Some promises never needed fixing. 'To have and to hold, till death do us part' still says it all, so here's the classic vow and a few fresh takes.
The time-tested traditional wedding vow wording heard at most ceremonies, non-denominational and ready for any officiant. Speak them word for word, or borrow the classic spine for your own.
Traditional Christian wedding vows spoken before God, in the three classic forms: the Catholic rite, the Orthodox crowning, and the Protestant Book of Common Prayer.
The same timeless promises, "for better or for worse, in sickness and in health," made in plain, present-day words for couples who want the weight of tradition without the formal script.
The Vows Writer keeps the traditional style and weaves in your story. Free.
The traditional wedding vow is "I, [Name], take you, [Name], to be my wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part." It comes from the Book of Common Prayer and is the basis for most vows spoken today.
"Typical" and "traditional" wedding vows are the same thing: the classic "to have and to hold" promises exchanged in most ceremonies. Couples either recite them as-is, repeat them after the officiant, or use them as a starting point and add a personal line of their own.
Yes, the traditional vow is essentially a fill-in template: "I, ___, take you, ___, to have and to hold, from this day forward... till death do us part." Add your names and the wife or husband wording, then say it as-is or add a personal line of your own at the end.
Older versions had the bride promise to "love, cherish, and obey," but today almost all couples leave "obey" out, and most modern ceremonies have dropped it. "To love, cherish, and honor" is the common replacement, keeping the traditional feel without the outdated promise.
A traditional Catholic vow is: "I, [Name], take you, [Name], to be my wife/husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life." The Church also offers a "to have and to hold" question-and-answer form.
Absolutely. The most common approach is to keep the traditional wording as the backbone and add one personal promise at the end. That way you get the familiar weight of the classic vow plus a line that's true to only the two of you. Our free tool can help you write that personal part.
Say these lines fast and they're just words everyone's heard a hundred times. Slow down, though, and each one is quietly doing a lot of work. "To have and to hold" is presence, choosing to stay. "For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer" promises through every circumstance, not just the easy ones. "In sickness and in health" is the line that tends to land hardest, because everyone in the room knows it will be tested.
And "till death do us part" is the whole point, the scale of what you're promising. Simple words, but they've outlasted every trend for a reason.
The exact wording shifts with the ceremony. A Catholic wedding frames the vow as a sacrament ("I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad"). Protestant and Anglican vows follow the Book of Common Prayer closely. A civil or registrar ceremony uses a legally required declaration instead of religious language, and a secular ceremony can borrow the traditional cadence without the scripture.
Other traditions have their own forms, Quaker vows are spoken directly by the couple with no officiant, and a Jewish ceremony centers on the ring vow ("consecrated to me... according to the law of Moses and Israel"). Pick the version that matches where and how you're marrying.
You don't have to choose between traditional and personal. Keep the classic spine, then add one line that's only yours, a promise that names something specific about the two of you.
Say the familiar words, then: "...and I promise to always [something true to you]." It's the best of both, the weight of tradition and a moment that's unmistakably you. If you want to write that personal part well, our step-by-step guide to writing wedding vows covers structure, length, and what to avoid, and our modern wedding vows show what it looks like to skip the script entirely.
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