You and your fiancé have FUN together and one of the things that bonds you is humor. Is it okay to have some fun with your wedding vows?
Usually yes!
Here are some things to consider:
• If you are having a religious ceremony, particularly if it’s in a church, there may be set ceremony guidelines to follow without a lot of room for improvising.
• Consider not just your fiancé but your wedding guests. How will they respond? Ultimately it’s up to you but if over 50% of your audience is family who might not understand why you would veer from traditional ceremony you might want to acknowledge this.
• How big is your Knoxville wedding? Imagine yourself happily standing in front of hundreds of your and your fiancés’ family members, colleagues and friends – now think of how comfortable you will be reciting your own vows. If the thought makes you smile – go for it! If you’re unsure, take some time to talk it over with your partner before you dive in to authoring your own nuptials. If it feels like too much, consider writing a heartfelt (hilarious) love letter to exchange with your fiancé on your wedding day instead.
Now, ready to write? Here are some tips:
• Give yourself time. Start putting together your vows at least a month ahead of your wedding day. You don’t want to end up in a time-crunch with all of the other details you are finalizing in the days leading up to the ceremony.
• Think of funny, insightful things that your family and friends know are true about you and your fiancé: Are you notoriously running late for things? Are you a big meat-eater while he’s a vegetarian? Use some of these anecdotes as a jumping off point for adding a little playful interest to your vows.
• Keep it G rated – even if there aren’t kids in attendance, this is your wedding ceremony – you want it to be memorable and appropriate.
• Think about keeping the witty parts to one or two lines. This is still one of the most important days in your lives together, you want to be sure all of the heartfelt sentiments are included too.
Have fun! If you want to talk about what you have in mind or read me your draft, I am always happy to be the sounding board for your wedding vows. You never know when they could be missing something – I’ve heard hundreds… and I’m great at keeping wedding secrets 😉.
