Write Your Own Wedding Vows | UKbride

Don’t let the fear of writing and reciting your own wedding vows stop you from personalising your big day!

If you want to write your own vows but the task seems too daunting, don’t give up! Simply follow our easy steps to help you...

• Make sure you talk to your Registrar first; some ceremonies will require you to stick to the traditional vows. Your Registrar will tell you what is and what’s not allowed!

• Speak from the heart, but don’t go too over the top — you want to show your guests how much you love your partner — but you want them to enjoy and listen to what you’re saying and not too feel uncomfortable!

• If you want to write your own wedding vows, look at traditional vows for inspiration as a starting point.

• Every couple is different! Think about what you admire about your partner, and what marriage means to you.

• If you’re worried about how your vows might be received, read what you’ve written to someone you really trust, and ask for their opinion. Don’t take any negative feedback as criticism; if you trust them, then use their response to improve what you’ve written.

• Once your vows are written... practice, practice, practice their recital!

• And finally... Speaking slowly, loudly, and clearly on the big day is the key to making sure all your guests can hear the vows you’ve spent so much time and effort preparing.

• Be confident and have faith in yourself- after all, everyone has come to see you get married!

Registrar Cynthia Green, who is currently appearing on Channel 4’s Wedding House recommends regularly practising customised personal vows at home. However, if using the standard wedding vows, she says; “Try not to over-practise as this tends to make the bride or groom skip ahead of the registrar.”

Getting married in a church and not sure whether you’re allowed to use your own vows?

The Church of England requires that the statutory words must be used in order to make your marriage legally binding, so in traditional religious wedding services it is not possible to write your own vows.

Instead, personalise your ceremony in other ways; choose meaningful readings, hymns, or poems to make it your own.

Even if you’re having a civil ceremony make sure you check with your Registrar as the rules tend to vary from place to place.

Ollie and Vicky who run myweddingvows.co.uk revealed their ‘big secret’ for producing faultless wedding vows. “You know that saying ‘three is a magic number’...?” he asks, “...well it certainly applies when it comes to writing your wedding vows.”

Ollie and Vicky revealed that when they’re getting to know their clients they find the following questions vital to getting the emotional base to the wedding vows:

• Three things you love about your partner

• Three things you want to do with your partner as you grow old together

• Three things that are important to you in a relationship

• Three ways how your partner is your other half

• Three promises you want to make to your partner

• Three things you know your partner values and respects

Good luck and get writing... if you've created vows you think are really really special, why not email us and show off your literary handiwork!