First and foremost, I am a Christian, and when I was planning my wedding, I wanted my wedding and wedding vows to reflect my beliefs and the eternal vows that I was making to my husband. That was why my husband and I chose not to write my own vows, but instead to use the tried and true vows which couples have been making to each other before God for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Christian wedding vows promise love and support through every situation throughout your life, until death do you part. Below are the vows my husband and I recited to each other, along with two other samples of some great Christian wedding vows. Then after that, if you want more samples of wedding vows, see my articles on Traditional Wedding Vows and Romantic Wedding Vows. To help understand why we use wedding vows at all, check out my article, Why Do We Use Wedding Vows?
Groom:
I, _____, take thee, ______ to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do us part. Today I pledge my faithfulness.
Bride:
I, _____, take thee, ______ to be my lawfully wedding husband. To have and to hold from this day forward, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in heath, to love and obey until death do we part, today I pledge my faithfulness.
Personally, I love those vows best, not only because they are the ones we recited, but because they pledge love no matter what. If you like, here are some other great Christian wedding vows that couples are using today.
Groom:
______, I love you and I know you are my gift from God. I want to be your husband, that we might serve Christ together. Through all of the uncertainties and trials this life my present us, I promise to be faithful to you and love you. I promise to guide and protect you as long as we both shall live. God’s Word gives us the perfect example of this love in Christ’s death for the Church. I shall try always, with God’s help, to show you this same kind of love, for I know that in His sight we will both be one.
Bride:
______, I love you and I know you love me. I am confident that God has chosen you to be my husband. It is my prayer and desire that you will find in me the helpmeet God designed especially for you, and in confidence I will submit myself unto your headship as unto our Lord. I pledge to you my life as an obedient, faithful and loving wife until death parts us.
Those wedding vows are beautiful as well, pledging eternal love, and the acknowledgment of the husband and wife’s roles in the marriage. The husband caring and providing for his wife, and cherishing her as Christ cherished his church, and the wife being the helpmeet for her husband, and being an obedient and faithful wife. This last set of Christian wedding vows is also beautiful and one worth considering for your wedding.
Groom:
I, _____, take you, ______, to be my lawfully wedded wife. It is with deepest joy I receive you into my life that together we may be one. I will be to you a loving and faithful husband. I promise you my deepest love, my fullest devotion, my tenderest care. I promise I will live first unto God rather than others. I promise that I will lead our lives into a life of faith and hope in Christ Jesus. I will ever honor God’s guidance by His spirit through His Word, so that throughout life, no matter what may lie ahead for us, I pledge to you my life as a loving and faithful husband.
Bride:
I, _____, take you, ______, to be my lawfully wedded husband. It is with deepest joy I come into my new life with you. As you have pledged to me your life and love, so I too happily give you my life, and in confidence submit myself to your headship as to the Lord. As is the church in her relationship to Christ, so I will be to you. God has prepared me for you and so I will ever strengthen, help, comfort, and encourage you. Therefore, throughout life, no matter what may be ahead of us, I pledge to you my life as an obedient and faithful wife.
I just love wedding vows like this, not mushy or superficial love, but everlasting love and commitment. As always, if you have any suggestions for more Christian wedding vows, or would like to share vows which you and your husband recited to each other, please comment and let me know!
I created this blog for you, and I would love it if you would take a few minutes to give me your thoughts and feedback. Just enter them below under "Leave a Reply". Thank you so much.
October 1st, 2007 at 6:07 pm
I appreciate this web page. But what I am really wanting to know about is “WHY” do we say/do/use the things we do for weddings. Do you have any Biblical references for the above set of vows? Or do you know why we do the things we do in weddings? Who sits on the right? Why? Veils? Why? The white runner? Why? We are having a marriage class and trying to find the answers to some of the questions I have listed. We would really appreciate any info you have or somewhere we could look to get those answers. Thanks again.
October 8th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Darla,
Great questions! It will take me some time to do the research for all of them, but please go ahead and check out my newest article, on the importance of wedding vows! Let me know if you have any more questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Sarah
April 1st, 2008 at 12:02 pm
[...] Christian Wedding Vows [...]
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:37 am
In Pastor Ed Young’s book, Outrageous Contagious Joy, there is a chapter that tells you most of what the traditional wedding practices mean. Basically it represents the marriage covenant in the Old Testament which included a sacrficial animal. It was performed in front of witnesses (to include the community). The animal was cut into 2 pieces, and each side represented each family. The couple would walk around the animal including through the blood spilled in the middle. That is representative of the pews and aisle in the church. The white runner is to represent walking on God\\\’s holy ground. The book goes on to explain why the bride walks down the aisle to the groom who awaits her next to the minister etc. The reason we have weddings with witnesses is because our families, friends and community are to help us uphold the covenant (agreement) we make with God and each other.