How To Write Your Own Vows (The Standard Canvas)
Writing your own wedding vows is a great way to communicate love and commitment to your partner. But it can be intimidating, and it's a lot of work for a piece of paper that might get lost in the fray. That's where The Standard Canvas comes in.
We first met Shayna Denham and her husband, Tony, creators of The Standard Canvas, at The Big Fake Wedding. Imagine preserving the words you worked so hard to compile on a beautifully designed, hang-able canvas. That's exactly what The Standard Canvas provides with over 10 pre-designed canvas options or a completely customized creation.
The Denhams did not intend to go into the "wedding vow art" business. Shayna first designed close to 100 print-ready canvases for a more automated model. However, their very first order changed everything. "Our first customer asked if we were able to place her personal wedding vows onto a canvas. 'Absolutely!', we said. Almost every order since that point has been for personalized wedding vow canvases. So we kind of fell into [this] niche market and have embraced it as our main endeavor."
Tips for Writing Your Own Vows
Emphasize the future love you will have for your spouse.
The wedding day is truly a crowning day of life - one filled with ample celebration, enthusiastic congratulations, and intense happiness. There has been much preparation leading up to this one momentous, glorious day. But let’s not forget that after the wedding comes a lifetime marriage. “For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer …”
Turn writing your own wedding vows into a super special date night.
Why write your vows solo when you can write them together? Within a month before your wedding day, create a dreamy date night scene. Sit across from each other at your local coffee shop, set up a picnic on the ocean, sit in front of the fireplace and crack open a bottle of wine - whatever it takes to set the tone. With pen and paper in hand, begin to formulate your wedding vows. You can still keep them a secret until your wedding day, but you will recall being in each other's presence when these words were penned. And you will be able to look at your future spouse while you’re writing them.
Set a completion date for your wedding vows.
As we all know, there is a lot of time, energy, and money that goes into wedding planning. Do not put off the task of writing your own vows (one of the most important speeches of your life) until the last minute. Some people work wonders under pressure, but for the majority, it is going to take time to sit down and think about what your future spouse means to you, why you love them so, and what your promises will be. You don't want to procrastinate and then stand in front of all your dearest friends and family with a noticeably thrown together message.
Practice reciting your wedding vows.
Practice, practice, practice. By completing your vows early, it allows time for you to practice. It is one of the most important things that you can do. Figure out where you want to pause. Think about parts of the vows that may be funny to your guests and let there be a moment of silence for them to finish laughing. Where do you want to enunciate certain words? Is there a sentence that is a tongue twister? Maybe switch out a couple of the words, slow down, or even break it up into a couple sentences.
Display your wedding vows at your wedding.
Your closest friends and family anticipate the words that you personally share with each other during the ceremony. However, circumstances (fussy child, mic problems, etc.) may prevent them from fully hearing them. This is one great reason to have them on display at your wedding, and the reception is a perfect spot! Our wedding vow canvases also make great wedding day photo props and, of course, keepsakes that you both can treasure for many years to come.
