Vow examples · Short
Short Wedding Vow Examples
Under a minute to say, still deeply personal. Short vows for nerves, for tight timelines, or simply for saying less and meaning it more.
Short wedding vows are usually 100 words or fewer — about 30 to 45 seconds spoken. The trick is to keep one specific detail and one real promise, and cut everything that is just throat-clearing. The samples below are complete vows you can adapt.
Short does not mean generic. A short vow has room for exactly one image and one promise — so make both count and cut the rest.
When this style fits
- You get nervous speaking and want something you can deliver cleanly.
- Your ceremony has a tight run of show.
- You would rather say one true thing than a long list.
Sample lines to borrow
Short lines you can lift, reshape, or use as a jumping-off point. These are original samples for inspiration, not real couples’ vows — the goal is to spark your own.
No grand gestures. Just me, here, on purpose, every day.
I will not always get it right, but I will always come back and try again.
Thank you for being easy to come home to.
I am not going anywhere. That is the whole secret. I am just not going anywhere.
Full sample vows
Complete, start-to-finish sample vows so you can see the shape top to bottom.
I do not have a long speech. I have a short one I mean completely. I promise to be kind to you, especially when it is hard. I promise to keep showing up, keep paying attention, keep choosing this.
You make my life bigger and quieter at the same time, and I did not know I needed both. So: yes. To you, to this, to all of it, for as long as I get.
I will make the coffee on the mornings you cannot get up. I will tell you the truth even when the easy thing is to stay quiet. When we disagree, I will stay in the room.
I will keep choosing you on the ordinary Tuesdays, because that is where most of a life actually happens. I am in, for all of it.
How to make them yours
Examples are a starting point, never the finish line. The vows that move a room are the ones only you could have written. A few ways to personalize:
- Keep one specific detail and one promise. Delete every line that could apply to any couple.
- Say it out loud and time it. If it runs long, cut adjectives before you cut ideas.
- A short vow can still open with a single image — one is plenty.
Make it sound like you, not a sample
Pocket Vows interviews you about your real memories and promises, then helps you draft in your own voice. Start free — no account needed.
Start with the 2-minute mood quizFree to start · no account needed · private by design
FAQ
How short can wedding vows be?
A heartfelt vow can be 30 to 40 seconds — around 60 to 100 words. What matters is that it is specific and sincere, not that it is long.
Should both partners write short vows?
It helps to agree on a rough length so one vow does not dwarf the other. Trading a target word count in advance keeps them balanced.