Celebrant Sue Raward reading marriage vows at a recent Gold Coast wedding
Read Rach's testimonial
Photo courtesy of Kirk Willcox Photography
There is only one compulsory vow that you must say to make your wedding legally binding (see it further below) otherwise almost anything goes.
I encourage you to write your own marriage vows and really tell your soon-to-be husband or wife exactly what is in your heart. Your vows can be happy, sad, funny…whatever you like. If you are not sure where to start, here are some ideas:
- Always knowing in my heart that forever you will be my loyal best friend, my truthful partner in life, and my true love. On this special day, in the presence of my family and friends, I promise to be by your side as a loyal (husband/wife) In sickness and in health, both in the good times and the bad times. I will always love you without reservation, give you comfort, support you in each and every way. Laugh, cry and share experiences with you, grow with you in every way. Always be open honest and forgiving cherish, support and hold on to you for as long as we both shall live
- As a partner and companion, to have and to hold, to honour and to cherish, in joy and in sorrow, from this day forward.
- To have and to hold, from this day forth, to love, honour, and cherish, to comfort and respect, in sorrow or in joy, in hardship or in plenty, (as/so) long as we both shall live.
- I promise to love you with all my heart; to comfort you, nourish you and uphold you with my strength. I will cherish you until the end of our days
- I promise to love you, to cherish you, and to respect you always. I promise to make your plans and dreams as important to me as my own. I promise to share my life with you so that our lives together can be healthy, happy, and fulfilling. I promise to fulfil these vows each and every day for all of my days.
- I accept you just as you are today. I give to you my promise that from this day forward, you will not walk alone. We will walk forever side by side, rich in laughter, close in friendship. I give you my heart - I have no greater gift to give. I promise to dream with you, and to work to make our dreams come true.
- You are my one true love, my best friend, my soul mate. You complete my spirit and compliment my soul. Today, before our family, our friends and the heavens I pledge my love to you. And promise to share the rest of my life with you
- I promise I will never take the last Tim Tam or complain when you spend the whole day watching car racing on TV.
Here is the Australian compulsory marriage vow that must be uttered by both parties at the time of your wedding ceremony:
" I call upon the persons here present to witness that I,
<Full Name of Person> take thee <Full Name of Person> to be my lawful wedded <Wife or Husband or Partner>."
Remember that you can mix and match vows, or adapt them so that you come up with something that will say exactly what is important to you. Of course, you can forget all of these suggestions and write your own personal wedding vows to each other.
You can also choose how you want to say the vows in front of your chosen witnesses; you can either memorise the vows (not recommended!), read from a piece of paper OR repeat after me (recommended!).
Please feel free to give me a call anytime on 0403 605 057 for an obligation-free chat about your upcoming ceremony or alternatively email me on: