File #13 - the Bit they Nearly Missed Out
Sometimes, the moments in a wedding ceremony that people worry about the most are the ones they originally consider leaving out altogether. This couple said they didn’t want to do personal vows. It wasn’t that they were against them, exactly – they were just unsure. “We’re not really ‘stand up and read our feelings out loud’ people,” one of them said.
So they said they weren’t having them. Keeping things simple. Quick question vows, a ring exchange and done.
But something held them back.
Not a strong conviction – more a quiet sense that this might be a moment worth keeping.
So we left space for it and they each wrote something ‘just in case.’
On the day, everything else came easily. Laughter in the right places. That warm, familiar hum of people who know each other well.
Then we reached the vows. There was a pause, I looked at them and they both nodded, in unison. One of them took a breath, gave a small sideways smile, and began. The first words were careful. Then something softened.
What they said wasn’t elaborate. Just little and honest truths. Shared jokes. Quiet promises. A line about showing up on ordinary days that landed harder than anything else.
At one point, they both laughed – properly, unexpectedly – and then, just as naturally, one of them had to steady their voice.
No one looked away.
Afterwards, one of them said to me, “I’m really glad we didn’t miss those out.”
The other nodded. “Yeah. They were the best bit.”
Funny, really - the part they almost left out was the part that made it unmistakably theirs.