Vow Cards or Repeat After Me?

So you've written your vows, the whole day is really about you making these promises to one another, but logistically, how is it going to happen?

Vow cards, or repeat after me? 
It's up to you, and rather than presenting this as a pros and cons list, I'm just going to tell you the good things about each choice, and you can weigh up what works best for you.

1. Vow Cards are a fantastic choice for an elopement.
When you're eloping, generally there are no guests, only two witnesses, so your voice will not need to be amplified.
The bride can hold on to her flowers (as there are usually no bridesmaids) and a vow card, and you can quietly make your promises to one another.

Jennifer and Daniel eloped at Rae's on Wategos and they used my beautiful letterpress printed vow cards which were hand crafted by Olive and the Volcano.
Lynsey and Nath used vow cards as well, but their wedding was before the snazzy cards were ordered, sorry guys, it still looked amazing!

2. Vow Cards are perfect for big weddings too.
According to Australian law, for your marriage to be legal, your witnesses have to hear you say your vows.
This means you need to be using a microphone. 
If you are using vow cards and a microphone, you will need to hold both.
I'll make an announcement that you are about to make your vows, the bride will hand her bouquet to her bridesmaid and then the bride and groom will take turns at making their vows.

As you can see in the photos below, by holding your own cards and mic, it means that only you and your bridal party will be in the photos.

Maegan and Cameron married at Osteria.

You can watch Rewa make her vows to Mat over on Lemon Tree Film Houses incredible video. Although she's a surgeon now, Rewa has a history in theatre, and she nailed her vows so completely.

Warrick and Louise chose to read their vows from a vintage wooden clipboard to tie in with their theme. They didn't have a bridal party, so when we rehearsed I suggested that Warrick hold her bouquet while she made her vows. I LOVE the way this looks (insert love heart eyes).

3. Repeat After Me...

Another choice you can make is to repeat your vows after me and I'll hold the microphone for you. 
It's really important to me that your guests hear you say your vows first.
I will say them quietly, off mic, so that you can hear them and repeat them, but your guests won't hear them from me first.

The best thing about this method, is it leaves you with your hands free to hold each other and you can look into each other's eyes as you make your promises.
I'll be there, making sure I feed you your lines at the right time and to give you some space if you are crying your eyes out.
(Disclaimer: I might cry too.)

I'll stand beside you as you say your vows to try an minimise any impact I have on your photos. Some photographers will shoot it so it's just the your face, and some will capture the whole moment. If you're lucky enough to have two photographers, they'll capture it all.

4. Repeat after me, off mic...
Now, I don't have any photos of this scenario, as I've only ever done this in an elopement, but some other celebrants whom I respect use this method.

Some couples don't want to have their voice amplified, they want it to be a bit more intimate. 
The work around for this is that the celebrant reads your vows through their microphone, your guests hear the celebrant say the vows first, and then you repeat after them, but just to each other.
Your witnesses will need to be close enough to hear you say your minimum vows.

There are obviously lots of other options, depending on the venue you are in and what audio equipment you have access to etc.
Hit me in the comments with something different you've seen or what you did at your wedding.

Thank you to the following couples and photographers for the images, and for letting me share your big day with you.

Jennifer and Daniel - Pineapple Images
Lynsey and Nath - Figtree Pictures
Maegan and Cameron - Lucas and Co Photography
Rewa and Mat - Sarkodie Photography
Louise and Warrick - A Bear, A Deer and A Fox
Nina and Dan - Julian Beattie
Lauren and Adam - Shane Shepherd
Tatum and Fletcher - Byron Loves Fawn
Jo and Tim - Lucas and Co Photography
Lucy and Jamie - Deus Photography
Jaemi and Chad - James Simmons