Personal Vows
January 24, 2014
Personal vows can be stressful, but there is nothing I can say that will be deeper or more meaningful than what you know in your heart to be true.
You don't really want to talk, but you feel it's important? Well then keep it simple, with powerful statements that will have long lasting effect on the quality of your life together. This is what I recommend for those of you who are usually a man or woman of few words. If you don't want to say too much... don't give yourself too much to say.
I performed a ceremony where the couple included their own vows a few months ago. There was something that Alan the groom said that captured an essence, so important that it has been haunting me ever since. He promised his beautiful Bride 'I will uphold your dignity.' At a time when people are living into their 80's and 90's with regularity, all the implications made this one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.
If you are the kind of person who tells a great narrative, someone who can get a laugh and a tear in the same sentence, then that's absolutely the form you should use. Tell the story of how your feelings have evolved. Mention a funny but defining story. Make promises that will matter or finish it up with how happy you are to be standing there, ready to make the biggest promise that one human can make to another.
What? You found a poem that states perfectly what you feel! Of course you can use it :) Perfection is hard to argue with!
Happy planning!
