Probably coming in second of importance after saying, “I do,” wedding vows should be made a priority to create the perfect beginning of a life together with your partner. They should be personal, yet easily understood. Sophisticated, yet light-hearted. Realistic, yet present the dream you're willing to offer to your love. Wedding vows should be a balanced proclamation of your uniting love and forever future, but if you need a little nudge to help get you on track, here are a few tips to get your William Shakespeare on.

Punctuality
- Start early, and don’t wait till the last minute. Vows are meant to be personal and created with care.
Talk to your partner
- Establish a tone, structure, and word limit so that no one is being taken too seriously or not seriously enough and so that they don’t last for more than a couple of minutes.
Reminisce
- Think back on memories you have with your partner, the good and bad, to appreciate where you came from and how you have evolved into who you are now.
- Look back at old pictures, trinkets, and experiences to become inspired and possibly include in the anecdotal portion of your vows.
- Avoid anything too personal, embarrassing, or cryptic. Your vows should be unique, but they should also be understandable to your audience.
Unsure of where to start or how to get out of writer’s block?
- Make a list. This way you’ll be able to stream-of-consciousness write, convert those words into sentences, and then simplify and edit out anything unnecessary.
- Look at other couple’s vows to get ideas and to reignite your inspiration.
- Simply take a break. Sometimes we overthink too much and don’t allow ourselves the opportunity to enjoy the experience of celebrating our partners through our vows. Take a step back, breathe, and resume when you feel the time is right.
Promises
- Come up with several you can make to your spouse that you know you can keep and our realistic.
- Avoid anything too cliché.
Editing
- Have someone you trust to read over your vows to make sure that they make sense and are easily listened to.
- Simplify. We all want our vows to be perfect, but perfect does not equate to longwinded. Save intense proclamations for a private time to make it more personal.
- Practice makes perfect. Practicing out loud will help you avoid any slip-ups and helps you understand how the audience will process your words.
- Make a clean copy for yourself.