Hi, just a quick one from me today as I was talking about this with a friend in church earlier today who was surprised I had agreed to traditional wedding vows.
From a young age I was always fascinated by weddings, partly because I was bridesmaid when I was 7 with my sister and then again aged 12. I loved the whole ritual of having dresses made and my hair done and following the beautiful bride down the aisle - the whole thing seemed divine. As I got older I used to buy bridal magazines and pick dresses and I dreamt of marrying an attractive man who took the whole thing very seriously and didn’t see it as an excuse to get drunk or slope off to watch the football results (as happened at a friend’s wedding). Later, I found Christ and the wedding ceremony took on whole new significance as the vows were before God and it would be a fulfilment of HIS will. My husband also saw the wedding ceremony the same way: a solemn, sacred affair which was an affirmation of love for each other before God and of God and all His greatness, mercy, and divine purpose in joining two souls as one.
In England, I don’t know if it is or was the case in America too, but traditional Church of England vows were for the bride to vow ‘in sickness and in health, to love, honour, and obey,’. When we got married in August 1990 the word ‘obey’ was less frequently used due to Feminism (replaced by 'cherish') but my husband, my in-laws, the vicar and my grandparents were keen on traditional vows so, what chance did I have?
I said it! The vicar even made reference to it in his sermon.
Our wedding day still remains one of the happiest memories of my life, probably only bettered by the births of our beautiful children. The whole day was absolutely perfect made more so because I was marrying a wonderful man, who like me, had a deep respect for the wedding service and our union before God and I still get goosebumps thinking that before a packed congregation of both our families and friends I vowed to ‘obey’ my husband!
From a young age I was always fascinated by weddings, partly because I was bridesmaid when I was 7 with my sister and then again aged 12. I loved the whole ritual of having dresses made and my hair done and following the beautiful bride down the aisle - the whole thing seemed divine. As I got older I used to buy bridal magazines and pick dresses and I dreamt of marrying an attractive man who took the whole thing very seriously and didn’t see it as an excuse to get drunk or slope off to watch the football results (as happened at a friend’s wedding). Later, I found Christ and the wedding ceremony took on whole new significance as the vows were before God and it would be a fulfilment of HIS will. My husband also saw the wedding ceremony the same way: a solemn, sacred affair which was an affirmation of love for each other before God and of God and all His greatness, mercy, and divine purpose in joining two souls as one.
In England, I don’t know if it is or was the case in America too, but traditional Church of England vows were for the bride to vow ‘in sickness and in health, to love, honour, and obey,’. When we got married in August 1990 the word ‘obey’ was less frequently used due to Feminism (replaced by 'cherish') but my husband, my in-laws, the vicar and my grandparents were keen on traditional vows so, what chance did I have?
I said it! The vicar even made reference to it in his sermon.Our wedding day still remains one of the happiest memories of my life, probably only bettered by the births of our beautiful children. The whole day was absolutely perfect made more so because I was marrying a wonderful man, who like me, had a deep respect for the wedding service and our union before God and I still get goosebumps thinking that before a packed congregation of both our families and friends I vowed to ‘obey’ my husband!
