Many people choose to be married in the summer; June being the most popular month in the east and autumn in the southwest. Much time and planning goes into the wedding. There are groomsmen and bridesmaids to choose. There is a hall to book. How large or how small the reception will be needs to be decided. And then there are those meetings with the caterer, the baker, the tailor and lots of times, even the wedding planner.
For the Christian, the church ceremony is tantamount to all of the other planning. This is because the marriage of a man and woman is representative of the marriage between Christ and His Church (Ephesians 5:28-31). Traditionally, the couple is wed in the church of the bride, however in more modern times, the church may be chosen for its size, location or photographic beauty. Most times the church for the marriage is the church with which the wedding minister is associated. Selecting wedding vows is part of the church planning for the bride and groom. My husband is a pastor and I thank him for his help as I composed and share these sample wedding vows and inspirational marriage pledges.
Formal Wedding Vows #1 (based upon Genesis 2:23-24 and Ephesians 5:22-31)
(Bride and Groom memorizing the vows)
Groom: I praise God for you my “help meet” and as we become united in marriage I will leave my father and mother and cleave to you as we become one flesh.
Groom: I, <Groom
Bride: I thank God for giving me you as my provider and as we become united in marriage I will trust you as the head of our home as we become one flesh.
Bride: I, <Bride name>, take you <Groom name>, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; until death do us part.
Formal Wedding Vows #2 (Based on Ruth 1:16 and Ephesians 5:22-31
(Bride and Groom receive assistance from Pastor)
Pastor: Please face each other
Pastor to Groom: <Groom name> do you take <Bride name> to be your lawfully and Biblically wedded wife; Do you commit yourself to fulfill your role as her husband and dedicate yourself to her physical and Spiritual well-being? Will you love, honor, trust, and serve her in sickness and in health, in times of blessing and testing, and to be faithful and true to her, so long as you both shall live?
If so, please answer by saying “I Do.”
Groom: I do
Pastor to Bride: <Bride name> do you take <Groom name > to be your lawfully and Biblically wedded husband; Do you commit yourself to fulfill your role as his wife and dedicate yourself to his physical and Spiritual well being? Will you love, honor, trust, and serve him in sickness and in health, in times of blessing and testing, and to be faithful and true to him, so long as you both shall live?
If so, please answer by saying “I Do.”
Bride: I do
Profession of Unity (from Ruth 1:16 KJV)
(after an exchange of rings)
Pastor to Bride and Groom: Will both of you please repeat after me:
“Intreat me not to leave thee, (repeat together)
or to return from following after thee: (repeat together)
for whither thou goest, I will go; (repeat together)
and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: (repeat together)
thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:” (repeat together)
Informal Wedding Vows: (based upon Genesis 2:23-24 and Ephesians 5:22-31)
Pastor: Friends we are assembled here to unite <Groom Name> and <Bride Name> in marriage. The Bible teaches that marriage is representative of the union between Christ and His believers, the Church. The home is God’s gift to man.
Marriage is a commitment between one man and one woman. These vows which you are about to give are serious and should be considered a lifelong promise.
Pastor to the Groom: <Groom name> and <Bride name> please take each other’s right hand and answer “I will” to these vows. <Groom name> will you take <Bride name> to be your lawful wife, will you promise to love, honor, and support her, being faithful only to her, as long as you both live?
Groom: I will
Pastor to the Bride: <Bride name>, will you take <Groom name> to be your husband, and will you promise to love, honor, and cooperate with him, being faithful only to him, as long as you both live?
Bride: I will
Marriage Pledge #1: (from Song of Solomon 6, 7 and 8 KJV)
(Bride and Groom memorizing the vows)
Groom to Bride: <Bride name>, Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. Do you accept this, my marriage vow to you?
Bride to Groom: I do
Bride to Groom: <Groom name>, I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me. Come, my beloved, let us go out into the fields and lodge in the villages; let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love. Let us rest every night together and wake every morning together. Do you accept this, my marriage vow to you?
Groom to Bride: I do
Marriage Pledge #2: (from Ecclesiastes 4 and Song of Solomon 2, 4, 6 KJV)
(Bride and Groom memorizing the vows)
Groom to Bride: Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. As we unite as husband and wife our strength as one is blessed by God. Will you be my wife?
Bride to Groom: I will
Bride to Groom: My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies. I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me. Will you be my husband?
Groom to Bride: I will
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1 Corinthians 13 :Bible Study on Love
Cord of Three Strands: A Model For Christian Marriages
Sources
The Holy Bible, King James Version (KJV)
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