How short can wedding vows be?

One sentence is enough. “I take you as my husband, and I am not going anywhere” is a complete vow: it declares, it commits, and it stops. A ten-second vow said clearly beats a two-minute one delivered through tears at half volume.

Will short vows look like we did not try?

The opposite, usually. Short vows are harder to write than long ones, and guests hear the difference — a short vow has no filler in it because there was no room for any. What reads as effortless is the third draft, not the first.

Do both of us have to keep it short?

Agree on it beforehand. The mismatch is what people notice: one partner delivering ninety seconds of carefully written prose and the other answering with two lines sounds unbalanced even when both vows are good.

Are short vows suitable for a church wedding?

Only if the rite allows personal vows at all. Catholic consent is prescribed and cannot be shortened; Anglican, Methodist and Lutheran services set the vow text but often allow additions. Ask your officiant before you cut anything.

Short wedding vows: 25 examples under a minute

Complete vows with nothing in them you could lose your place in. Every one below is finished as it stands — the timings are for saying them slowly, out loud, which is how they will actually be said.

Start here

The one most couples pick

Short · 20 seconds

I take you to be my [wife / husband]. I promise to be honest with you, patient with you, and here — for the good years and the hard ones, for as long as I am given.

Traditional, cut to the bone

Short traditional · 18 seconds

I, [name], take you, [name], to have and to hold, from this day forward, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for as long as we both shall live.

The shortest one that still means everything

Short · 10 seconds

You are home. I take you as my [wife / husband], and I am not going anywhere.

Want one assembled around your own promises? Use the vow builder — pick a tone, answer four questions, get a draft you can edit.

The very shortest vows

One sentence each, ten to fifteen seconds. Say them slowly; there is nothing here to rush.

One sentence

Shortest · 12 seconds

I take you as my [wife / husband], my closest friend and my favourite person, and I promise to be honest, kind and present for every day I get.

Three promises

Shortest · 12 seconds

I promise to love you, to tell you the truth, and to stay when it would be easier not to. Today, tomorrow, and for as long as I have.

The decision

Shortest · 10 seconds

I chose you a long time ago. Today I am saying it out loud, in front of everyone, and I will keep choosing you for the rest of my life.

Two lines

Shortest · 12 seconds

Everything I have, I share with you. Everything I am, I give to you. That is the whole of it, and it is yours.

The plainest possible

Shortest · 8 seconds

I love you, I trust you, and I am staying. That is my vow.

Short traditional vows

The standard clauses trimmed to the ones that carry weight. For the full authorised text of each rite, see traditional wedding vows.

Four clauses only

Short traditional · 15 seconds

I take you to be my [wife / husband], to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.

Traditional, with one promise of your own

Short traditional · 25 seconds

I, [name], take you, [name], to be my [wife / husband], for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for as long as we both shall live.

And I will [your own promise], every day, for all of it.

The vow as a single promise

Short traditional · 15 seconds

From this day forward, in whatever comes — better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness or health — I am yours. This is my solemn vow.

Short and cute

Warm and light without tipping into a joke. These are the ones that get the audible sigh from the third row.

Favourite person

Cute · 15 seconds

You are my favourite person in every room, including the ones you are not in yet. I take you as my [wife / husband], and I would do it again tomorrow.

The good news

Cute · 15 seconds

The best thing that has ever happened to me is that you said yes to a second [date thing]. I promise to keep being worth it, for as long as you will have me.

Small and specific

Cute · 18 seconds

I promise you slow mornings, a hand on your back in a crowded room, and someone who is genuinely delighted to hear the key in the door. Every day, for the rest of my life.

Still surprised

Cute · 15 seconds

I have never got over the fact that you chose me, and I do not intend to. I take you as my [wife / husband], with my whole heart and no hesitation at all.

The quiet one

Cute · 15 seconds

I do not need our life to be extraordinary. I need it to be ours. I promise to love you steadily, which is harder and better than loving you loudly.

Short and funny

One joke, then land it. If you want a whole page of these, see funny wedding vows.

Brevity as the joke

Funny · 15 seconds

I was told to keep this short, so: you are wonderful, I am lucky, and I promise to make the next fifty years worth the first [number]. Thank you, that is the vow.

The domestic clause

Funny · 18 seconds

I vow to share the good blanket, to remember which mug is yours, and to be loyal to you, honest with you and entirely on your side for as long as I am lucky enough to have you.

Terms accepted

Funny · 15 seconds

I vow to let you believe you are better at parking. I vow to take your side in every argument with a stranger regardless of the facts. And I vow to love you, properly, for the rest of my life.

Honest and brief

Funny · 12 seconds

I love you and — rarer, and harder — I like you. I intend to keep doing both for a very long time. Everything else I will tell you in private.

Short faith-based vows

Brief religious wording for a ceremony that is not fully liturgical. Prescribed texts are at religious wedding vows.

Before God, briefly

Faith · 15 seconds

Before God and everyone here, I take you to be my [wife / husband]. I will love you faithfully and forgive you readily, with God’s help, as long as I live.

Where you go

Faith · 12 seconds

Where you go I will go. What you carry I will help carry. I thank God for you, and I give myself to you today.

Three things

Faith · 15 seconds

I will be patient. I will be kind. I will keep no record of wrongs. And when I fail at all three, I will come back and try again.

Short matched pairs

Two halves written to be said one after the other. The shared last line is what makes them sound composed rather than coincidental.

The echo

Pair · 12 seconds each

First: I take you as my wife. I promise you honesty, patience and the good half of everything. I am not going anywhere.

Second: I take you as my husband. I promise you honesty, patience and the good half of everything. I am not going anywhere either.

Question and answer

Pair · 10 seconds each

First: Will you stay, on the days it is hard? Because I will.

Second: I will. And I will still be here when you have forgotten you asked.

Making a short vow land

A short vow has no room to recover, so put the specific detail in the first sentence and the commitment in the last. Cut every adverb — “I will absolutely always be there” is weaker than “I will be there,” and one of them is four seconds shorter.

Then say it standing up, at full volume, twice. If you want the fuller versions, the example wedding vows run about a minute each, and the vow templates leave the personal parts open.

Common questions

How short can wedding vows be?: One sentence is enough. “I take you as my husband, and I am not going anywhere” is a complete vow: it declares, it commits, and it stops. A ten-second vow said clearly beats a two-minute one delivered through tears at half volume.
Will short vows look like we did not try?: The opposite, usually. Short vows are harder to write than long ones, and guests hear the difference — a short vow has no filler in it because there was no room for any. What reads as effortless is the third draft, not the first.
Do both of us have to keep it short?: Agree on it beforehand. The mismatch is what people notice: one partner delivering ninety seconds of carefully written prose and the other answering with two lines sounds unbalanced even when both vows are good.
Are short vows suitable for a church wedding?: Only if the rite allows personal vows at all. Catholic consent is prescribed and cannot be shortened; Anglican, Methodist and Lutheran services set the vow text but often allow additions. Ask your officiant before you cut anything.