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Wedding Vows

Your wedding vows should only take a few minutes to say to each other, but the meaning behind them should last a lifetime.

If you are getting married in a religious ceremony, check with your officiant to find out if there are any restrictions on wedding vows. You may not be allowed to deviate from the wedding vows your celebrant provides.

If you can personalize your wedding vows, keep these tips in mind:

• Talk to your officiant about your wedding vows in advance to be sure you aren't surprised by any restrictions later.
  
• Talk to your fiance and decide if you will each recite the same vows, or each make different vows.
  
• Keep them short - as meaningful as they are to you, you shouldn't overwhelm your guests with overly lengthy wedding vows. Three minutes should be about as long as your vows take, at most.
  
• Remember you are speaking publicly. Keep your wedding vows to the point, and don't include any intimate details that are better reserved for a private conversation between the two of you.
  
• Practice reciting your wedding vows out loud in advance. Don't let your wedding day be your first rehearsal of your vows.
  
• If you can't incorporate a favorite poem or religious passage into your wedding vows due to time constraints, you can still use them as ceremony readings.

Your wedding vows should come from your heart, but you can look to poetry and song lyrics that meaningful to you for inspiration. Don't let an effort to be "different" discourage you from using phrases from traditional wedding vows. You can alter them to make them personal while allowing the echo of tradition run through your vows. Think about words like honor and cherish - these describe timeless qualities of love.

It can help to look at sample wedding vows - you may find vows that exactly express your feelings, or those that simply give you a starting point to create your own individual wedding vows.