Length of Vows

I don't think the word count matters as much as how long it takes you to recite them. Have you read through them aloud to check the length? I think 3-4 minutes is appropriate.

I agree with PP. It's not the word count.. it's the length it takes you to recite the vows. I'd say 4 minutes would be the max because people will start to lose interest even though you're telling FH how much you love them.

It seems to be taking me around 3 mins to read through. So I assume that’s not too bad? I’ll have to tweak a few things since it is just my first draft.

I don't think that's too long, mine is about that length too! I wouldn't go over 500 words but I think up to 500 is fine... I feel like reading your vows to your spouse is literally the most important part of the day. Like obviously you don't want to drone on and on for 10 minutes hahaha, but if people are going to get "bored" listening to you vowing to love your spouse for a few mins, they don't belong at your wedding imo

View Quoted Comment I completely agree with this!!

View Quoted Comment

I think the advice of reading it out loud and timing yourself and trying to stay under 4 minutes is fine. Sure, the vows are important, but there's a time and a place. It's not that your guests don't care about you, but when "vows" stray too far into the "rambling love letter that should have remained private" territory, then it's time to edit.

View Quoted Comment Oh yeah I agree with that! I’m just saying I don’t agree with some things I’ve read that you should keep it to 1 minute or something. I think up to 4 minutes is perfect.

Make sure you and your FH vows are equal in length and tone. Have someone else just glance at them. It will be super awkward if his is 5 pages of heartfelt words and yours is a half page of inside jokes. That is a tip from my wedding planner. Overall we decided not to do our own vows because we would both be sobbing messes and that is not cute in photos.

I agree with others on the timing issue. 2-3 minutes is fine. Question: what is your partner doing? He/she may feel embarrassed with a 1-sentence vow and yours is almost 500 words. Just a thought!

Another idea is you give your sweetie what you wrote as a letter then take 2-3 sentences as your vows. 💕

So most people recite about 150 words per minute. Now, personally I would say 500 words is on the cusp of too long. Maybe go in there and scrub down some redundancies if you can. I personally wouldn’t go over 2 minutes but if it’s really heartfelt, and you really mean every word... then go for it! It’s your wedding. People will stand and wait.

It seems a little long to me, but so far my vows are at 184 words and I feel pretty much done.

I agree with pp, if it's along the same tone and length as your fs you're good to go.