May Day!: We Vow...

After our first reading, it was time for our vows.  Houdini continued:

Marriage is a bond to be entered into only after considerable thought and reflection. By making this commitment today, Miss Goodlaff and Mr. Goodlaff's relationship will become stronger, better, and deeper.  

Today, Miss Goodlaff and Mr. Goodlaff demonstrate their devotion to each other by dedicating themselves to a life together, and they show their respect for each other by setting forth to honor the vows they have created.  

Today, their lives, which began on separate paths, will be joined as one.

Given this definition of marriage Miss Goodlaff and Mr. Goodlaff would now like to state their vows to each other.

Mr. Goodlaff went first:

"Miss Goodlaff, I have tried to find the words to express what you mean to me, but I haven’t found words that match what I feel in my heart.

You have opened my eyes to love I’ve never imagined and allowed me to dream of a life I never thought possible. And no matter where we’re at in our lives, it’s always you in my big dreams.

So as we join together FOR-E-VER, know that there is nobody else I’d rather wake up next to, nobody else I’d rather don a chef’s hat with, nobody else I’d rather beat at Scrabble and most importantly, nobody else I could love the way I love you!"

Mr. Goodlaff's vows were short and sweet, and not without a bit of humor.  I laughed (quite audibly--it was actually more of a snort) when he said there was no one he'd rather beat at Scrabble, because to this day, he never has won a Scrabble match against me.  It was a light-hearted moment in the midst of all the emotion.

After he was done, It was my turn.  Sister Goodlaff handed over my vows, which were written on two pages of yellow note paper--super classy. As I opened up my papers, a little roll of laughter went through the crowd, and I felt they were owed a little explanation as to why my vows were pages and pages long, so I said something to the effect of: "I was an English major--I don't know how to be brief." 

"Mr. Goodlaff,

In this situation, to say “I love you’ seems woefully inadequate.  How can these eight letters and three words ever express everything I mean when I say to you, right now, “I love you”?

Today, I really am the luckiest person in the world because you’re about to become my husband and me your wife.

When I was growing up we had a tile on our kitchen wall that said: "wanted, someone who knows me and loves me anyway."  And here you are, found. I cannot want for anything, because in finding you, I really have everything.

I love your humor and your wit; your kindness and your generosity; your intelligence and your excellent sous chef skills.  I love that you always strive to be better.  I love that you can brighten my day with a smile, a joke, or a bear, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.

Here, in front of all our friends and family, I promise you this: all that I am, all that I have, and all that I have yet to be is yours.  I promise to be your partner, your lover, and your best friend.  I promise to grow old with you, but perhaps more importantly, to continue growing up with you, and to be your fellow traveler on the paths where life will lead us and adventure will follow us.  

You had my heart long before you asked for my hand, and today I entrust it to you to keep forever.  I love you.

I'm not going to lie--writing our own vows was tough.  Maybe if we hadn't kept putting it off and putting it off, I wouldn't have been up until well past midnight the night before the wedding, trying to figure out what to say.  It's pretty clear from the above that Mr. Goodlaff and I didn't really talk about our vows with any specifics.  We didn't set a time limit (maybe a word limit in my case), and so when I opened up my two pages of prose, I felt like I was maybe a little too wordy.  Then again, that's kind of how I do.  In the end, I wouldn't have had it any other way.  Our vows were personal, uniquely us, and fantastic.  They were emotional, and sweet, and the perfect compliment to the ceremony we constructed.

Are you writing your own vows?

Miss something? Catch up here:


Getting Hitched
Here Comes the Bride
First, We Walk
An Interlude
The First Look that Almost Wasn't
It's All About Me
Sharp Dressed Men
Girls, Girls, Girls
My Chariot Awaits
Dress Success
Beginning the Bridal Transformation
Painting Faces
Perfectly Coiffed
Calm Before the Storm


All photos by Niki Ross Photography