Wedding vows is the most important and sentimental part of the wedding ceremony since it is the exchange of promises by the bride and groom. For most couples, vows are not just words recited during the marriage ceremony, but a covenant declared to each other in front of their guests and god.

For centuries, the bride and groom recited wedding vows of their cultural and religious tradition particularly the Roman Catholic wedding ceremony as the rite of marriage does not provide options to couples when it comes to wedding vows. But in the latter part of the twentieth century, the church has softened their stance as a lot of modern couples have decided to make their own vows and recite them in place of the customary wedding vows.

By the way, the catholic vows are different from other religions, sects, and denominations. In order to give you an idea, below are a summary of traditional wedding vows from different major religion.

Examples of Wedding Vows

Below are examples of wedding vows from christian wedding vows to non traditional wedding vows.

Wedding Vows Traditional

Are you looking for examples of traditional wedding vows? If you are, below are wedding vows of Muslim, Methodist, etc.

#Episcopal

“In the name of God, I, (speaker), take you, (partner’s 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, until parted by death. That is my solemn vow.” Or “I, (speaker), take you, (partner’s name), to be my wedded (husband/wife), 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 thee my troth.”

#Methodist

“In the Name of God, I, (speaker’s name), take you, (partner’s name), to be my (husband/wife), 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, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”

#Lutheran

“I take you, (partner’s name), to be my (husband/wife) 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.”

#Muslim

Bride: “I, (bride’s name), offer you myself in marriage in accordance with the instructions of the Holy Qur”an and the Holy Prophet, peace and blessing be upon Him. I pledge, in honesty and with sincerity, to be for you an obedient and faithful wife.” Groom: “I pledge, in honesty and sincerity, to be for you a faithful and helpful husband.” P.s: Muslim ceremonies are different from the other religion since the ceremony just has the officiant explaining the couple’s commitment to each other, and they just concede through a simple exchange of acknowledgement. There is no exact moment of exchange of wedding vows just acknowledgement.

Christian Wedding Vows

Below are wedding vows of protestant, protestant, quaker and many more.

#Protestant

“I, (speaker’s name), take you, (partner’s name) for my lawful (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 therefore I pledge thee my faith.”

#Presbyterian

“I, (speaker’s name), take you to be my (wife/husband), and I do promise and covenant, before God and these witnesses, to be your loving and faithful (husband/wife), in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live.”

#United Church of Christ

“I, (speaker’s name), take you, (partner’s name), to be my (husband/wife), and I promise to love and sustain you in the bonds of marriage from this day forward, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, till death shall part us, according to God’s holy ordinance.”

#Quaker

“In the presence of God and these our Friends, I take thee to be my (wife/husband), promising with Divine assistance to be unto thee a loving and faithful (husband/wife) so long as we both shall live.”

Simple Wedding Vows

#Universalist/Unitarian

“I, (speaker) take you, (partner’s name), to be my (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 cherish always.”

Modern Wedding Vows

Catholic Wedding Vows

#Roman Catholic

“I, (speaker’s name), take you, (partner’s name), to be my (husband/wife), I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love and honor you all the days of my life.” or “I, (speaker’s name), take you, (partner’s name), for my lawful (wife/husband), to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part.”

#Ecumenical/Monotheistic

“(Partner’s name), I now take you to be my wedded (wife/husband), to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy relationship of marriage. I promise to love and comfort you, honor and keep you, and forsaking all others, I will be yours alone as long as we both shall live.”

Sample Wedding Vows

#Buddhist

There are no exchanges of wedding vows in the traditional wedding ceremony.

#Eastern Orthodox

In Orthodox tradition, the wedding vows are actually silent, but there is a sect the Carpatho-Russian Orthodox that includes exchange of vows in the marriage ceremony.

#Hindu

The Hindu marriage ceremony is seven steps, wherein the couples can exchange seven vows but majority of the couples choose to forego spoken vows as they rather symbolically or physically represent their covenant to each other.

Jewish Wedding Vows

#Jewish

In the Jewish ceremony, the most important wedding vows recited during the presentation of the ring. Plus, the rabbi recite the vows and the groom and bride just repeat them.

Non Religious Wedding Vows

#Civil Ceremony

Officiant: “I, (partner’s name), take you to be my lawfully wedded (husband/wife). Before these witnesses, I vow to love you and care for you as long as both shall live. I take you with all your faults and your strengths as I offer myself to you with my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and I will turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life.”

Unique Wedding Vows

If you wanted your wedding vows to be unique, the best thing to do is write your own wedding vows. You can use the examples of wedding vows in this post for inspiration.

Writing wedding vows is very easy, you dont have to be a poet to write a romantic wedding vow. In fact, you can write a beautiful wedding vow when you want to… Check out my other post “how to write wedding vows” for information.

Suggested Read:

http://cathy.snydle.com/how-to-write-wedding-vows.html