I create custom wedding ceremonies, but not everyone wants to use custom wedding vows. That’s perfectly okay! A familiar set of words can anchor a ceremony, which can be especially important if you want nontraditional elements in your ceremony, as well.

Writing your own vows can be very romantic, but for some people that extra task is going to be the one that tips you over into event-planning anxiety. Choose any of the below scripts, and we can use it whole cloth or tweak whatever wording you’d like.

Here are some examples of vows, adapted from the eminent folks at Unboring Weddings, that you can read to each other, or repeat after me. No writing or memorization is required.

More traditional

I, __________
do take you, __________ ;
to be my wedded spouse,
in the holy estate of marriage,
to have and to hold
from this day forward,
for better for worse,
for richer for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
I will love you and cherish you,
all the days of my life,
in the presence of the divine and these loved ones,
I give you this promise.

Join my life with yours

I, __________, take you, __________,
to be my spouse,
my partner, and friend.
To join my life with yours,
to share with you all that is to be, to laugh with you in joy,
to comfort you in sorrow,
to grow with you in love.
I will honor you
and be faithful to you,
all the days of my life.
This is my vow.

You are my choice

Today, I choose you
to be my spouse.
I vow to love you,
encourage you,
trust you, and respect you.
I accept you as you are,
and I offer myself in return.
I will care for you,
and stand beside you.
I will share with you all of life’s adversities,
and all of its joys,
from this day forward,
and all the days of my life.

From Jewish tradition

Today I ask
that you be a companion
and a spouse to me
with your consent and with your full knowledge.
May this marriage be a covenant
of partnership and trust
as we work to build a life together:
sometimes in unison, sometimes in harmony.
Today I bind myself to you
with respect, with love,
with friendship and with joy,
so that we may be companions and lovers
until the end of our days.

Spiritual, not religious

I, __________, take you, __________,
to be my spouse.
I promise to choose you every day,
to love you in word and deed,
to do the hard work
of making now into always.
To laugh with you and cry with you,
to grow with you, and create with you.
To honor the divinity in you,
of you, and around you.
To be your kin and your partner
in all of life’s adventures.
Loving what I know of you
and trusting what I don’t yet know,
I give you my hand.
I give you my love.
I give you myself.

What you are to me

You are my lover and my teacher,
you are my model and my partner,
and you are my true counterpart.
I will love you,
hold you and honor you.
I will respect you,
encourage you and cherish you,
in health and sickness,
through sorrow and success,
for all the days of my life.