Vow /vaÊŠ/
Noun
a solemn promise.
To give a promise is an act not foreign to anyone in this world. We make promises almost every day – From promising to come home for dinner with the family or putting an item back in its place after using it – we make promises to keep the trust and confidence between individuals alive.
Vows, however, are said to be taken instead of given. When we take vows, we take on an eternal responsibility to fulfill what we vowed for, making that act a much more precious and sacred one. With that said, we make vows instead of promises during one of the most symbolic days in our lives – our weddings.
We understand the challenges in crafting a simple, yet impactful wedding vow on top of having to plan your perfect wedding. Therefore, we put together this mini-guide to help you ace one of the most meaningful essays you are about to compose in your life – Your Wedding Vows.
The Length
To get the ball rolling, we shall first consider the length of your vows. Surely, we have all sat in on long-drawn-out meetings. Very often, the one thing at the top of our minds whenever so would be everything but what the speaker is trying to communicate. (We can’t blame anyone for this occurrence – the human mind has been inbuilt with a limited attention span of 15 to 20 minutes.) That said, we would recommend coordinating with your partners on the length of each other’s vows, keeping them within a maximum of 1 paragraph and less than 3 minutes. Doing so would allow you to effectively capture the attention of your guests, allowing all who are present to feel the love you are expressing towards your partner on that momentous occasion. If you have more to share, do it during your speech instead.
The Tone
The next aspect would be the tone of your vows. You may have considerations like the type of ceremony you will be having and the demographics of your guests. But the one that prevails it all would, in no doubt, be the personality of the relationship you share with your partner. Would you describe your love as fun-loving and adventurous, or do you share a love that is more sentimental and solemn? Another question you may wish to ask yourselves could be: How would you hope for your guests to feel upon listening to your vows? For instance – feeling touched and deeply moved, humoured and heartened, or a combination of many emotions – Options are limitless, so take the time to pick what suits you best!
The Content
Next, let us talk about the element that binds everything together – the content of your vows. Every relationship comes with its uniqueness and dynamism – contents included would predominantly depend on yourselves. However, we have curated a list of leading questions in hopes of making your journey in crafting impeccable vows a breeze:
- Do you remember how you felt when you first met your partner?
- What is your favorite memory of your partner?
- Do you share a song/phrase/quote? What was it that made both of you choose that is something you uniquely share?
- What was something memorable that your family/friends said about your partner?
- Do you and your partner share something unique that you believe other couples do not?
- What was something that made you realize that your partner was the one?
- Is there a value that you learned from your partner, which you believe made you a better person compared to your past self?
- What are some significant challenges/memories that you and your partner conquered/shared as one, be it physical/emotional, which you feel brought your relationship to the next level?
- What is something your partner did/said that made you feel immensely grateful to have them by your side?
The Method
After stringing the words altogether, we shall move on to look for a method to deliver your vows. Many choose to keep it simple through plain recitation, but the options to present your script are almost limitless. We have come across our fair share of couples who delivered their vows through extraordinary approaches, but one that left a deep impression in us would be a groom who sang his vows to his beloved bride – hats off to him! Be it reading, singing, or even rapping, select a method which you are most comfortable with and you’re good to go.
All that you wish to communicate to your partner doesn’t always have to be done through a vow though. Here’s an example that truly touched our hearts – watch it and tell us if it did the same for you!
We hope this mini-guide has been helpful for you to craft your promise of a lifetime. If you need more tips or just that extra bit of inspiration for your wedding vows, look out for our next article where we will share some of our favourite quotes and vows samples!