I don’t use AI, ChatGPT, or anything else like that to write your wedding ceremonies. However, I’m a professional writer. Alongside the other skills and parts of my personality that make me a celebrant, creative, emotional writing is something I’m confident with. It’s what you pay me for (remember this bit, it’s important). If you are thinking of using AI for your wedding vows, read on. It’s not all bad.
Picture: Abigail Oliver
This month, I am in Cosmopolitan magazine, talking about using ChatGPT and other AI to write your wedding vows. I think what I said might surprise you. In short, I think that, if you need some help, your first click should be on a message to me, or your chosen celebrant, to ask for our help. I include help writing your wedding vows as part of my work for you. I have a wedding vow writing guide you can start with that you can download, even if I’m not your celebrant. However, I also think that you should use ChatGPT to prompt your thoughts, and collect them into something you feel comfortable with, if you are not confident with your emotional writing. And then you can polish them and make them sound like you afterwards.
Here’s the full text of what I said in my interview about AI for writing your wedding vows:
“I see every one of my couples’ vows before their wedding day. I’d say around 30% this year have involved AI.
I think people would expect me to say using AI to write your vows is an abomination, particularly if you have paid a celebrant like me to write you a very personal ceremony, and I never, never use AI. However, I get the temptation, and I totally get the confidence boost that people think AI gives them about the quality of their emotional writing.
AI generated sets of vows are on the rise. I could even give you phrases that give them away as being Chat GPT, believe me, it’s not just the long dashes that everyone talks about that are tell-tale signs.
If you’re going to use it, read up about prompts, and use it to refine the grammar and syntax of your own thoughts. Before you start, Google ‘wedding vow writing guide’, as there are a lot of free resources available, especially from celebrants.
Vows are something you both should be able to refer back to throughout your marriage for comfort and inspiration in the good times and the not so good times. Getting help is allowed, in fact, it’s a good idea. Computer generating them should never be the start and end of the process.”
a process for using AI FOR WEDDING VOWS
Remember – AI is generic, it gives you content based on what it’s already been fed by other people, so, it has plenty of previous inspiration and thinks it knows what we like. That doesn’t necessarily mean it sounds like you. Use it as a starting point, like asking somebody who doesn’t know you that well for your opinion on something you wrote at work or in class. Then refine it yourself.
How I do use ChatGPT
I do use ChatGPT occasionally to inspire me to use different adjectives when I’m sick of using the same ones though, when I’m writing things for my website. I also use it for quick help in real life. Here’s my query history of the last two weeks; synonyms for set the tone, liability for tree pruning UK, Dad joke quiz, 80s ski season party ideas, words for talkative person. It is very useful. I’m not against it as an aide.
