Wedding celebrations are temporarily disrupted due to the Coronavirus pandemic. If you’re engaged or considering marriage, this is a good time to home in on what’s important when it comes to the marriage covenant, because you will be called upon to publicly state what it means to you during your wedding vows. You and your betrothed need to be ready to express wedding vows that matter.
The Knot is a good source for wedding vows. Here’s one they suggest:
“Love is a word that is much too soft and used far too often to ever describe the fierce, infinite and blazing passion that I have in my heart for you.”
It’s pretty good, especially the first part. The second part certainly expresses young love and new love very well, because it tends to be ablaze with passion.
But love is so much more complex than that, your views molded by your religious, or lack thereof, viewpoint. Greek philosophers did a pretty good job of breaking down love into four types:
4 types of love
Storge love. This is a fondness forged by familiarity. It is emotive, but as the writer C.S. Lewis said, it is a dependency-based love that often doesn’t last once certain needs cease to be met.
Philia love is the bond between friends. C.S. Lewis said, “to the Ancients, Friendships (philia love) seemed the happiest and most fully human of all loves …”
Eros love is passionate, expressed in sexuality and an ardor for beauty.
Agapic love is self-giving without concern for reward or payback. This is the love upon which the strongest marriages are built.
Looks fade. Sexual passion can fade. True love, agapic love, stays and grows over time, regardless of changing circumstances. In other words, this is a mature love that is much more than an emotion. Perhaps these descriptions of love can guide you in your quest for the proper vows for your wedding ceremony.
Here are some good sample wedding vows
If you’re looking for wedding vows that matter, this one from The Knot is pretty darn good:
“Everything in me recognizes your heart as my home and your arms, my shelter.”
A vow like this prepares fertile ground for agapic love to flourish over your lifetime.
The great philosopher, Thomas Aquinas, gave his own definition of love: that love means to will the good of the other for the sake of the other. In other words, love is about giving, not taking.
If that resonates with you, write a vow that fits your personality.
If you’re religious, you can’t go wrong with a vow right out of the book of I Corinthians (13:7):
“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”
Or The Knot suggests a lovely vow like this one:
“I promise to pray with you, to dream with you, to build a family with you and to encourage you.”
If religion isn’t your thing, here’s a profound vow from The Knot which says a lot in a few words:
“They say when you meet your soul mate you should feel calm, no anxiety and no agitation. And your calmness is what gravitated me towards you from day one.”
As much as Columbus Pro DJs believes in a grand wedding celebration, it is your love that matters. That’s why you should use this slowdown to spend some time writing your wedding vows that matter. Whether you exchange vows before ten or a hundred and ten people, these vows define the rest of your life.
The shutdown won’t last much longer. When things start opening up again and wedding celebrations return, we look forward to making your celebration everything you dreamed of, and more. Check us out. We offer dance-floor packing DJ entertainment, decor lighting, and photo booth. We love questions. Call today with yours: 614-224-1945.
