Chicago Wedding Minister Officiant Rev. Phil Landers of “I Do” Weddings, Ltd.

Vows

This is the heart and soul of your ceremony. This is what you are vowing to each other for the rest of your lives. Give it serious time, thought and attention.

Rev. Phil strongly encourages you to repeat your vows after him, line by line. To try to memorize them is to add stress to a day that has enough of that already. By repeating after him, you can hold both of your soon-to-be-spouse’s hands and look into each other’s eyes as you say your vows. If you space off for a moment, he will repeat the phrase. We are not in a hurry.

On this page, you will find:

Traditional vows

Start with the traditional vows. They say a lot in a few words. There is a reason they are so popular. Consider using them just as they are — thousands upon thousands of couples have.

I, (Name),
Take you, (Name),
To be my (wife / husband);
To have and to hold,
From this day forward,
For better, for worse,
For richer, for poorer,
In sickness and in health,
To love and to cherish,
As long as we both shall live.
(alternate last line: ‘Till death do us part.)

Here is a suggested Lutheran marriage vows (appropriate for any religious couple)

I, (name),
Take you, (name),
To be my (husband / wife),

And these things I promise you:

I will be faithful to you
and honest with you;
I will respect, trust,
help and care for you;
I will share my life with you;
I will forgive you
as we have been forgiven;
and I will try with you to better understand
ourselves, the world, and God;
through the best and the worst of what is to come
as long as we both shall live.

Non-traditional vows

I come here today, (name),
to join my life to years
before this company.
In their presence
I pledge to be true to you,
to respect you,
and to grow with you through the years.
No matter what we may encounter together,
I vow here that this love
will be my only love.
I will make my home in your heart
from this day forward.

As freely, (name),
as God has given me life,
I join my life with yours.
Wherever you go, I will go;
whatever you face, I will face.
For good or ill,
in happiness or sadness,
come riches or poverty,
I take you as my (husband / wife),
and will give myself to no other.

Celebrity Wedding Vows

Click here to see celebrity wedding vows. OK, Michael Jordan is no longer married but you can see what he promised. Rev. Phil has done weddings where the couple picked the reading and vows Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward said to each other. They were married for 50 years when he died.

Write Your Own Vows

If you have time, you can write your own vows. It’s nearly impossible to come up with something no one has ever said before. Feel free to try.

An easier method is to take one of these vows, take out some phrases you don’t like so well and add in phrases you do. That way, it’s still personalized but not as hard as starting from scratch.

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Another Rave

“We want to thank you so much for your role in making our wedding a great event. Everyone told us how beautiful and moving it was, and we agree. You created a wonderful script that incorporated our vows and story as we wanted them. You were prompt, supportive, and professional in your preparation and a thoughtful orchestrator of events at our ceremony. We really appreciate what you did. We would recommend you to anyone.”

— Adriana & Greg, Black Walnut Gallery, Chicago

more raves & reviews

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	Before The Ceremony