Traditional Vows

Traditional 1.
I, _________, choose you, _________,
to be my ________
and my partner
from this time forward;
To love and respect you,
To be a comfort and safe haven in your life,
To hold you close,
To listen deeply when you speak,
To uphold you with my strength,
To weigh the effects of the words I speak and the things I do,
To never take you for granted,
And to always give thanks for your presence in my life.

Traditional 2.
Today ________, I join my life to yours,
Not merely as your _______,
But as your best friend, your lover, and your soul mate.
I promise to love you, comfort and encourage you,
Listen to you and to keep an open mind,
Be open, honest and respectful of you,
Sacrificing my pride to be your strength, your joy, and your breath,
Through all the blessings and trials of life.

Traditional 3.
I take you, ___________, to be my ______
from this day forward,
to join with you and share all that is to come,
and I promise to be faithful to you until death parts us.

Traditional 4.
I take you, ______, to be my _______
and these things I promise you:
I will be faithful to you and honest with you;
I will respect, trust, help, and care for you;
I will share my life with you;
I will forgive you as we have been forgiven;
and I will try with you better to understand ourselves, the world, and God;
through the best and worst of what is to come until death parts us.

Traditional 5.
I take you, _____, to be my ________.
I promise before God and these witnesses to be your faithful wife,/husband
to share with you in plenty and in want,
in joy and in sorrow,
in sickness and in health,
to forgive and strengthen you,
and to join with you so that together we may serve God and others
as long as be both shall live.

Traditional 6.
The couple face each other and join hands

I,__________ , take you __________
to be my ______,
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 us do part.

Traditional 7.
The following vows were modified from the poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning titled “How Do I Love Thee?”.

I, __________, take you, _________, to be my ________.
I promise to love you to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach…
To love you to the level of every day’s most quiet need, by sun and candlelight…
To love you freely, as men strive for Right…
To love you purely, as they turn from Praise…
To love you with a passion put to use in my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
To love you with the breath, smiles and tears of all my life…
And if God choose, I will love you better after death.

Traditional 8, (this one replaces the vows and ring exchange and makes them one action.)
Person 1 __________, repeat after me: ”With this ring, I thee wed and with all that I have, I give to you: my name, and my home, my heart and my hand, my life and my all, as long as we shall live.“

Person 2  __________, repeat after me: ”With this ring, I thee wed.  I pledge to you the loyalty of my life, the love of my heart, and the devotion of my soul, while together we walk along life’s path.

Traditional 9. (this one replaces the vows and ring exchange and makes them one action.)
At this time, I will ask you to make your vows to one another.  Join right hands, please.  Do you, ___________________, take _______ to be your wedded _______?  Do you promise to love and cherish ______ in sickness and in health?  To care for ________ above all others in prosperity and adversity and to cleave to _______ alone until death do you part?

Sample Dialogue

*Tim and Lauren’s Wedding