Marriage vows are the most long-term promises we ever make – to love and care for someone else for the rest of our lives!

They are a commitment to put someone else’s interests as equal to our own, and they involve setting aside our own short-term “wants” for long-term stability and satisfaction. They are life changing – and have a huge impact on the way our lives work out.

For those that make them they are “the BIG promise”.

Every year more than a quarter of a million couples across the UK make that big promise by getting married.

And every year, National Marriage Week, running until February 14, celebrates all those promises down the years, and seeks to encourage and support couples in their marriages.

At St John the Evangelist in Seven Kings, during National Marriage Week, our Mothers’ Union branch create a display in our church centre celebrating those big promises for all who visit to see.

Marriage Week celebrates healthy marriages as this social institution, which has been enshrined in the history of civilisation, provides vital inter-generational links and stability bringing benefits to all of society. So, it is a week, not just for those who are married, but for everyone who loves healthy marriage.