Best Tips for Writing Your Wedding Vows…

You’re getting married! AND it is time to design, craft and write your wedding vows.

Writing your wedding vows gives you a remarkable opportunity to express your personality and devotion to the person standing with you on your wedding day.

A beautiful wedding ceremony includes beautiful vows. Your wedding vows can be traditional, old-fashioned, original, unique, religious, funny, poetic or romantic. They are most beautiful and poignant when they flow from your heart.

And it does not have to be a stressful experience!

Your wedding vows are also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in front of family and friends to share how you plan to show up in your marriage, what your commitment is to your relationship and what your new husband/wife can expect from you. So with this said, here are three top tips for creating, crafting and writing your wedding vows:

1) Go to lunch – really! Take your Sweetie to lunch and talk about your wedding vows. Make sure you are both on the same page. Talk to your partner about what is possible. Do you want to write your own vows, go with vows already written or perhaps a combination of the two? Do you want to write your vows separately or together? I love it when a couple surprises each other with wedding vows after working independently with me to insure they hold the same weight/length.

2) Create an outline and find your voice ~ What overall tone do you desire: humorous or touching? Poetic and mushy? It’s your call – the most important thing is that your vows ring true and sound like they are from your heart. Take a week or two and go through several drafts. Go to the Internet for inspiration. Read the vows aloud and time them. Vows are often best when they are one page or less (double-spaced).

3) Ponder these questions for inspiration:

~ What is the single greatest thing about the person you are going to marry?
~ When did you know what you were in love/know that this person was the one you wanted to marry?
~ What does marriage mean to you? Why do you want to be married to this person?
~ What is your most favorite memory of your partner? What is your commitment to your partnership?

Most of all, be real and authentic and humor is lovely, too!