In 1549, the “Book of Common Prayer” was published and the first wedding vows were introduced to the world, but before, and until they were commonly recognized as part of a ceremony, the father and the groom would meet and agree that their daughter would be the wife of the “boyfriend”. Usually this was accompanied by an agreement for services rendered by the groom and a small dowry provided by the father of the bride. The wealthy ladies and gentlemen of the time would put the agreement into a legal document to make it look official and would organize a dance or party to make it official. This was the time when the first vows and the first marriage licenses came into play.

The ceremony and the prayer were something like that. While the wealthy usually had a prominent ordained church elder, the poorer class of people would have the local governor or other lesser clergyman introduce the groom to the bride and remind them that they were speaking publicly and before God and after a ceremony. reading of the then accepted. marriage verse from the Bible, said the groom,

“I blank, I take you, blank, to be my married Wife, to have and to sustain from this day forward, for the better, for the worse, for the richer, for the poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to take care, from this day forward, until death do us part, according to the holy ordinance of God. “

Then the Bride would return with, I, blank, would take you, blank, to be my married Spouse, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, love, care and obey, until death do us part, according to the holy ordinance of God.

This liturgy and its variations and many other parts of today’s ceremony have resisted quite a few attempts to change it and in some cases remove it from the vows for something less biblical. The church always succeeded with the voice of the people behind it, keeping these sacred vows as popular today as ever. The only exception to this position came in 1922 when the strong voice of the female population forced the leaders of the Episcopal Church to vote whether to remove the word “obey” from the rite. The vote was overwhelmingly approved and only some of the oldest and most strict elders in the church voted to keep it intact. Even if it hadn’t happened back then, it is not very likely that the word would still be in the ceremony, as even most men now agree that it is not a necessary or functional part of the wedding ideal. The phrase “love, honor, and obey” has since been replaced by “love, honor, and cherish.” This is also in line with some scholars who argue that the translation involved in the original ceremony may have been inaccurate or, at the very least, wrongly copied into the text.

The vows were almost always followed by the ring bearer who presented the ring bearer’s pillow to the groom so that he could bring the ceremony to its happy conclusion and symbolize the union with the full circle that the ring represents. The rings in today’s ceremony are kept by the best man and the ring bearer, when worn, often wears inexpensive rings for symbolic reasons. In the modern world we live in, it is not uncommon for couples to add their own vows, write down their thoughts and feelings, and express their love for each other in their own words. While this adds a personal touch to the ceremony and also adds additional meaning to the emotions of the moment, the original vows are considered the most beautiful and popular in the world and will always be there for people to hear and enjoy on their special day. . .