You will find below a number of sample wedding vows you can use. Or you can adapt them to make it more personal for you on the day you vow to become husband and wife:
Sample Wedding Vows:
Male: I, _____, take you, ______, to be my wedded wife. With deepest joy I receive you into my life that together we may be one. As is Christ to His body, the church, so I will be to you a loving and faithful husband. Always will I perform my headship over you even as Christ does over me, knowing that His Lordship is one of the holiest desires for my life. I promise you my deepest love, my fullest devotion, my tenderest care. I promise I will live first unto God rather than others or even you. And I promise that I will lead our lives into a life of faith and hope in Christ Jesus. Ever honoring God’s guidance by His spirit through the Word, And so throughout life, no matter what may lie ahead of us, I pledge to you my life as a loving and faithful husband.
Female: I, _____, take you, ______, to be my wedded husband. 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. _____, I will live first unto our God and then unto you, loving you, obeying you, caring for you and ever seeking to please 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.
Sample Two:
Male: I love you, _____, and I know that God has ordained this love. Because of this I desire to be your husband. Together we will be vessels for His service in accordance with His plan, so that in all areas of our life Christ will have the pre-eminence. Through the pressures of the present and the uncertainties of the future, I promise to be faithful to you.
I promise to love, guide, and protect you as Christ does His Church, and as long as we both are alive. According to Ephesians 5 and with His enabling power, I promise to endeavor to show to you the same kind of love as Christ showed the Church when He died for her, and to love you as a part of myself because in His sight we shall be one.
Female: I love you, ____ and I know that you love me. Because of this I desire to be your wife. For _ years I have prayed that God would lead me to His choice and I am confident that His will is being fulfilled tonight. Through the pressures of the present and the uncertainties of the future I promise to be faithful to you. I will love, serve, and obey you as long as we both are alive. Christ told us that the wife must submit herself unto her own husband as unto the Lord. For as Christ is Head of His Church so is the husband head of his wife. _____, I submit myself to you.
Sample Three:
Male: I _____, take you ______, to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish ’till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.
Female: I, _____, take you ______, to be my wedded 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, ’till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.
Sample Four:
Male: _____, we read in Genesis, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife,” and in Proverbs “Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing.” He has ordained that the husband be the head of the wife. He instructs me, as the one who will be your husband, to love you as Christ loves the Church. It is my desire and delight to follow this scriptural teaching. With all my heart, I make this pledge to you.
Female: ______, the Lord instructs me as the one who will be your wife to submit to you as unto Him. Our Father created woman to be man’s helper. It is my desire and delight to follow this scriptural teaching. With all my heart I make this pledge to you.
Sample Five:
Male: ______, I love you. Today is a very special day. Long ago you were just a dream and a prayer. This day like a dream come true the Lord Himself has answered that prayer. For today, ______, you as my joy become my crown. I thank Jesus for the honor of going through time with you. Thank you for being what you are to me. With our future as bright as the promises of God, I will care for you, honor and protect you. I lay down my life for you, _____, my friend and my love. Today I give to you me.
Female: ______, 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. Therefore, _____, I pledge to you my life as an obedient, faithful and loving wife. Whither thou goest I will go, whither thou lodgest I will lodge, Thy people shall be my people, And thy God my God.
Sample Six:
Male: ______, I love you and I know that this love is from God. Because of this, I want to be your husband so that we might serve Christ together. Through all of the uncertainties and trials of the present and future, I promise to be faithful to you and love you. I promise to guide and protect you as Christ does his church, 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.
Female: ______, I love you. I prayed that God would lead me to his choice. I praise Him that tonight His will is being fulfilled. Through the pressures of the present and uncertainties of the future I promise my faithfulness, to follow you through all of life’s experiences as you follow God, that together we may grow in the likeness of Christ and our home be a praise to Him.
Sample Seven:
Male: ______, as we stand before both God and man, making public our commitment to one another, I wish to make it known that I recognize first of all God’s authority over my life which is exercised from His loving heart. He has chosen me to be one of his own. And He is now my life. I recognize also that He has blessed me and entrusted to me your life as a free gift that I have not earned.
In recognition of these things, ____ I purpose to love you with His love, to provide for your needs through His enablement, and to lead you as He leads me, as long as He give us life together, regardless of the circumstances. As Psalm 34:3 expressed my heart when I asked you to marry me, so it expresses my heart now: “O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together.”
Female: On this special day, _____, I am reminded of the verse James 1:17 which says, “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” With a gift such as you, I know that many new responsibilities face me. In I Corinthians, it explains “It is required of a steward to be found trustworthy.” I cannot do this on my own strength, _______, but by God’s grace and power working within me I desire to be trustworthy as your wife by following your leading submissively, even as unto Christ, loving and serving you in all circumstances as long as He give me life on this earth.
Sample Eight:
Male: ______, I give you this ring; wear it with love and joy. I choose you to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward for better or for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as we both shall live.
