I love love. That’s why I’m so passionate about wedding officiating. I always feel so honored to hear your love stories, to be a part of your ceremonies, and to help you write vows that encapsulate your relationships. I believe that love is bigger than ourselves: it is destiny

Anyone who knows me also knows that I love love stories of all kinds, including those from novels, television shows, and films. That’s why I’m excited to announce a new blog series, one where I write wedding vows for my favorite fictional characters.

In this series, you will get to see the vows and ceremonies I write—like a preview of what hiring me entails. I also hope to just have fun with the love stories that many of us hold dear, the love stories that first taught us what it meant to fall hard, make mistakes, and embrace relationships. 

So, without further ado, I am excited to start this series off with perhaps the most famous novel of the 19th century (or maybe of all time): Pride and Prejudice.

This love story is one that many of us know intimately. You may prefer Colin Firth emerging from a lake or maybe you love Keira Knightly slightly unkempt at dawn, reading a book and brooding. That’s okay: there is room for all P&P lovers here.

For the sake of this post, we’re just going to imagine that I am maybe the other Bennet cousin, who doesn’t love boiled potatoes, who officiates bespoke weddings and came in to give the couple an unrealistically modern ceremony. In other words, we are going to ignore the Anglicaness that would have been the Darcy and Bennets’ actual, period-appropriate wedding and reimagine it for the present day.

Okay! Let’s do this. I hope you enjoy this wedding ceremony based on the ultimate enemies-to-lovers. Bonus points to anyone who can find all the references!

The Wedding Ceremony

Procession:

1. Officiant walks in. Georgiana on the piano. 

2. Groom enters with the best man (Bingley) and they stand to the right of the “altar.”

3. Flower girl walks down the aisle. (Because Lydia cannot be trusted with flower petals and Mary finds them too frivolous, Kitty is the flower girl.)

4. Bride walks down the aisle with her father and joins the groom at the front. 

Invocation:

Officiant: Hello everyone, family and friends. Did any of us think this day would come? I am excited, if a little surprised, to stand today with these two equally worthy people, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, as they join together in marriage. 

Marriage is messy. You will grow and change together. But the most important thing is to respect each other, to hold your partner in life in high esteem. Regardless of what life brings (stern or strange relatives, scandalous elopements, arduous dances), let your love for each other triumph. 

Declaration of Intent:

Officiant: Your love bloomed unexpectedly. Darcy has said that he was in the middle of love before he knew that it began. Lizzy, you have said that you fell in love from the moment you first saw Pemberly. Whether it was a pair of fine eyes or an estate with a large sculpture collection that first ignited your love, you have come to respect each other, regardless of obstacles and misunderstandings. We come together today to honor and celebrate that love.

Reading of Vows:

Elizabeth: I say I loved you from the moment you apologized, from my first visit to your home, from the time you bravely saved my family. Really, I don’t know when my love for you began. I know you loved me ardently, and that you couldn’t repress your feelings, so great was my wit and beauty (not to mention my musical talents). But honestly, my love for you started as simple esteem: I realized I was wrong about you, and, after that great shock, I came to admire your selflessness, your love for your family, and your quiet dignity. I am grateful that such a wonderful man loves me, and I aim to make it up to you every day, by making you laugh and by teasing you out of your seriousness. I promise to only rebuke you when you truly deserve it. I will honor you, respect you, and love you with my whole heart.

Darcy: I know I am a quiet man. I’m not great with words and with people, as you have experienced. I am prideful too. I have hurt you in the past, but you have seen through all of my inadequacies and still chose me. Elizabeth, you are the brightest part of my life: you make me laugh, you make me think, and most importantly, you make me a better man. And I will make up for my incompetence by making you the happiest of women. I love, I love, I love you. 

Ring Exchange:

The ring bearer hands Elizabeth and Darcy the rings. 

Officiant: Place your rings on each other’s fingers.

Darcy, repeat after me. With this ring, as a sign of my love, respect, and admiration, I thee wed.

Elizabeth, repeat after me. With this ring, as a sign of my love, respect, and admiration, I thee wed.

Pronouncement:

Officiant: I now pronounce you husband and wife. 

Cameo kiss.

Recession:

Officiant: It is my honor to present the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy. 

The married couple walks up the aisle to embrace their truest friends and family while Mrs. Bennet loudly asks if any of the single men present are interested in her other two daughters, Mary and Kitty. “Some of our beautiful daughters are still unmarried!”