Modern wedding vows | Words and Wisdom
One of the wonderful things about getting married in this day and age is that modern wedding vows don’t have to be confined to a formula. They can be made as relevant to you and your relationship as everything else about your wedding day.
Of course, you’ll still need to take your pick of the choice of legally binding wedding vows Registrars offer* or use the standard set of Church of England wording if marrying in church. For obvious reasons, the wording of these legal wedding vows can’t be changed, and for many couples saying those formal but familiar phrases is one of the moments they’re most looking forward to in their wedding service.
However, that doesn’t mean you need to feel limited by them. With your officiant’s approval, you can add some more modern vows of your own to your wedding ceremony, whether held in a Registry Office, a venue or a place of worship. That way, you get the best of both worlds.
When it comes to modernising wedding vows, it’s really all about personalising your own promises, rather than feeling you need to adhere to a fresh set of rules. Would you like to keep your content at the more serious end of the spectrum, perhaps both sharing your hopes for your future together? Or might you prefer to create some more light-hearted wedding vows, maybe including certain annoying habits you each promise to reform? A balance of both approaches can often work well.
I work with all kinds of different couples who share one important thing in common – they all want to make their own wedding vows to each other in some modern way, shape or form on their day. Once we have agreed the format their bespoke wedding vows will take, I gather the answers they’ve given to specific questions and then write with their words.
This is such a rare opportunity for a couple to reflect together, giving them chance to really consider what they each most want to promise in front of family and friends. In fact, the process itself can come to mean as much as the beautiful vows that result, anchoring a couple’s wedding preparation in such a unique and meaningful way.
It’s also worth noting that since the exchanging of rings is not a legal prerequisite in a Registrar-led wedding and therefore has no formal wording attached, it is also possible to include a bespoke ring exchange as well (Church of England weddings have their own prescribed language).
If you would like to find out more about the bespoke declarations, vows and ring exchanges I design and write for wedding ceremonies nationwide just follow these links or drop me a line.
I’ll be delighted to hear more about your plans.
Hannah Wroe Gill | Writer | Words and Wisdom
*Please note that this post refers to the current law in England and Wales. Regulations in other parts of the UK and elsewhere in the world may vary.
