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Civil Wedding Vows

When Civil Wedding Vows Make the Most Sense

Why and when should you choose civil wedding vows for your ceremony?  There are a few reasons that engaged couples may consider non religious wedding vows (both expressions, civil and non-religious, are used here as synonyms).  For example, either one of you or both hold no specific religious beliefs.  Perhaps, your wedding ceremony is an elaborate compromise to accommodate both sides of the families with somewhat opposite religious ideas and at the end you chose to go completely secular for your wedding ceremony or certain parts of it.  You might be just an atheist who is not concerned with any aspect of religion or spirituality yet because of your personal integrity, customs and respect for your future spouse you want to express your commitment to that person in a structured, short, and a solemn manner.  That’s what the civil, non  religious , vows are for.  In general, a distinguishing feature of civil, non religious wedding vows is the absence of the mention of God, deities, higher powers, or any spiritual connotations.  It is just a promise that YOU as an independent individual make to your future spouse.  Civil wedding vows basically indicate that you’re not concerned, at least during the ceremony, with “the presence of God,” divine blessing or assistance for your marriage.  You enter this marriage on your own.  You want to rely only upon yourself, you guarantee your commitment, fidelity, support and love for your partner only in virtue of who you are and what your personal values are.

If you find yourself in the situation that civil wedding vows would be preferable because you’re going to have a non religious wedding ceremony or for whatever reason and you’re looking for examples of civil vows keep in mind that you can always modify and personalize traditional or even religious vows to accommodate them comfortably into your particular marriage ceremony. 

Sometimes, in some countries, couples have double wedding ceremony.  First it is a civil wedding where the exchange of vows takes place in front of a judge or a delegated public official.  Subsequently, there is a church or a religious marriage.  If this is the situation then certainly you would look for the wording of civil wedding promises for your non religious ceremony and then choose religious vows for the respective celebration. 

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