photo + video for all your love storiesBASECAMP VISUAL

How to Write Your Own Wedding Vows


Weddings come with countless choices. When planning their big day, many couples decide to write their own wedding vows. Here’s how you can, too!


How to write your own vows

Choosing to write your own wedding vows is no small decision! We did, and we believe it’s such a beautiful way to personalize your ceremony, bringing extra emotion to an already emotional day.

Are you interested in writing your own wedding vows? We’re glad to share a few tips!

But first, here to teach you how to write your own wedding vows, Nicole & Ryan! Grab your tissues before watching.

Here are a few of our favorite tips to help you get started with yours.

1. Begin at the beginning.

There’s no better place to start, is there? In the film above, it was so special how Nicole began with how she’s loved him since she was 19. A beautiful nod to the start of their love story. We suggest keeping the inside jokes to a minimum, but don’t shy away from sharing the favorite parts of your story!

Breckenridge Wedding Photographer & Videographer

2. Plan out the length.

You do you, but it can help to keep your personal vows under around 5 minutes each. Write them once, including every single word you want to, and then time yourself reading them out loud.

Then add 30 seconds.

You’ll likely be emotional and it could feel difficult to get through them on your wedding day. If you’ve got 5 front and back pages to read it can be overwhelming. With a concise, beautifully written single page or two, your emotions won’t stop you from getting through it all.

3. But don’t make them too short.

We do recommend saying more than “we’re getting married, yay! I love you.”

4. Bullet point lists are easy to read aloud.

When you’re writing our your vows, keep in mind that you’ll likely be a little nervous. You’ve maybe never professed your deepest feelings out lout in front of friends and family before. It can be nerve-wracking! Bullet points are simply easier to keep track of than long paragraphs are!

This format also allows you to take a breath between each point and sloooooow down, which is so important for your nerves, for your wedding film, & for your guests to clearly listen to your words.

How To Write Your Own Vows

5. Consider writing them together.

There are couple ways to approach this. You can write and read identical vows to each other that you create together. This is really beautiful and a personalized take on the traditional “repeat after me” vows. If you want a best of both worlds approach, this may be it!

Otherwise, if it’s important that you write your own individual vows and keep them private until your ceremony, we recommend having the conversation to outline your expectations with each other. Things like “let’s each write 5 promises” or “only include 1 joke” or ‘no more than 4 paragraphs, but at least 2″. This just helps ensure your vows are on the same page, avoiding the whole “one person only said jokes and the other sobbed their way through the most personal thing we’ve ever heard” debacle.

6. Pull from the heart.

Ultimately, write from your heart. When you stand before each other, in front of your friends & family or alone with only the mountains to witness, his is your chance to make some pretty big promises – but don’t let that trip you up. Whatever story you choose to share or whatever you decide to vow to do in your years together, just take a deep breath before you start and soak it all in.

Breckenridge Wedding Photographer & Videgrapher

We hope this helped! Tell us – will you write your own vows? What tip would you add to this list to help other couples?


We’re Dave & Shanna, a Breckenridge elopement photographer & videographer husband & wife team! Are you on the hunt for a creative storytelling team for your upcoming Colorado wedding or elopement? Interested in a session just because? Let’s talk about it! Contact us today to learn more.

Add a comment...

Your email is never published or shared.

connect with us

@exploreyourstory

Professional photo + video for all your love stories.

BRECKENRIDGE | FAIRPLAY | BUENA VISTA

Contact Us

hello@basecampvisual.co

G-GNRLPHT7EY