This gallery contains additional resources to help you write your own wedding vows.

There is no end to the number and types of wedding ceremonies. Some are steeped in tradition. Others are as new as new age. Taking into consideration your faith, denomination, and the requirements of the governing body and/or the minister or official who is going to perform the ceremony, you must determine how much leeway you will be given in modifying traditional vows or whether or not you will be given the opportunity of creating your own ceremony and/or vows.

The Elements of a Wedding Ceremony

The elements of a wedding ceremony are somewhat universal although they may be embellished and their chronology modified from ceremony to ceremony. Here are some of the major elements:

1) The Greeting
2) The Declaration of Intentions (Wedding Vows)
3) The Exchange of Rings
4) Blessings and Readings, and
5) The Pronouncement

Poem No. 2 - Two Birds

Two birds begin a journey long,

From different points in far off lands;

With a luring urge - in heart a song,

Two novices heed life's commands.

As they make their great migration,

Their feeble feet turn to taloned hands;

And the two reach their destination

As seasoned travelers in the northern lands.

Still unaware that the other lives,

Each alights upon the very same tree;

And there the two, as if guided by God,

Fall madly in love and marry.

Thus so it is with [Bride and Groom];

Two birds which Heaven's winds did blow

To this blessed rendezvous of life,

Like the two birds at Capistrano.

Copyright (c) 1983-1996 by Ara John Movsesian

Poem No. 4 - Eternity
(For a Second Wedding Ceremony or Restatement of Vows)

I smile whenever I recall

The special moments we have had;

Walking always hand in hand

Through the good times and the bad.

Sometimes, I think it is a dream --

The love you give me could not be;

But then when you are in my arms

There's no mistake in its purity.

Whether I'm with you or far away,

My thoughts are always drawn to you

Like a compass needle pointing North

To a love much more than true.

Of all the people on this Earth --

How lucky can a person be;

To have found the likes of you, my love,

With whom to share eternity!

Poem Recited by Ara John Movsesian

Copyright © 1983 Ara John Movsesian

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