Congratulations! You and your partner have decided to elope in the gorgeous mountains of Colorado! You’ve decided on your location, picked your vendors, picked out your wedding attire, and gathered all of your special wedding details. All that’s left to do is write your wedding vows. This can be a lot easier said than done, that’s for sure! But we’re here to help! In this blog, we’ll walk you through how to write your wedding vows for your Colorado elopement.

Find The Perfect Book To Write Your Vows In

Or anything to write your vows on, really. This can be a cool vow book that you get personalized on Etsy, a special notebook that you’ve had for ages, or you can even turn this into a fun date night where you actually make your own vow books! There are a lot of different styles and types of vow books. We really love this one from Etsy. You can even write your vows on a card like Noah and Katie did!

Our only piece of advice when it comes to the physical look of your vow books is this: We encourage all of our couples to actually write out their wedding vows in a notebook or designated vow book and avoid putting them in their phones. Taking the time to actually write down your thoughts, feelings, and love really helps to keep the day focused on the two of you and your love for each other.

Designating a space for your vows gives you and your partner the space to keep adding new vows for vow renewals to follow. Having all of your vows in one place allows for you both to look back on your relationship and see how much you have both grown in between each vow renewal. Honestly, there is something so romantic and strengthening about this! Being able to look back after 20+ years of marriage and read your vows together – if that’s not the sweetest thing I don’t know what is!

What To Say in Your Wedding Vows

Now that you’ve found the perfect vessel for your vows, it’s time to fill your vow book with heartfelt emotion and love for your partner! This is where people often draw a blank. Have you ever just sat down with a blank piece of paper and stared at it for hours? Even though you had so much to say in your head as soon as you sit down to write it, your mind goes blank? No? Just me? Well if this happens to you, here are so prompts to help get you started with your vows.

That is one of the great things about choosing to elope, you can throw the rulebook out and opt for your own experience! These ideas could be just what you were looking for or they could be a jumping off point to something that resonates with your heart even more.

Share Your Own Personal Stories

This is a really great way to acknowledge all of the moments throughout your relationship that brought you to this moment of marriage. The good, the not so great, and the hilarious. All of these moments make up your relationship and it is a really fun way to highlight the parts of your relationship that strengthened it through stories.

Acknowledge the Support You’ve Given and Received

One of the greatest things about our jobs as an elopement photographer and videographer is that we have had the privilege to see couples express their love for one another in the rawest and truest sense. When the pressures of a big, traditional wedding falls away, what is left is a space that invites vulnerability. Vulnerability really allows you and your partner to let your guard down and open your hearts. Your vows could be a really great space to acknowledge how much you appreciate the support you’ve received from your partner or that you’ve given your partner, or even the mutual exchange of unconditional support.

Don’t Forget To Say “I Love You”

This one might come as a shock, but I think that it is really important to write this out and say it outloud. In my opinion, you can never say I love you enough, and what better place for this than in your vows!

Dream About The Future

I love when couples dream about their future together. What they will do, where they will go, and they want for each other as a couple and individually. This is a really beautiful sentiment to add to your vows and one that can be a real tear jerker. This is also a great spot to get creative and fun!

Embrace The Sentimentality

When you’re not standing in front of hundreds of people waiting on every word that comes out of your mouth, when your vows are just for the two of you, you can really let go of the expectations of what your wedding vows “should” sound like. The truth is, there is no right or wrong way to write your vows. If your words are coming from the heart, they will be perfect. Allowing yourselves a moment for sentimentality is a great way to keep your wedding day focused on the two of you.

Lastly, Be You!

Your wedding vows are a super personal reflection of who you are as a couple, what you love to do together, and how much you mean to each other. There is no pressure to be funny or super sentimental or anything else that doesn’t feel like you. Whether you want to include jokes or funny stories or professions of love is entirely up to you and what you feel best represents your relationship with your partner. If you do want to be funny or super sentimental, we say go for it! As long as it feels like you, your vows will be perfect. And if you’re looking for additional ways to make your Colorado elopement special, this blog is for you!

Tips For Writing Your Elopement Vows

Now that you’ve learned how to write your wedding vows, here are some tips when it comes to writing them.

Start Early

Don’t put off your wedding vows! You don’t want to have to settle for less than ideal vows because you waited until the last second to write them. In that same respect, you don’t have to write them in one sitting. You can jot things down that inspire you or ideas of things that you want to say. This way, when you are ready to sit down and write your vows you’ll have a whole list of ideas and inspiration to pull from.

Don’t Read From Your Phone

Phones can be a great way to organize your thoughts and type out a draft, but when you’re ready to write your final draft, we encourage couples to write it down on a physical piece of paper. Not only will it make for better images and video to read from a piece of paper or notebook, but writing your vows down gives you a souvenir from the day that you can look back on for the rest of your lives.

Practice Reading Your Wedding Vows Out Loud

Reading your vows to your partner can be an emotional experience. One of the ways you can be sure to deliver your vows in the way you want them to be heard is by doing a couple of dry runs before your wedding day. You certainly do not need to read your vows anyone, you can simply read it out loud to yourself. This will also really help you write your wedding vows.

Write Your Vows Legibly

One big advantage to reading it out loud is to also make sure that you can read your own handwriting. It can be a difficult stumbling block to have to try to remember what a word is that you wrote because it wasn’t written clearly. This will also help if you are including video into your elopement day.

Examples of Wedding Vows

Sometimes the best way to get started at writing your own wedding vows is to listen to what others have said in their vows. By reading or listening to vows from other couples, you can see what sort of phrases and story structures resonate with you and your partner’s relationship. This way, you can get a better idea of what you want your vows to look and sound like. Here are just a few examples, if you’d like to see more video examples you can check out our YouTube channel here.

Ready To Elope in Colorado?!

Hey, we’re Jake and Bailee! A Colorado based elopement photography and videography team. We would absolutely love the opportunity to get to know you two and hear everything that you are envisioning for your elopement! Click here to reach out and start planning your dream Colorado elopement!