Short · about a minute · 117 words
Short Wedding Vows for Her (Under a Minute)
A groom marrying a generous woman wants short vows that name the small way she puts him first and promise to meet her halfway
Said by Bashir, to Esme. The names are made up.
The vows
Esme, you always leave me the last dumpling. You push it across the plate with your chopsticks and say you're full. You are never full. I've watched you eat a second dinner standing at the fridge at midnight.
It took me a year to see that this is how you put me first, a little bit, every day.
So here's what I'm promising. I'll walk on the traffic side, even though you say that's old-fashioned. I'll call your grandmother every Sunday in my bad Farsi and let her laugh at me. I will tell you the truth when you ask how something looks.
And from now on, Esme, we split the last one.
Right down the middle.
Why it works: The dumpling is a tiny thing everyone at the table has seen her do, so it gets a knowing laugh and then means more than it looks. The promises are concrete and a little old-fashioned, which suits him. The ending changes the habit instead of praising it, so the last line is a promise too.
Make them yours
Borrow the shape, not the sentences. These open on one real moment, say one thing about the partner nobody else sees, make a handful of promises (mostly small ones), and come back to the opening detail at the end. Put your own moment, your own habit and your own promises in each slot. The guide to writing vows walks through each part.
Write yours, or check them
The vow writer starts from your own answers. The vows check times your draft and flags the lines every couple uses, without sending it anywhere.