Wedding vows
[Your name] to [Partner's name]
How to use this template
Write a line or two under each part, in your own words. Other ways to say each part are folded under it: borrow one if it sounds more like you. Aim for 150 to 250 words, one to two minutes read aloud.
Specific beats grand. One real detail, like the car you warm up for them on winter mornings, says more than “forever”. Before you print, delete the headings, the folded lines, the example and this box, so only your vows remain.
See an example (about a minute)
Sam, the first time I saw you, you were arguing with a parking meter on Elm Street, and losing, and I thought: I'd like to be on your side.
Four years later, I still am. You're the person who leaves the porch light on, who remembers my mother's birthday before I do, who makes a Tuesday dinner feel like an occasion.
I promise to be honest with you, even when it's hard.
I promise to stay in the waiting rooms, the lean years and the long silences.
I promise to warm up the car first on winter mornings.
I promise to grow old with you, and to keep making you laugh when we do.
I choose you today, and I'll keep choosing you every morning. Sam, I'm yours.
Opening
Where you met, or what you first thought of them.
Other ways to begin
The first time I saw you, you were [doing what] at [place], and I thought, …
I've known you for [number] years, and you still …
I've rewritten this [number] times. Every version starts with …
Who you are to me
One moment that showed you who they are.
Other ways to say it
I knew I wanted to marry you on the day you …
It didn't happen all at once. It was [one moment], then [another], and then …
You're the person who …
My promises
A big one, one for the hard days, one small and specific, one for the years ahead.
I promise to
I promise to
I promise to
I promise to
Optional: A promise to a child joining your family
Speak to them by name, and make one promise you can keep.
Closing
A last line that returns to your opening.
Other ways to end
I choose you today, and I'll keep choosing you every morning.
Everything I have, I share with you. Everything I am, I bring to this. I'm yours.
I take you to be my [wife / husband / partner], to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for as long as we both shall live.
Optional: Ring exchange
[Partner's name], I give you this ring as a sign of my love and my promise.
Before the day
Read aloud with a timer: one to two minutes, about 150 to 250 words
Length and tone agreed with your partner, even if the words stay a surprise
Every inside joke makes sense to a guest who met you today
Any legal or religious wording checked with your officiant
Printed in large type, with a spare copy for the officiant