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English/Spanish Wedding Vows

iarguelloiarguello
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in Latino Weddings

I want to strike a nice balance between my S. American family and the FI's US family and I think that it would be great to do my vows in Spanish while he does his in English. Has anyone seen this? What vows did you/they use?

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Re: English/Spanish Wedding Vows

  • fam6fam6
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    edited December 2011
    The vows are being said to each other...would he understand the Spanish?  Would you understand the English?  You are rightint this so probably...so I guess my only question is would he understand the Spanish, because you are saying them to him.

    If his Spanish is not so good, I would recommend that you have a reading in Spanish or blessing in Spanish, but not your vows.
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  • peaches85peaches85
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    edited December 2011
    I agree with fam.  I think it's a nice touch to say them in each other's first language, but what's the point of saying the vows to one another if you're not going to 100% understand what's being said or the feeling behind it (in Spanish so much of the language is about the feeling and the meaning of each word that a translation in another language can't really capture).

    Instead, why not do your readings in different languages?  I'm not doing a wholly Catholic ceremony, but we're still going to have readers... one will read something in English, one will read something in Spanish, and one will read something in Greek.
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  • iarguelloiarguello
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    edited December 2011
    Our ceremony is non denominational, and we won't be doing readings. That's a good question to pose though, and yes :) he understands Spanish, he even took a year of it to feel more comfortable when my family switches languages.. My family, with the exception of maybe one or two distant cousins all speak English (learning English early on was a big deal to all of them)  but his family is monolingual.
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  • heidi1068heidi1068
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    edited December 2011
    given that you both understand, I think it is lovely if you each say your vows in your native language.  That is what we will most likely do. 
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  • iarguelloiarguello
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    edited December 2011
    You're sweet Heidi1068, English is my native tongue- but it is a good way to show my roots :) What will you be using? I've only seen two variations s far.
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  • heidi1068heidi1068
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    edited December 2011
    Our wedding's not for a year and I have not talked to our priest about the details (we're having a Catholic ceremony).  Of the two options we have (in English) I prefer the ones that end with something along the lines of I will love honor and cherish you all the days of my life and not the ones that talk about for richer or poorer.  :)  Our priest has done a lot of bilingual (and Spanish-only) weddings so he should be able to give FI his options in Spanish.  Although I've been to a half-dozen Mexican weddings in the past 2 years, they were all before we got engaged and I definitely didn't pay close enough attention to the ceremony!
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  • fam6fam6
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    edited December 2011
    If you both understand it, I think it could really beautiful to say them in your own language.  As far as vow options, I am not sure if you are having a Catholic ceremony, but even if you are not, I imagine a church that has a bilingual priest would have the wedding book in both languages and you could use that as a reference even if you aren't marrying there.  GL!!!
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  • martha783martha783 member
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    edited December 2011
    I'm completely bilingual and my FI is mostly bilingual but I can't imagine getting married WITHOUT vows in English and he cant imagine getting married without vows in Spanish! We're doing two ceremonies though, because we have two continents to bridge as well as two languages, but even if we weren't, I would definitely incorporate both languages...I dream since a child of "I do" and he dreamt of "Si, acepto"  and it would be sad to get married without both. I wouldnt do all 1 language/all other language though. It is special to both communicate AND be communicated with in your first language. I would try to create your own bilingual mix considering which lines are most important to each of you. You do'n't have to be writing your own vows but get some copies of traditional vows and make them yours, in both languages. It's okay to repeat bilingually too, in my opinion. It's not about the guests, even though in your case it sounds ike many would understand both...but it's about how you want to swear to eachother and both feel it while sayng it AND while recieving it.
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