How to write wedding vows that wow

Make a simple statement about who s/he is to you. For example:

• “Aisha, you are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”
• “Matt, you are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
• “Sam, you are my very best friend.”

Say a few things about why s/he’s so wonderful. Things like:

• “You are kind and caring, and one smile from you brightens my whole day.”
• “You are dependable, yet full of surprises, and you are beautiful inside and out.”
• “You make me laugh, you make me think, you make me pancakes, and you make me happy.”

Now say you love him/her.

• “I am completely and totally in love with you.”
• “You stole my heart, and I want you to keep it forever.”
• “I love you so much, and I can’t believe how lucky I am to be standing here with you today.”

Nice work! On to the next part!

Make promises about what you will do for your partner. Think about the ways love shows itself, day in and day out…through support, trust, words, actions, gifts, time and attention. If you are religious, you’ll probably also want to include language about your faith. Here are some examples:

• “In front of God and our friends and family, I promise to stand by you and to stand up for you, to laugh with you and never laugh at you, and to do everything I can to make you happy.”
• “I pledge to accept you as you are, to respect you as an equal and to encourage your dreams and passions.”
• “I promise to be loving, patient and faithful. I will be the very best husband I can be to you and the very best father I can be to Jacob and Taylor.”

Now think about some of the things you will do with your partner.

• “With you, I’ll create a peaceful, happy home and a loving family.”
• “I will grow old with you—and never stop growing with you.”
• “I’ll be your partner on all of life’s adventures.”

Promise to be there in bad times as well as good…

• “When you’re sad, I’ll comfort you, and when you’re happy, I’ll share your joy…”
• “Through hard times and good times, through sickness and health, I’ll always be at your side…”
• “I will love you through sunshine and storms…”

For a very, very long time.

• “…for all the days of my life.”
• “…as long as we both shall live.”
• “…for all eternity.”

After you have a rough draft of your vows following this template, you may decide to combine, add or subtract some things. The important thing is to have wedding vows that are meaningful to you both and that will suit your relationship and the future you’ll build together.