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Alisandra Photography Blog

For our first anniversary, I had our vows designed and printed by Ashlee Proffitt. Upon framing them, I wanted to hang them in our home as a reminder of the words we’d promised on our wedding day. I hear so many version of vows at weddings and they are so similar, yet so different at the same time!

Our vows? I copied them from a sermon I listened to about marriage and faithfulness. During the message, they took the time to explain each part of the vows, and at the end of the church service, they actually had a couple renew their vows using these words! Here is what I liked about what they said…

1. They were in a dialect I could understand. There was no, “I take thee,” or “death do us part.” I just wanted to say, “Hey – I’m making a choice to spend the rest of my life with you. But in a more classy way than that.
2. The words aligned with our beliefs about marriage. The pastor at a wedding I photographed said, “What you believe about marriage is more important than how you feel about each other.” I wanted our vows to echo that sentiment! Also, we don’t believe marriage is eternal – just “until death.”
3. There are slightly different promises. It’s true! I’ve written the differences below. Because Chad and I play different roles in our marriage, we figured it would be good to vary the word choice slightly. God calls the husband and wife not to be equals, but to compliments, loving each other in different ways than the other.

So, here are our promises. What about you? Did you write your own? Use the traditional vows? I’d love to hear!

I, Ali, take you, Chad, to be my husband
before God and these witnesses.
I promise to be your loving and faithful wife,
to obey and honor you // to cherish and protect you
as my lifelong companion in physical and spiritual unity
through joy and sorrow, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer
until one of us shall lay the other in the hands of God.