1. I want you to know that I dearly love your mother. We have become very good friends, and we have learned to love each other. As you have so graciously shared your wonderful mother with me, so will I share the love I feel for her with you. Together, we will learn more about each other. I promise also to be fair and to be honest, to be available for you as I am for your Mum, and to earn your love, respect and true friendship. I will not make attempt to replace anyone, but to make a place in your hearts that is for me alone. I will be father and friend, and I will cherish my life with all of you. On this day, when I marry your mum, I promise to love and support you as my own.
2. When your father and I first met, we never knew that the most amazing – person was/people were – yet to join us in our loving relationship. We started our relationship with real love in our hearts, then we bought our first house and then you (all of you) came along. You were born in a relationship of love – you were definitely wanted!
Today we feel so proud to be lucky enough to share our wedding day with you. We want you to know that we love you with all our hearts, and we promise to care for you, to be there for you when you need us, and – just because it is our duty – to constantly nag you, annoy you, and challenge you so you can become a better person each day, and to help you to grow up to be a really amazing adults. This is not only OUR wedding day – it is YOUR wedding day too. Today we have special necklaces for you to wear as a memento of your family wedding day. We hope you take then and wear them with the confidence of knowing how much we love you.
3. As the two of us are joined on this day, we become part of each other:
your feelings become my feelings;
your sorrows become my sorrows;
your joys become my joys;
your cares become my cares,
and your children become my children.
With your help and guidance I promise to be a true and faithful spouse / wife / husband and parent,
always there to comfort you, rejoice with you,
and endure all the complexities of life that we will face together as a family.
My love for you and your/our child/ren is pure and unshakable,
and I hereby commit myself to all of you from this day forward.
4. (Child name), I want you to know how lucky I feel every day just knowing you. You are the energy that flows through my veins. You inspire me and I can’t imagine the man that I would have become without you in my life. Thank you for accepting (Bride) into our world. Nobody knows more than you how she has been there for both of us. You are an amazing young man and an honourable human being that I am proud to call my son. I love you.
5. (Child), I have known you since the day you were born. . . You and your father are the people who know me best in this world, the people I eat with every day, the first I see in the morning and the last at night. The two of you are my strength and my world. We are the fearsome threesome, and I consider you to be one of the most important people in my life. I love you.
6. Celebrant says: [Names of children], [spouse 1] and [spouse 2] welcome you into the new family. They would like to make some special promises to each of you, because you are very important people in their lives. They would also like to remind you that their loving commitment to one another opens up a whole new world of people who will become your family … people who will love you and care about you and help you to find your way in the world. And so on your behalf, I will ask them:
7. I ask you both, will you continue to love and support the children? Will you make the time to listen to them, cherish and guide them? Will you show them respect, kindness, tolerance and honesty? Acknowledging the past, will you respect the unseen ties that bind them? Will you provide a safe and loving and caring home where each child is encouraged to develop their own unique qualities, in the knowledge that they will always be loved and valued for themselves? Will you make these promises lovingly and freely?
8. [Children’s names], we promise to love and support you
to be there for you
to listen to you and respect you
to cherish and guide you
to help you learn right from wrong
to show you how to respect others and the world around you
to be there when you need us
and to give you love and make you part of our new family
9. Partner 1: (Name Partner 2’s child/children), I promise always to treat you with love and respect. I promise to foster my relationship with you and always to be there for you in any way I can. I promise to support you in your relationship with both of us and I promise always to listen to you, strengthening our relationship as time moves forward. I promise always to treat your father with love and respect and model for you a healthy, loving and supportive relationship in the belief that one day you too will find such happiness in love.