even before you’ve seen one another. Also, don’t forget you’ll most likely be making a speech at the reception where you can share far more of your feelings!
Okay, so that’s my top five tips for writing wedding vows… I hope they help. Remember if you’re one of my couples I’ll provide you plenty of resources and support along the way.
Once you’ve got your wedding vows perfected, you then have possibly your biggest challenge. That is, sharing those intimate words with not only your partner, but in front of your wedding guests too. I encourage you to practice reading them aloud. On the day read slowly, make eye contact with your partner, and just enjoy every moment!
