We're writing our own wedding vows, and mine are still a blank page.

Why this page opens Anything, not Speech

HidenGPT has a Speech format with a Wedding speech setting, but that setting writes to the guests: it introduces you, tells a story about the couple and ends by raising a glass. Vows are a different shape. You say them to one person, in the second person, and they end on a promise.

So this page opens the Anything format, which works out the kind of text from your request. With Length set to Enter a word count, it writes to that number, and if the draft comes out more than 10% short or 20% long, it runs a pass to bring it back. Heartfelt keeps the tone sincere; Witty is there if you both want laughs.

It writes in your first person and works from your notes. It is told not to invent memories, names or dates, so where it needs one you didn't give, you get a bracketed placeholder to fill. A light red pen pass cuts stock phrases. On Pro or Pro Max, a voice saved from your own writing (at least 300 characters, two to five pieces works best) brings the wording closer to how you talk; letters or long messages you have sent your partner are good samples.

How long vows should be, and what to check first

Most personal vows run one to two minutes. At about 130 words a minute, a typical speaking pace, that is 130 to 260 words, and 200 words takes about a minute and a half. Plan to speak slower than you think you need to: nerves speed people up.

The one thing to agree on is length. If one of you says 60 words and the other says 400, the short set feels it all evening. Agree a word count and a tone, keep the words a surprise, and let the officiant check that the two are close.

Check the rules as well. Some ceremonies use set words only, and in some places certain words are needed for the marriage to be legal; personal vows are added to those, not used instead of them. For a civil ceremony in the UK, Debrett's explains that personal vows are added to the required declaration and contracting words, must be agreed with the registrar, and can't include religious words. Ask your officiant what applies to you.

A structure that fits on one card

Five parts, with word counts for 200 words:

1. Their name and an opening line: 15. “Jordan, I took your towels out of the dryer by mistake in 2019, and I've been trying to give them back ever since.” 2. The moment you knew: 55. Tell it as a scene with a place and a detail. “Somewhere near Albany, with the radio broken, you sang every song on that album with the wrong words, and I realized I could listen to that for the rest of my life.” 3. What you love about them: 45. Two things nobody else would notice, such as the dated labels on every leftover. 4. Your promises: 70. Three or four, mixing big and small. 5. The close: 15. One line that ends on a promise. “I choose you today, and I'll keep choosing you on all the ordinary Tuesdays.”

That adds up to 200. If your agreed length is 130 words, cut the second part to two sentences and keep three promises.

Promises: specific beats grand

The promises are what people remember, and they are also the part that goes vague first. Compare:

Vague: “I promise to always be there for you, through good times and bad.”

Specific: “I promise to drive when it snows, to tell you the truth when it's hard to hear, and to keep your grandmother's recipe box safe, even from me.”

The second carries the same commitment and sounds like a person. One small, funny promise among three serious ones lets the room smile without turning your vows into a toast.

What to leave out: exes and past relationships, even as a joke; anything about sex; inside jokes that need explaining; promises you can't keep, like never being grumpy; comparisons with other couples; and long quotes from songs or films, which spend your word count on someone else's words. Read from a card, handwritten or printed, rather than your phone. It looks better in the photos and won't light up with a message halfway through.