How long should a wedding vow be? This question has been asked over and over again since time immemorial.
The answer varies from culture to culture and religion to religion.
In some cultures, the length of the marriage vow depends on the age of the couple or their financial status, while in others, there are couples who prefer to write their own vows.
So, regardless of whether you are planning your upcoming wedding and want to make sure that your vows are perfect, or you simply want to do some research in preparation for your big day sometime in the future – below, we are going to be exploring how long wedding vows should be, as well as take a deep dive into why they’re even used in the first place.
Whenever you’re ready, let’s jump right in.
How Long Should Wedding Vows Be?
Just like we have already briefly touched upon above, while there isn’t necessarily a “one size fits all” length of time for how long your wedding vows should be, there are a variety of factors that will most likely impact the overall length of your own.
While these factors can certainly be different from couple to couple, the most common factors that impact the length of the wedding vows are culture, religious beliefs, the type of relationship that is shared between the husband and wife, as well as what type of wedding ceremony is being held.
To provide more context for that last point, during religious ceremonies, the wedding vows may go on for a few hours, while for a more laid-back ceremony, the vows might only be just a few sentences, which would take no more than 5 minutes or so.
With all of that being said, even though wedding vows vary in length depending on a variety of factors that we have listed above, it is also worth noting that the majority of most couples will decide to make their wedding vows last for no longer than 30 minutes or so.
The main reason that the wedding vows are typically kept short and sweet is so that the day is not held up and that the wedding guests are not bored.
To follow on, some people even go so far as to say that the wedding vows should be kept secret until the actual wedding day.
This is because they want to make sure that everything goes smoothly without any problems. They don’t want anything to ruin their special day.
With this being said, if you would like to make sure that your wedding vows are kept a secret until the time comes for you to say them to your partner at the altar, then you should be sure to consider how long you would like the vows to be…as we’re sure that you won’t want to forget any of them!
The Importance Of Wedding Vows
So, now that you have a better understanding of how long wedding vows typically take, you’re now probably wondering why wedding vows are so important in the first place!
Well, despite the obvious fact that wedding vows are a part of the tradition and have been a key component of weddings for centuries, it is also significant to remember that wedding vows are there to help legitimize the wedding verbally.
Typically, the wedding vows that are spoken by the bride and groom usually consist of a set of commitments that each party makes to the other as a promise to be there for one another in a variety of different ways for the rest of their lives.
However, as we have already mentioned above, depending on what part of the world you are getting married in or what religion you may be a part of, there might be additional requirements that you will need to include inside your vows, alongside any personal touches that you might like to add.
This brings us to our next point!
Wedding Vows: Writing Tips
If you are planning on writing your own wedding vows, then the following tips that we are going to be sharing with you will help to ensure that you are able to include everything you need to inside your vows without them taking too long to recite. Let’s check them out below:
1) First things first, while writing your wedding vows you should be sure to make sure that you choose words that show your true feelings.
Besides helping to make sure that your wedding vows are clear and concise, you will also be ensuring that the vows you speak will be completely true and authentic.
2) Don’t forget to include details! For example, if you are talking about the future, then you should be sure to mention things like children and family so that you don’t miss out on any important details.
Making sure that you are including the details in the early drafts of your wedding vows will help to prevent you from overwriting, and in turn, will prevent your vows from running on too long during the big day.
3) Keep in mind that the wedding vows are meant to be read out loud. So, you need to practice reading them before the big day.
This is something that you should take into consideration when determining the length, as you’re more than likely going to need to recite the vows by memory.
Final Thoughts
All in all? The length of wedding vows will vary from couple to couple and wedding to wedding.
But, now that you have read through this guide, we hope that you now have a much greater understanding of how long your wedding vows should be – and are ready to go ahead and begin preparing your own!
The main thing to remember is that even though there are a variety of factors that can impact the length of your wedding vows (including religion, the type of ceremony, and the unique relationship held between the wife and husband) there are no set rules when it comes to the length of your vows.
Thank you for reading!
