Civil ceremony wedding vows are essentially the verbal commitments made by both partners as they exchange wedding rings. They are used to express personalities, indicate feelings towards one another and set the scene for the many happy years of marriage which are to follow.
Unlike with Church weddings, in both civil weddings and civil partnerships, couples are free to choose their own words so long as their civil ceremony wedding vows are of a non-religious nature, and the Superintendent Registrar approves.
For many couples, the thought of scribing their own civil ceremony wedding vows is somewhat daunting, and in these instances the Registrar may suggest some appropriate words to use. That said, the vows that will be suggested are often quite basic and do not give the couple the opportunity to stamp their mark on the ceremony - typical suggestions may be along the following lines:
<Name>, I give you this ring, as a token of my love, and a symbol of our marriage/partnership, I vow to be loving, faithful and loyal to you, throughout our lives together.
With this ring, I thee wed, and with it, I bestow upon thee all that I have to offer.
<Name>, I take you to be my wife/husband/partner, I promise to love you, honour and respect you. I will stand by you and be true to you always. I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness and I ask you to wear it as a reminder of the vows we have spoken today. Whatever life may bring I will always love you.
As you can see, the civil ceremony wedding vows typically suggested by a Registrar can be quite simple, so it is easy to see why many couples up and down the country are taking the opportunity to put into words just how they feel for each other (in a nice way, of course). For those couples who do like the thought of creating some words that wouldn’t look out of place in a Mills and Boon paperback, our writing your own wedding vows article is a great place to start, whilst our romatic & funny marriage vow examples and celebrity wedding vows should help to provide some inspiration and ideas.
Regardless of whether you plan to use your own civil ceremony wedding vows or some suggested by your Registrar it is important that you pay careful thought to them and take time to conisder all your options. Finding the right partner is the main thing but finding the right words to mark the occasion is nearly as important.
We are always on the look out for romantic or fun vows from real couples up and down the country and will be publishing our favourites on the site in the near future. If you have used or plan to use some of your own creations and think they’re too good to keep secret, why not let us, and others, know about them – if you’re interested, simply click here.