Female: ______, I give you this ring; wear it with love and joy. I choose you to be my husband: to have and to hold, from this day forward. For better, for worse, for richer for poorer; in sickness and in health; to have and to cherish, as long as we both shall live. And hereto, I pledge you my faithfulness to show to you the same kind of love as Christ showed the Church when He died for her, and to love you as a part of myself because in His sight we shall be one.
Sample Nine:
Male: I, ______, take you _____ to be my wife, before God who brought us together; to love and cherish you even as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it, to lead you and share all of life’s experiences with you by following God through them. That through His grace, ____, we might grow together into the likeness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Female: And with this ring, I, ____, take you, _____ to be my husband, before God who brought us together, to love you, cherish you, to submit myself unto you in all things, and to follow you through all of life’s experiences as you follow God. That through His grace we might grow together into the likeness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Sample Ten:
Male: I, ______, take you ______, to be my wedded wife, 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, till death do us part, or the Lord comes for His own. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.
(The Minister will quietly suggest they loose hands. Then the Woman with her right hand will take the right hand of the Man and repeat.)
Female: I, _____, take you ______, to be my wedded 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 land to cherish, till death do us part, or the Lord comes for His own. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.
Sample Eleven:
Male: I ______, in faith, honesty and love, take you, ______, to be my wedded wife, to share with you God’s plan for our lives together united in Christ. And with God’s help, to strengthen and guide me I will be a strong spiritual leader for us in our life, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, in joys and in sorrows, until death do we part. I give you all that I have myself and my love. (All these things I pledge to thee.) In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. With this ring I seal my vow of love to you, ______and pray I may fulfill God’s place in our home. I say this in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Sample Twelve:
Male: I love you, ______. And I thank the Lord for the love that has bound our hearts and lives together in spiritual fellowship of marriage. I will love, honor and cherish you always. As we enter upon the privileges and joys of life’s most holy relationship, and begin together the great adventure of building a Christian home, I will look to Christ as Head of our home as I have looked to Him as Head of the Church. I will love you in sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth, in sorrow as in joy, and will be true to you by God’s grace, trusting in Him, so long as we both shall live.
Female: I love you, ______. And I thank the Lord for the love that has bound our hearts and lives together in spiritual fellowship of marriage. I will love, honor, cherish and obey you always. As we enter upon the privileges and joys of life’s most holy relationship and begin together the great adventure of building a Christian home, I will look to you as head of our home as I have looked to Christ as Head of the Church. I will love you in sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth, in sorrow as in joy, and will be true to you by God’s grace, trusting in Him, so long as we both shall live.
These Samples
The above samples came from the ministry, “The Biblical Studies Foundation.” They have the web site: Bible.org. They also have: Useful Wedding and Marriage Resources. Plus, they have Wedding Helps, Outline of Wedding Ceremony, and What is a Marriage? They have articles such as: “Building a Healthy Marriage, and a Model for Marriage. Plus, they have The Sanctity of Marriage, Marriage is for Love: Secrets from Bible Marriages.”
The goal of this ministry is to use the power of the Internet to provide people and ministries worldwide with universal access to the NET Bible and other Bible Study resources.
More from Marriage Missions
Filed under: Planning Your Wedding
(PHILIPPINES) These vows were very nice… but why is it some couple don’t know how to keep those vows… where in fact, we all know that it’s sacred!
(INDIA) These vows are really helpful for marriage preparation. Many times I heard people making these vows… but never realised the inbuilt power. But now, as I read these vows, the Holy Spirit taught me how important & strong & powerful they are.
I really appreciate this statement in sample thirteen (above) "to allow God to use you to build His qualities in me". Thank You for these useful resources.
(GHANA) Having read these wonderful excerpts of vows one thing came to my mind. I asked myself where are all these vows the partners took during their wedding? You often hear people insult and say all sorts of provocative things against their partners despite all these vows. I do not know if human beings know the value of vows? Most don’t unfortunately, amongst Christians who are supposed to have known all about vows. This is not only a bad precedent but also discouraging the young to marry.
I suggest that instead of the pastor reading these vows and asking the couples to say after them, the pastors should help them to come out with the vows and read it or say it all by themselves so that the issue of I was asked to recite after the pastor does not arise as often as is the case with some couples. If we do not re-look at the form of the vows in our marriages, it can mire the beauty of our marriages especially of late.
Of course, no two human individuals are expected to live together without disagreement. But it should not be to the extent that we are experiencing it among many couples as we see recently, being very mindful of the vows that were undertaken. Most couples disgrace and make their partners useless simply because of a disagreement.
I was so so saddened when a woman who has been married close to 25 yrs told me her husband insulted her stinking vagina. Readers excuse my language, but that is the reality. This was done in private but to the public glare. The woman too said that she was going to curse him for doing that.
(PHILIPINES) Nice vows…