Thinking about writing your own vows?  Here are some great ideas to help you get started:

-Think back to and reflect on the moment you knew your significant other was “the one”.  Take yourself back to that magical moment when it felt like the world stopped rotating and your stomach was filled with butterflies :).

-Come up with one or two promises to make to your soon-to-be husband or wife– they are called vows for a reason, so the promises are the most important part!  You can “promise to always say ‘I love you’” or “promise to always be supportive”.  When you love someone the way you love your fiancé, these promises will most likely make you very emotional– in a good way!  The tears will start to flow and your heart will feel happy :).

-Write it all out.  Go for it.  Write from the heart; anything and everything.  Make it long, dramatic and full of run-on sentences.  Remember, this is just the first draft so be carefree and write like you mean it.  Save this rough draft for your first anniversary!

-Now, cull it down.  Go through your notes and highlight the most important parts.  Rewrite.  Cull.  Rewrite.  Shorten your vows to one or two minutes max.  Don’t let them drag on.  Short and sweet is all you really need!  Quality is more important than quantity.

-Practice out loud.  Seriously!  It may sound ridiculous, but practice makes perfect and it will ease any tension that you may have on your wedding day.  When you practice, you will be able to hear how these vows sound coming off the paper and into the special words you will be speaking on the big day.

-Make a clean copy for yourself.  Use a fresh piece of paper free of scribbles, arrows and doodles.  You could even use linen paper or another higher quality paper to make these vows even more special!  Make sure the paper is small enough to tuck away somewhere– maybe he’ll even find it later!  Wink wink 😉

-Love & Light