Andre and I hand-wrote personalized wedding vows. This was, unsurprisingly, one of our favorite and most cherished moments of our wedding day. As I upload this, we are officially celebrating one year of marriage!
(You can also scroll to the end of this post to watch us share our vows)
My Vows
My sweet Andre,
My first date. My first handhold. My first kiss. My first boyfriend. And now my husband. At the beginning of 2018, you took me out, making you the first and last man to ever do so. You simply wanted to take a cute girl out on a nice date. I, on the other hand, panicked because I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to marry you… Turns out, I had a reason to freak out. I think I knew then. Even though our relationship didn’t find it’s way out of the friend zone until almost a year later. Even when you didn’t know, God was bringing us together. (And I wanted to be in a relationship because I wanted you as my future husband).
Now, here we are standing face to face, committing our whole lives to each other for forever. We will experience the most joyous, exhilarating moments of our lives together, and the lowest of lows, moments filled with grief and heartache. We will buy a home, raise 77 children, and make music, love, and good food together, even after our 77 children have moved out. And I know you say you will never grow old, but we will, Lord willing, grow old together. And one day one of us will go to see Jesus, and the other will be their side. Together, we will leave a legacy on this earth that does nothing but show others the goodness of our God.
I know I’m so young and have a lot of “growing up” to do but I understand the implications and weight of such a commitment. It brings me joy to be your wife, to give up myself and worldly pleasures that many girls my age relish to be your helper, to submit to you and let you lead me.
To elaborate on the vows we have just been given:
I promise to be quick to apologize, and I promise not to hold a grudge.
I promise to love you, even when I don’t feel like it, even when it’s hard, even when we are hurting, and even when everything around us seems to be falling apart.
I promise to put you first. I promise you and our marriage will be a priority. Ahead of family, friends, career, future children. Ahead of my own dreams, goals and desires.
I promise to support and cheer you on in the vision for our family that the Holy Spirit puts on your heart.
I promise to never ‘let myself go,’ to always take care of my body, and live healthily so that I can honor God, and honor you.
I promise to let you lead me, to be the head over me, and to submit to you in all things, as you follow and submit Christ.
I promise to serve you, help you, encourage you, and respect you.
I promise to always be your closest friend, deepest companion. I promise to be your listening ear, and I promise to stand up for you.
I promise you will be my one and only love. I promise to have eyes only for you, a heart only for you, and a desire to love only you.
I promise to not only love you as you are now, but the person you will become. But even if you never changed, I would be okay with that, because I adore you. I am honored and privileged that God has chosen to use me in the journey of your sanctification. He will give me the strength as I strive to do my absolute best to love you, obey you, respect you as you “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [you] heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
I can’t promise perfection, but I do promise to allow you to correct me, to point out my flaws, to teach me, and I promise to accept this humbly, and Jesus will give me the ability to do so. I know it won’t always be easy, but I do know that Christ is constantly molding me, renewing my heart.
I promise that after our honeymoon phase is over, I will still be head over heels in love with you, because Christ will give me a love that is worth more than any “rose-colored glasses” love. He has set the example of sacrificial love, that speaks truth, that shows grace. I promise to work with you to create a deeply rooted love that will last all the days of our lives , a love that can only be found in Christian marriages, because it’s foundation is in Christ.
Andre's Vows
Solie,
I could not have imagined a day like this. Our life together will be fantastic, and not only because of all the fun things we will do and experiences of life, music, food, and love, but because God will continue to show us the way, and make our path straight. Though most of my life I have lived in Guatemala, I’ve also lived in Boston, California, Tampa, and St. Pete. I have left friends and loved ones all over, and also in my original home, lifelong friends and my parents. However, as the bible commands us to, I’m excited to officially leave my father and mother, and start a new family with you, and eventually have little toddlers running around our house. Wherever we are will be our home, and your face is definitely a face to call home.
I promise to lead you selflessly in the best way that I can, always being considerate about you and our future family.
I promise to make my relationship with God a top priority, because we both know that is of utmost importance as head over you.
I promise to provide and to sacrifice my life for our family.
I promise to maintain peace when things get rough; to maintain youthful joy and wonder, and to have a refreshing child-like spirit in the home.
I promise to care for you, to one day be the best dad I can be, and to one day have at least three kids.
I promise to take care of my health, so that even when I’m 70 years old, I’m still able to sweep you off of your feet.
I promise to workout so that one day I can play wrestle with our great grandkids.
But I also promise that today, tomorrow, and the rest our lives, I will love you like no human as ever loved before; to hold you when you need to be held; to provide for all your needs and more; to seduce you in the bedroom every night.
But above all, my promise to you is that God will be Lord over our home, and that I will protect, provide for, and love you until the end of our days.
Here is our ENTIRE wedding ceremony! The vows start at minute 32:26 if you want to skip there!