What is a declaration of intent? Let’s ask Young Hip & Married co-founder and lead wedding officiant, Shawn Miller!
Hey friends, It’s Shawn here with Young Hip & Married. Hope you’re doing great! I wanted to come on here today to talk a little bit about the declaration of intent, as it pertains to weddings.We get a lot of questions about this. People, for whatever reason, get nervous. They wonder, what is it? How do I use it? A “declaration of intent” sounds really fancy and really formal. But it’s not really!
The declaration of intent is also known as an intention statement or commitment statement. It’s when your officiant, your celebrant, your pastor, your marriage commissioner or your JP – whoever it is that is marrying you – your cousin, your friend, asks you: “Do you so-and-so stand here today to take so-and-so to be your such-and-such?”
You can fill in the blanks. For example, “Do you, Shawn, take Erica to be your wife?” Or, “Do you, Shawn, and do you, Erica, stand here today ready to commit yourselves to each other?”
It can even be used at a vow renewal ceremony where you would have a declaration of intent for your on-going commitment. For example, “Do you reaffirm your choice to spend your life with so-and-so? Will you spend the rest of your days loving them until your very last breath?”
Another example of a declaration of intent, “Will you commit your lives to one another as husband and wife?”
There are all sorts of different options when it comes to the declaration of intent. It’s kind of a fancy title, but simply think of it as an intention statement or commitment statement that is in the form of a question. It is asked by the person presiding over your wedding ceremony and you answer in the positive.
That’s it! Check out this blog post for more information on the declaration of intent and this post with 8 options for your declaration of intent.
