The essence of every wedding is the recitation of the vows. Without the vows themselves, the wedding day would be nothing more than a big party, a celebration of the couple's love for each other. The bride may be radiant as she glides down the aisle in her expensive designer gown, the massive cathedral may be opulently decorated from floor to rafters and the professional musicians may bring tears to the eyes of your guests. But without the wedding vows, it is all a silly waste of time and money.    
       
 The American wedding of today evolved from two great civilizations, Rome and Greece, where the bride wore a veil and was given a wedding ring by her groom; the couple ate a special cake and rice was thrown as the groom carried the bride over the threshold of his home. Also, ceremony vows, as we know them today, emanated from the early Roman wedding. The Roman bride stood in her wedding costume, which consisted of a hemless tunic tied by a woolen girdle around her waist, fastened  with a special knot called the Knot of Hercules. Over this tunic she wore a yellow cloak that matched her yellow sandals, and around her neck she wore a metal necklace. Over all of this she added a veil of red or yellow and on the crown of her head she wore a wreath of myrtle and orange blossoms.

Finally, when she was thoroughly dressed, she stood with her family and welcomed her groom. At this point an animal was sacrificed, usually a sheep or a pig, after which the couple joined hands and stood before a pronuba, a Roman priestess, where they publicly pledged themselves to each other, probably the first official recitation of the wedding vow.    

Wedding vows were also mentioned in the Bible; Hebrews 13:4 exhorts us to honor our marriage and its vows. But today, the wedding vow has become the heart of the marriage ceremony. In fact, it is said to be the highest vow known to mankind.    

Throughout American history the wording of wedding vows was quite traditional, carefully treasured and preserved by ministers, priests and rabbis. Whenever these clergymen were called on to perform a wedding, the bride and groom accepted the traditional wording without question. Finally, in the 1950s and 1960s, and especially during the era of the barefooted flower children who took the formal marriage ceremony out of the sanctuary and onto the hillsides, wedding vows began to evolve from the traditional to the nontraditional. In fact, today most couples personalize their vows, composing them from their hearts to express their deep feelings of love and commitment to each other.

Traditional wedding vows have been structured out of time-honored societal and religious values. In fact, in the past, and up until the 1950s, brides and grooms were willing to accept these traditional vows without question. In a sense, they willingly surrendered their union to the care and approbation of the larger communityThis Website offers the formal, traditional wedding vows, along with hundreds of personalized nontraditional vows, including those used in second marriages, marriages of  older couples, ceremonies of reaffirmation and weddings involving children from previous marriages.    
       
You'll find that today's vows are written in three different ways: question-answer format; monologue format; or the very popular dialogue format, in which the bride and groom alternate phrases. As you consider the vows offered in this book, you may select one of them as your own, or you may, as the majority of couples prefer to do, use them to whet your creative juices as you write your own unique vows to each other.

I want your wedding to be special! God bless you as you plan it and especially as you write your vows, the most important and precious part of your ceremony.