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Christian wedding vows
Christian wedding vows are promises made before God and your loved ones. You can use traditional words, write your own, or blend the two. Check with your pastor, as some churches have set vows for the ceremony.
Traditional-style vows
I, [Name], take you, [Name], to be my wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I give you my promise.
Short personal vows
- [Name], I choose you today and every day. I promise to love you as Christ loves, to forgive quickly, to pray for you and with you, and to walk beside you for the rest of my life.
- Before God and these witnesses, I promise to honour you, to serve you and to keep Christ at the centre of our home. Wherever He leads, I'll go with you.
A simple template
- Begin with your promise: “Before God and our family, I choose you…”
- Add 2–3 specific promises: how you'll love, serve and pray.
- Include a verse that means something to you both.
- Close with forever: “…for all the days God gives us.”
Scripture to include
“And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:”
“And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”
“And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
“We love him, because he first loved us.”