Weddingbee Blog

On Friday, I emailed our ceremony text and readings to our officiant in Las Vegas. This email was a pretty big deal for Mr. Mole and me. We spent a lot of time choosing how to structure the ceremony, what tone to set, which traditions to incorporate. I was feeling pretty darn accomplished until I reread this section:

[Mr] and [Miss], please turn to each other and share the vows that you have written.
[Mr vows]
[Miss vows]

Oh, that’s right. We still need to write our vows. That’s not exactly an insignificant portion of the ceremony, is it? Fortunately, we do have some parts of the task accomplished. We picked out a fairly traditional set of vows for the ring exchange:

The ring is an outward and physical sign of the vows you have made today and of the inward bond that you share. Let these rings be a sign that love has a past, a present and a future, through you and within you.

[Mr/Miss], take [Miss/Mr]‘s ring. Place it on [her/his] finger and repeat after me:

I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I take you as my [wife/husband].

Still, we knew from pretty early on that we also wanted to make our individual vows, those important matrimonial promises to one another, on our own terms and in our own language. We wanted them to be, and feel, personal. I think that this will be one of the most meaningful and powerful parts of the day. Without a doubt, it’s the part of the day to which I am looking forward the most. So why is it also the part of planning on which I am procrastinating the most?

Image via Mockingbird

I think that it’s the magnitude and importance of the words that are really throwing me off. I want my vows to Mr. Mole to be really, really good — and that is what is making me really, really nervous. I don’t want them to be too generic or, conversely, too specific (let’s keep some things, like our ridiculous nicknames for each other, out of it). I also don’t want to get so gushy that I blubber my way through them, like I did in my MOH speech for my sister’s wedding. Yet I don’t want too be too unemotional in them either.

Luckily, I have some good resources at my fingertips. I especially like Mrs. Jam’s vow template. Maybe I will even practice it on our dog, just so he gets some love too. I am going to spend some time on our plane rides to and from Wisconsin for the holidays trying to get a first draft down on paper. At least it will give me something to work with.

Are any of you writing or customizing your wedding vows? Do you have any advice or tips for a vow procrastinator like me?