If you’ve ever been to a wedding where the bride and groom exchange wedding vows that they have written, you have probably witnessed how special it can be. Wedding vows are truly the most important aspect of a wedding.  That’s what everyone comes to witness and celebrate.  I’ve put together some tips for writing your own vows.

Make It Personal

This seems obvious, but make sure to not just go through the motions of writing what sounds good.  Really make it yours and use your new husband’s name.  For example, “Mike, you are my best friend and the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.  I promise to be loyal and trusting to you until death do us part.”

Read Examples of Vows

It will help to read examples of other’s vows.  You should get ideas and things you want to incorporate into your own vows.  Hopefully by reading other’s vows you will become inspired to write your own.  If you don’t want to ask friend’s to share their vows, you can always find examples on the internet.

Ask Yourself Some Questions

Take the time to reflect on your relationship with your husband-to-be.  Ask yourself some questions such as:  What about him makes you laugh? What do you most admire about him?  How does he make you feel?  What challenges do you envision in your future?  What challenges have you already worked through?

This is the time to tell him.  Don’t assume that he already knows. Now is the time with all of your guests who will serve as witnesses and with the camera rolling to say it all.

Don’t Forget the Promises

This is going to be the biggest part.  What you are you promising and committing to?  You will want to include the basics along with any personal  promises.  The big one is committing your fidelity to him through the good and bad times.  You can add personal promises.  An example is to say that you promise to never go to bed without saying you love him.  Be careful on what you promise.  These should be sincere promises that you plan on carrying out no matter what.

Write It Down

If you plan on memorizing your vows, that’s great! More power to you.  But it doesn’t hurt to have a copy with you.  Anyone can get stage fright. Make sure to write legibly and in large enough print so that you can read it. Better yet, you might want to type it out.  If you need glasses then by all means bring those with you.  It’s better to be prepared than sorry.  Also, you will have a treasure to keep if you write them down.

Practice Out Loud

Even if your vows sound great to you written down, practice saying them out loud.  When I write an article I often don’t catch strange sounding sentences until I read the article out loud.  The same will go for your vows.  You might notice tongue twisters and rough patches when you read them out loud.

Watch your nonverbal body language.  Do you move your arms when you talk?  This would be the perfect time to hold your groom’s hands.  Looking him in the eyes will make it personal and may have your guests in tears.  Your groom may even cry!  This is all good. It means that your words had a powerful message.

Decide If You Want To Share Your Vows Ahead Of Time

Some people like to wait for the wedding day to share their vows, while others take a private moment to share them ahead of time.  You might want to give each other the opportunity to hear and then include similar promises in the vows.

In conclusion, I hope that these tips can help you to have an extraordinary wedding ceremony.