15 Vows You Are Really Making When You Say I Do

In honor of the 300 thousand weddings I’ve been invited to in the coming months (this might be a bit of an exaggeration, though it appear that there are more weddings taking place around me this summer than ever before) I thought it might be nice to revisit what getting married really means. It means an awesome party with the people you love the most – and who doesn’t love dancing the night away – of course, but it also means a little more. It means committing your life to one person (who hopefully is the person you cannot live without) and starting the biggest and best chapter of your life. It also means saying your vows; and saying your vows means saying a lot of things. Read on to find out what 15 promises you make when you say your wedding vows.

I Love You

This one is pretty obvious. You’re not getting married because you don’t love someone (at least we hope not). When you say, “I Do,” it means I will love you always.

I Will Still Love You

Your wedding vows are a promise to the man you are marrying to love him even on the days you don’t like him much. Yes, ladies, you still have to love him even if he thinks it’s cute to let the new puppy use a pair of your Louboutins as a chew toy (you can do it).

We Will Grow Old Together

Your wedding vows are a promise to grow old together. This means you are promising him that you will not judge his wrinkles, that you will tell him he’s handsome when his hair is salt and pepper and even if he lets go enough so that he looks just a little more pregnant than you in your second trimester.

We Will Laugh Together

You can laugh at him; it’s okay. After all, he’s going to set himself up for it the first time he puts a dress on your daughter backward and styles her hair. However, for the most part, you should save your laughter so that you are laughing together.

You Will Respect Him

No marriage is a marriage without respect. When you say your wedding vows, you are promising that you will always respect him, even when he occasionally has an idea that sounds about as good as anything a 2-year-old would come up with.

You Have My Support

Saying your wedding vows is a promise to support your husband for the rest of your lives together. You may not always want to support his ideas and decisions, but he needs your support and your job is to provide it to him.

I Have Your Back

Even when your husband is so wrong it’s not even funny, you have to have his back. You are on his team, always, and that means having his back at all times. Even if he was in the wrong and you know it. You are a team and you stand together always when the world challenges you.

I Will Be Honest

Your vows are a promise of honesty. That means you need to fulfill that promise. Don’t hide the price tag of your shoes or the fact that you had coffee with an ex when you ran into him at Starbucks yesterday morning. How would you feel if he wasn’t honest about these things? Exactly; just be honest.

I Will Be Faithful

One of the most important aspects of your marriage is being faithful. You promise him during your wedding that you will love him and only him for the rest of your life and you need to do exactly that. He’s the man of your dreams and you know it…treat him like it.

You Will Be Kind

You cannot marry someone and then treat him like garbage. Your vows are a promise to love and respect him and that means treating him with kindness.

You Will Be a Team

This is a big one. Marriage is a partnership and that means that you are a team when it comes to making big decisions and family choices.

You Will Have Fun

You cannot have a good marriage without having fun. This means you need to date, you need to laugh, you need to get out together without the kids and just enjoy being a couple. It’s good for you.

You Will Communicate

No marriage is good without communication. Use your vows to let him know that no matter what, you will always communicate with him openly so that your marriage never has to suffer.

You Will Embarrass Your Kids

Maybe not everyone vows to do this together, but my husband and I did. We promised one another that when we had kids we will make sure we are adequately embarrassing to the point that their friends love us and want to spend time at our house and our kids wish we’d be a little bit cooler (see…we can keep an eye on our kids if we have the fun house). They’ll find us mortifying until they have kids of their own; then they’ll realize we rocked the parenting thing.

We Will Argue

Saying your wedding vows is a promise to argue. Arguing is not bad as long as you keep it respectful. It means you’re standing up for what you believe and that you are comfortable enough to do that. It also means make-up sex, and that’s good for marriage.