Wedding vows are one of the most underrated part of the wedding ceremony. So many couples simply recite the traditional wedding vows and go through the rest of the ceremony. However, most couples today are composing their own unique wedding vows.
Your vows should be personal and meaningful. Composing your own wedding vows is the perfect way to express your true feelings to your soon-to-be-spouse in front of your family and loved ones. As such, they can make your wedding day even more memorable and special.
Guide to Unique Wedding Vows for the Modern Couple
Why traditional wedding vows may not work out today?
Modern wedding vows have come a long way over the years. This is partially due to the fact that marriage as an institution has involved. With so many people having second or third marriages, traditional wedding vows are no longer the norm. Most couples who are having a second wedding want their vows to be completely different from those they recited at their first marriage ceremony.
As well, same-sex marriages are more common, traditional and practical wedding vows no longer apply. The rules and meaning of marriage have changed and progressed over years, so why shouldn’t your vows change to fit the times?
Feminist-friendly Wedding Vows
How does one choose contemporary wedding vows if they are gender neutral or non-conforming? As well, today’s feminists do not agree with the wedding vows of yesteryear as they are extremely outdated, not to mention biased against women.
This is why many modern day couples are composing their own feminist wedding vows to fit their specific relationship. With so many types of relationships and genders today, there is no reason you have to stick with the norm. Feel free to express the true nature of your love in any way you see fit. After all, it is your wedding!
Here are some examples of alternative wedding vows:
“Love is tricky. It is never mundane or daily. You can never get used to it. You have to walk with it, then let it walk with you. You can never balk. It moves you like the tide. It takes you out to sea, then lays you on the beach again. Today’s struggling pain is the foundation for a certain stride through the heavens. You can run from it but you can never say no.” ~ Amy Tan, ‘The Hundred Secret Senses’
“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words “make” and “stay” become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free.” ~ Tim Robbins, ‘Still Life with Woodpecker’
Create your own unique wedding vows
So how does one come up with unique wedding vows? It is much easier than you think! All you need to do is take a few minutes to think of the many reasons why you love your betrothed. Think about why you want to spend the rest of your lives together.
When composing your creative wedding vows you should also keep in mind the theme and style of your wedding. This may even help you compose your vows much easier.
Take some time to think of how you felt the day you met, the first time you said “I love you” and how you felt the day you got engaged. Speak directly from the heart and don’t hold back. And remember, they don’t have to be sappy or over-the-top. Your wedding vows can be light, fun and humorous as well. Stay true to yourself and the words will flow!
Here are some unique wedding vows examples for your inspiration:
“My love, you are the answer to my prayers. You are a dream come true: everything I have ever hoped for or wished for. I came alive the day we met. You are the air I breathe and my heart and soul are yours forever. I cannot wait to start this beautiful journey together and wake up every day next to you, I want to grow old with you and I will love you until I breathe my last.”
“I promise to love you forever: despite the fact that you steal the covers and hog the remote, I will love you on good days and bad. And that means I will love you whether or not the Eagles ever win another Superbowl. I promise to change the water filter and refill the toilet paper. And to be polite to your mother, even though she won’t forget the time I kept you out past curfew when we were sixteen.”
See how easy it is? You can most certainly create your own personal and epic wedding vows!
Empower yourself with epic wedding vows from songs, movies, TV, and books
If you have trouble composing your own creative vows, you can borrow real wedding vows from music or literature. Why not steal a line from your favorite movie or television show?
Look to the poets for beautiful love quotes to use as your wedding vows. The possibilities for romantic and beautiful wedding vows are endless. Following are some examples of “borrowed” wedding vows:
Television: Friends: Monica and Chandler:
Monica: Chandler, for so long I wondered if I would ever find my prince, my soulmate. Then three years ago, at another wedding, I turned to a friend for comfort. And instead, I found everything that I’d ever been looking for my whole life.
And now, here we are, with our future before us—and I only want to spend it with you, my prince, my soulmate, my friend. Unless you don’t want to. You go!
Chandler: Monica, I thought this was going to be the most difficult thing I ever had to do. But when I saw you walking down that aisle I realized how simple it was. I love you. Any surprises that come our way, it’s okay, because I will always love you. You are the person I was meant to spend the rest of my life with.
Movies:The Vow: Paige and Leo
Paige: I vow to help you love life, to always hold you with tenderness and to have the patience that love demands. To speak when words are needed and to share the silence when they are not. To agree to disagree on red velvet cake, and to live within the warmth of your heart and always call it home.
Leo: I vow to fiercely love you in all of your forms, now and forever. I promise to never forget this is a once in a lifetime love. And to always know in the deepest part of my soul that no matter what challenges might carry us apart, we will always find our way back to each other.
Books: Jane Eyre: Charlotte Bronte
“I have for the first time found what I can truly love — I have found you. You are my sympathy, my better self, my good angel. I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my center and spring of life, wraps my existences about you. And, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one.”
Music: Night and Day: Billie Holiday
“Night and day you are the one. Only you beneath the moon and sun. Whether near me or far, it’s no matter, darling, where you are. I think of you night and day, day and night.”
We hope that you are moved to compose your own unique wedding vows. Look deep into your heart and soul and the words will flow like magic!