My (probably too long) wedding vows:

"It was never a question for me that I’d want to write my own vows. It’s important to me to let you know, in my own words how important you and this day are to me. But that said, the traditional wedding vows are pretty classic."

And then I ad libbed the bit, "Like Toto's 'Africa,' they're awesome."

"'I take THEE, Sarah to be my lawfully wedded wife, to love honor and cherish, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, til death do us part.' Those words are burned deep into nearly everyone’s thoughts about what a wedding is. So, I thought I’d quickly talk about what those words mean to me.

"First, 'to love.' Easy, done. I love you like crazy. And I feel that love deepening every day, and becoming more a part of who I am."

Pulling a pen out of my pocket, "So, let’s check that one off the list.

"Okay, next, 'to honor.' I actually had to think about that one. What does that mean, exactly? It’s one of those words you just kind of brush past without thinking about. Is it like the old creepy 'to obey' that people don't use anymore?

"I looked it up and it has a lot of meanings, like 'to worship' or even 'to pay.' But the one I like is 'to hold in high regard. To respect.' Respect isn’t a very romantic sounding word, I respect you, but I do respect you, I hold you in very high regard, and I think that’s important."

Crossing another line off with the pen, "So far so good.

"'To cherish.' Yep. Check.

"Okay… 'to have and to hold from this day forward.' This one is kind of funny to me. 'From this day forward' is like, 'Okay, starting NOW I’ll be good, I’ll be good to you. Let's wipe the slate clean.' And I guess that’s what a wedding is, that’s the whole point. This is the moment. But, and not to take away from all of this, I’ve felt bound to you, deeply connected to you for a very long time now. Plus, who are we kidding, I’ve had and held you before today, so to speak. I think we still get this one."

(No one seemed to catch the slightly dirty joke at the end of that last bit, which is maybe for the best, although later, when a family friend of Sarah's sent us a video he'd recorded of the ceremony, you could hear him chuckling a little to himself. So, it did not go entirely missed.)

"'For better and for worse.' We’ve had some of both, but you always make the worse better and the better… also better. Basically you make things better.

"'For richer and for poorer.' I’m in for it. I’m excited to eventually get to the richer part...

"'In sickness and in health.' I find this phrase taking on more meaning as I get older, as you start to get hints at the curveballs life can throw at you. And we've only experienced very minor things, but it's good to know you're there. For instance when I hurt my back, and I could barely walk or stand..."

(I think this is the moment when this picture was taken by the way, the moment Sarah realized what story I was about to tell.)

"...you helped me get to the bathroom and helped me stand in front of the toilet, and you stood behind me holding me up while I... urinated."

Big long laugh at this point from the chapel. "Now that’s not exactly the most romantic story, admittedly, but it meant a lot. And shortly after that I proposed to you.

"But let’s not forget the health part of that. In sickness and in health. Let’s be healthy. Let’s help each other be healthy. Let’s get healthier together. Soon. I mean, not tonight. We’ve got a lot of booze and cake but... after the honeymoon.

“And finally, 'Til death do us part.' Kind of a downer of an ending. There’s also always, 'For as long as we both shall live,' which is the glass half full version of that. Of course, you once said to me, 'You won’t stop being married to me just because you’re dead.' Which is... fair enough. So, I’m willing to extend our marriage contract, I promise to love honor and cherish you, through the good and the bad... forever.

"I love you Sarah. I'm excited to be your husband."