Sample of Vows

These are just samples. Only you can choose and create the perfect words for your wedding.

Sample Ring Exchange

Option 1:

Thank you for taking me as I am, loving me, and welcoming me into your heart. I promise to always love you, respect you, and be faithful to you. Today I choose you to be my partner and I commit to you for the rest of my life.

Option 2:

I take you to be my spouse and to live together in the lawful state of matrimony. I promise from this day forth to share the responsibilities of life with you, love you, respect you and care for you for as long as we both shall live.

Option 3:

Before our friends and those so special to us here, on this our wedding day, I take you as my wife/husband, in friendship and in love, in strength and weakness, to share the good times and bad, to celebrate life with you, now and for always. I love you.

Option 4:

(Name), you are my heart, my best friend, my life. Today before family and friends, I renew my commitment to you. I promise to love and cherish you, respect you and grow with you for all the days of our lives. This is my solemn vow.

Option 1:

________,I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. As I place it on your finger, I commit my heart and soul to you. I ask you to wear this ring as a reminder of the vows we have spoken today, our wedding day.

Option 2:

________,I give you this ring to wear with love and joy. As a ring has no end, neither shall my love for you. I choose you to be my (wife / husband) this day and forevermore.

Option 3:

________ I give you this ring as a promise of love, trust, and pride that you are my (wife/husband). We will wear these rings, and the world will know that we have chosen to be married..

Option 4:

_______ with this ring I give you my love, my honor, and my friendship. From this day forward you shall not walk alone. My heart shall be your shelter and my arms shall be your home.

Option 5:

With this ring I marry you and join my life with yours. It is a visible and constant symbol of my promise to be with you for as long as we both shall live.

Sample Ceremony Additions

The beauty of a wedding can be enhanced with small personal additions. Here are a few samples.

Blended Family Ceremony:

Officiant: It is the desire of _________ and _________ to extend their commitments to each other by making some promises to the children of this family. As you all join hands to form a new circle of love, we will seal this union with spoken promises like the rings this bride and groom have exchanged.

Officiant to the Bride/Groom: Do you _________ and _________, promise to be faithful, loving, tender and nurturing parents, always there for _________ (child/children's name), not only providing their/her/his physical needs, but their/her/his emotional needs as well, always a good listener, a loving counselor and a friend?

Bride & Groom: We do.

Officiant to the Mother/Father (Speaking to the Child/Children): (Repeat after me). _________, I want you to know that I love your mother/father very much. I will not and cannot replace a mother/father loved by you, however I can promise you that I will love you and care for you as if you were my own. I promise to be a committed listener. I promise you my trust, to be fair, my support, what knowledge I can share, to be your friend, and to provide a shoulder to cry on. I promise to be available to you as I am to your mother/father.

Bride/Groom to Child/Children: _________, I give you this _________ (gift) as a sign of my loving promises made

this day.

THE ROSE CEREMONY

__________ and ________, a very important thing to remember of this marriage ceremony, is that it was love that brought you here today. It is only love which can make it a glorious union, and it is by love which your marriage shall endure. The rose that you give each other today is your first gift. A single red rose means “I love you”. It is love that will make your marriage a glorious union and love that will make your marriage endure. Remember on each anniversary of this day that it was a rose, the symbol of love, that was your first gift to each other as husband and wife.

TREE PLANTING CEREMONY

(A small tree is planted in a pot by the bride and groom. Dirt can be “donated” from their homes, a special place, etc.)

Officiant: Like the trees on the shore, marriage, too, must be resilient. It must weather the challenges of daily life and the passage of time.

And just like the tree that they are planting, marriage requires constant nurturing and nourishment. As they provide the sun, soil, and water for this tree, they will provide the encouragement, trust, and love needed on a daily basis to consciously nurture and nourish their connection to each other. The growth of this tree will symbolize the strength and growth of this marriage.

Unity Candle Ceremony

Options: If you would like to have the entire audience participate, give everyone a candle as they enter. When lighting the Unity Candle, each of you turn and share your light with the first row of seated guests on your side. Let the guests share the flame from their own small candle with the person sitting next to them until all the candles are aglow and you are pronounced wife and husband. The minister can suggest that everyone make a good wish for the Bride and Groom and blow out the candles.

Option 2: If you are creating a new family you may want to include the children in the lighting of the Unity Candle. Often this is done by having the bride and groom light the candle for the children and then everyone lighting the center candle together. This is an excellent way to involve children from a previous marriage.

Officiant: The two outer candles represent your individual lives before today. They represent all that you are from your vast experiences, and they represent your individual families. As you each take a single candle and light the center candle, it represents the unity of your life together from this moment on. As this one light cannot be divided, neither shall your marriage or lives be divided. May the radiance of this one light be a testimony of your unity. Now blow out each other’s candle. This represents the closing of your life as you knew it and signifies the start as a new life as husband and wife.

As we light this candle, let it represent the unity of ________ and _______and their life together from this moment on. As this one light cannot be divided, neither shall their lives or marriage be divided. May the radiance of this one light be a testimony of your unity.

FAMILY:

With this marriage a new family is born. ________ and _______invite _____ and _______to come with them to light a unity candle.

This symbolizes the birth of a new family. With this marriage and the lighting of this candle, _____, _____, _____, ______and _______have confirmed the bond among them and promise to respect and listen to each other so these bonds may continue to deepen through the years.

Amen

Background: The Unity Candle symbolizes the joining of two people, or two families or the formation of a new blended family. A Unity Candle Ceremony can easily be added to any marriage ceremony. It is placed near the end of the ceremony, following the Exchange of Rings. A Unity Candle set consists of two slender candles and a large center candle. The Unity Candle Ceremony is a popular choice for both religious and non-religious ceremonies because it is non-denominational and has no religious significance.