Looking to get your guests laughing on your wedding day? Discover our favorite funny wedding vow ideas here!
Last updated February 5, 2024
For some couples, wedding vows means linking together lots of romantic sentences and flowery phrases to create one swoon-worthy speech. For others, it’s the chance to make your SO double-over in laughter before saying “I do.” If your relationship is full of giggles and good times, chances are that you want your vows to showcase your fun-loving bond.
While drafting funny wedding vows might seem daunting, if jokes, laughter, and light teasing are a big part of your relationship, it’s a great way to let your personality shine. We’re outlining everything you need to know—as well as providing plenty of examples—to help you create funny wedding vows that stand the test of time and keep your future spouse giggling long after you walk back down the aisle to start the rest of your life together.
Though you might like the idea of getting the whole room to crack up, decide if funny vows actually showcase who you are, either individually or as a couple. If you’re known to be a comedy whiz, then joke away. If silliness and comedic timing isn’t your thing, consider just adding a few small jokes and sticking to more traditional wedding vows. Ultimately, your vows are about being yourself, showcasing your true relationship, and making promises for the future. While laughter might seem like the ultimate prize, the real reason for the vows will be standing right in front of you. Don’t lose focus on the purpose of the vows simply with the hope of making your guests laugh.
Even if you and your future spouse are always speaking with inside jokes, it’s a good idea to keep your humor broader (and PG-rated) so that your guests don’t feel like they’re intruding. When it comes to jokes, stick to personality traits or facts that at least a majority of your friends and family will get. This will help make them feel included and should also eliminate any cricket chirps after delivering a punchline.
Even if you’re fluent in comedy and have a degree in sarcasm, it’s important to remember that wedding vows aren’t a stand-up show. Vows are a serious declaration of your love for your partner and the promise you make for the future as you face both highs and lows. Comedy is a wonderful way to showcase your love, but make sure that you’re still acknowledging the importance of the moment and the commitment you’re making while your guests catch their breath in between jokes.
Whether your vows are funny or serious, practicing before the big day is crucial. Not only will this help you feel more at ease when you’re reciting them in front of a room of friends and family, but it’ll help ensure that your eyes aren’t glued to your paper the day-of. If jokes or humor are large components of your vows, practicing is extra important. Make indications for timing beats and pauses, as well as inflection points (even if you think you don’t need them) to help ensure that your jokes land when saying your funny vows.
When it comes to writing funny wedding vows, there are a variety of options. Here are a few unique ways to add humor to your vows:
Add dancing to your vows Whether you dance throughout your vows—like simultaneously busting a move between portions—or have your wedding party dance down the aisle (like at Jim and Pam’s wedding from The Office), movement is a great way to add a little something silly to an otherwise serious moment.
Make your vows musical Singing or rapping part of your vows can prove to be a unique way to get your funny vows across, even if you’re not a songbird. Take a page from Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer to create heartfelt, yet hilarious musical vows.
Incorporate a silly reading If you want to keep your wedding vows formal but still infuse humor into your wedding ceremony, consider a funny wedding reading. Rewrite any of the vows below to turn them into a passage to be presented by a friend or family member, or have them recite this short and silly passage by Ogden Nash that all married couples will be able to relate to: “To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the loving cup, Whenever you’re wrong admit it; Whenever you’re right shut up.”
Finally, if you’re looking for ideas to incorporate into your vows, here a few tried-and-true wedding vow examples that’ll make your guests (and your partner) giggle, all sourced from popular shows and movies, as well as from some real-life couples:
Monica from “Friends”: “For so long I wondered if I would ever find my prince, my soulmate. Then three years ago, at another wedding, I turned to a friend for comfort. And instead, I found everything that I'd ever been looking for my whole life. And now, here we are, with our future before us, and I only want to spend it with you, my prince, my soulmate, my friend. Unless you don't want to. You go!”
Harry from “When Harry Met Sally”: “I love that you get cold when it’s seventy-one degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour-and-a-half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
Bernadette from “The Big Bang Theory”: “Like you, this is going to be short and sweet. I love you with all my heart and soul and promise to be with you forever.”
Paige from “The Vow”: “I vow to help you love life, to always hold you with tenderness and to have the patience that love demands. To speak when words are needed and to share the silence when they are not. To agree to disagree on red velvet cake, and to live within the warmth of your heart and always call it home.”
April from “Parks & Recreation”: “I guess I kind of hate most things, but I never really seem to hate you. So I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. Is that cool?”
Andy from “Parks & Recreation”: “You are the most awesome person I have ever known in my entire life. I vow to protect you from danger. And I don’t care if I have to fight an ultimate fighter, or a bear, or him (points to a random guest), or your mom. I would take them down. I’m getting mad right now even telling you. I wanna spend the rest of my life, every minute, with you, and I am the luckiest man in the galaxy.”
Anthony from “Sex & The City 2”: “It was not exactly love at first sight, but it turns out it was love. You are the first man to accept me for the man that I actually am.”
Marshall from “How I Met Your Mother”: “There are a million reasons why I love you. You make me laugh and you take care of me when I’m sick. You’re sweet, caring, and you even created an egg dish and named it after me...It’s called ‘Egg Marshall’ and it’s awesome. But the main reason that I love you is that you’re my best friend. You’re the best friend I ever had.”
Lily from “How I Met Your Mother”: “I love you because you’re funny and you make me feel loved and you make me feel safe. And for our anniversary you gave me a sweatshirt that says, ‘Lily and Marshall: Rockin’ It Since ‘96’... but the main reason I love you is you make me happy. You make me happy all the time.”
Mike from “Friends”: “You are so beautiful. You're so kind, you're so generous, you're so wonderfully weird. Every day with you is an adventure. I can't believe how lucky I am, and I can't wait to share my life with you forever.”
Lena from “The Fosters”: “You are a piece of work, but you’re my piece of work. I accept you, every single thing that makes you who you are, from now until the end of time. I love you.”
“I vow to grow old and ugly and smelly with you—yelling at hooligans to get off our lawn and starting as many speeches as possible to our children with ‘When we were kids…’”
“I promise not to watch the next episode without you.”
“As the late, great Salt-N-Pepa once said: ‘What a man, what a man, what a mighty good man.’"
“I vow to protect you from snakes as long as we both shall live.”
“I’m not excited to become your Instagram husband, but I vow to take a million photos of you anyway.”
“I vow to agree to disagree on what the thermostat should be set at.” “Let's forget when to shut up, forget being polite. Let's be that couple, those people, and have the time of our lives until we drop dead.”
“I vow to try my best not to schedule anything when the New York Jets are playing.”
“I promise to spend our days exploring dancing in the kitchen, being the only ones laughing at our jokes, and eating takeout on the couch.”
“I vow never to make you watch “Gossip Girl” with me. Again. Sorry about that, by the way.”
“I vow to love you even when you're old and still playing Xbox with your headset on.”
“I vow to always let you have the last slice of pizza. Unless I’m really hungry and you really want to give me it. Or if it looks really good. Or if I’m tipsy. Actually, scratch that. Sorry, I can’t promise you that. But I can vow to love you forever. So, here’s to a lifetime of forever fighting over that last slice.”
If your love language is laughter and jokes, inserting humor into your wedding vows is a great way to showcase your personalities and start the rest of your lives on the right, hilarious foot.
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