The Wedding Vow Examples Hunt

The next thing to think about, when it comes to the ceremony, is the vows.  It was actually a lot of fun for me to read through different wedding vow examples!  Even though I love the traditional “for rich or for poor, for sickness and in health,” it seems pretty cool that in this day in age people can say, well, whatever they want!  Yes, there’s a lot of sameness in the experience of finding that special someone.  But the reasons why a couple’s relationship means so much to them is going to be different from the next couple.  And the vows reflect that.

I found a lot of wedding vow examples here, several of which I liked before I narrowed it down.

It was hard to pick one!  There are so many nice sentiments.

#2.  Part of me likes mentioning the best friend thing, because it’s absolutely true, but part of me feels like that’s very platonic.  I love a lot of words in this one, though, like "encourage, inspire, and comfort."

#3 I like words like "appreciate, unique, and share."  And the idea of building something together.

#4 "Hand and hand and heart to heart" are lovely.  But this seemed a little too flowery compared to most of the other wedding vow examples.  Obviously weddings are the most appropriate time of all to be sappy, but I think if you’re too flowery people can’t help but tune out.

#6  This one actually seemed to focus TOO much on bad words!  Yes, it’s important to be there for each other during sad times, but using the words "adversity, tears, and sorrow" not once, but twice, seemed too negative for me.  Plus it’s one of the longest vows, and brevity is a virtue, so no.

#7 Also a little flowery.  "Barren times?  Eternally made anew?"  Nah.

#8  I do like duality in vows, but again, it makes for a lot of negativity.  Failure is a pretty depressing word, and I want a little more hope for our marriage than this vow conveys (Adam disagreed!).

#9  I like that this says “I shall not seek to change you in any way.”  It’s just a little religious for us.

#10 I actually REALLY like this vow, because it covers pretty much everything!  "The sickness and health thing, love is magic, warmth and light, together hand in hand, committing to working together."  It would be the PERFECT vow.  It even talks about "distance testing us."  *feels the tug at my heartstrings*  Except that it is SUPER long compared to the other wedding vow examples.  I might change my mind and use it.  I could always cut it down.

#11 This was TOO short and sweet.  Love and forever are nice sentiments, but it’s not personal enough (Adam disagreed AGAIN).

#12  I don’t like this at all.  “Emptying my heart of all others” is a not a nice sentiment!  What about your friends and family?!  I know what they MEAN; it’s a nice way of saying you’re going to be faithful and monogamous, but that’s not what it says.  And when I make a vow I want to make one that I mean 100%.

#14 This one is sweet.  It mentions the best friend thing but immediately follows it with “I will love you forever” so there’s little time to think this was too platonic.  I like this one very much (and so did Adam, yay).

#15  This one has the traditional "good times and bad, sickness and in health."  But for some reason, it feels unfinished.  Not because it’s too short; it just doesn’t have a nice flow to it.  I think the meter puts me off; there just aren't enough syllables in that final sentence, or something (of course Adam likes it).

#16 I like this one VERY much.  The “fill your days with sunshine” is sweet, it has nice words like comfort and encourage, and talks about helping to reach goals.  Really nice sentiments (and yet Adam did not).

#19 This almost sounded like a superhero pledge to me.  "Restore each other, serve each other and our fellow humanity."  It’s not TOO bad, but next to the other wedding vow examples it just doesn’t strike the right chord for me.

#21 This is a really interesting vow because it has the duality in it, but it’s all positive.  It just doesn’t make an impact for me.  "Give and receive, speak and listen, inspire and respond."  The concepts don't quite play off of each other in a poignant way.

#22  This is a really nice one too.  "Encourage, stand by you and uplift you, accomplish, make you a priority."  These are all sentiments that ring true for me; I could absolutely see us using this one (Adam liked this too!).

#25  I wouldn’t want to use a vow that starts out “The sun smiles on us today.”  No bride looking forward to an outdoor summer wedding should tempt fate like this!

So which vow did I choose?  Well in the end, out of the 25 wedding vow examples I read, I liked…the first one.  It’s the same way I picked my wedding dress!  But I like this one because it’s about accepting each other and helping each other.  And luckily, Adam liked it too : )