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Wedding vows started as secular oaths and have shifted over time.

The familiar wording heard at many modern weddings came from medieval religious rites.

Writing one’s own vows echoes early Anglo-Saxon rituals.

Anyone who has ever attended a typical wedding is likely acquainted with traditions like the walk down the aisle, the exchange of vows and the kiss to seal the deal, but why are wedding vows such an important part of marriage ceremonies and where did they come from in the first place?

Marriage itself dates back millennia, traced as far back as 2350 BCE in Mesopotamia, or what is modern day Iraq. Early marriages, though, were less about love and more about carrying on bloodlines or making advantageous alliances.

Early documents detailing what should be included in marriage pledges have been found written in Old English, the precursor to today’s language that held sway in England between about 450 and 1100 A.D. This suggests that something somewhat like betrothal vows were part of marriage practices in Anglo-Saxon culture.

But such marriage pledges typically were agreements negotiated by a suitor and a woman’s male relatives. They echoed the form of, and were probably based on, oaths of service, protection, and faithfulness sworn........

© Psychology Today