I Take This Man

So you have decided to personalize your wedding vows by writing them yourselves. But how do you manage to come up with something that sounds as good as the classic "to love and to cherish until death do us part€VbCrLf? Julian Severyn of Wedding Artistry, a Broadview Heights-based wedding-planning service, offers the following advice.

€. Think about the promises you want to make to your spouse. Then frankly discuss those promises with him or her.
 
€. Strike a balance between tradition and doing your own thing. "Vows are just that - promises you make to one another,€VbCrLf Severyn says. "So you need to be solemn, reverent, deep, moving and spiritual.€VbCrLf Universality and simplicity help, too. "For example, promising €˜to stay together through rainstorms and sunshine' makes an easily graspable point.€VbCrLf
 
€. Recognize that marriage truly is a lifelong commitment. "Swapping €˜for as long as we both shall love' for €˜all the days of my life' kind of misses the point,€VbCrLf Severyn says.
 
€. Augment your own ideas with those presented in books on creating your own ceremony. Severyn suggests the refreshingly inspirational "Weddings From the Heart€VbCrLf by Daphne Rose Kingma.      
 
- LT