It seems that standard marriage vows promising to love, honour and obey in sickness and in health just do not cut it for couples tying the knot these days.

Lovebirds are getting creative and writing their own vows to add a personal touch to their sacred promise binding them as man and wife.

When deejay Vernetta Lopez, 36, got hitched to Briton Wayne Gladwin, 38, last month, their guests cried when the couple read the vows they wrote.

Not only celebrities are coming up with touching 'I dos'. When marketing and communications manager Ruth Lim recites her wedding vows to her fiance Daniel Pang, 26, in December, she plans some quirky wording.

While naturally there will be no shortage of promises of unfaltering love, Miss Lim, also 26, says she will mention how his lack of double eyelids and lack of height - he is 1.66m tall - did not exactly make her swoon at first sight. She says: 'It's more meaningful and from the heart. It will be something that he will remember.'

As for her groom-to-be, an identification consultant in the smartcard industry, he has not thought of what to write for his vows but plans to inject some humour into his too so as not to 'bore the old folks'.

He says: 'It's a good way to market ourselves as a couple so that people understand why we want to be together. It's also a good start to the marriage, especially if you can wow her to tears.'

But he predicts he will feel embarrassed, as 'there will also be a lot of mushy stuff that I'm not used to saying in front of others'.

He adds: 'I know it's something that Ruth wants and since it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, I should cooperate.'

Penning such personalised declarations of love is a trend that has just started to take off among couples here, say wedding planners. Ms Hannah Chong, a wedding planner who is also the founder of wedding design and consulting firm Heaven's Gift, says half of her clients prefer to write their own vows. She handles about three clients every month.

The 35-year-old has been in the business for six years and attributes the trend to the influence of TV and movies where actors who play couples in wedding scenes recite their own personally written vows.

She says: 'Couples don't want the standard wedding ceremony anymore. They want to personalise everything right down to the rings and stationery.'

But Justice of the Peace Tan Poi Eng points out that it is usually the 'better educated and more creative' sorts who bother to pen their own vows. The 62-year-old, who has 10 years of experience as a JP, says the trend has yet to really take off among couples as only two out of 10 couples he solemnises write their own vows. He sees at least four couples a month.

But he encourages couples to write their own vows. 'Vows should be prepared yourselves. It is a commitment and promise to your partner.'

The need for eloquently written vows to impress their partners can give men some serious pre-wedding jitters.

The executive consultant of wedding consulting firm Wedding Acts, Mr Jonathan Goh, 38, says: 'The women usually suggest writing their own vows and the men will come to us for help. You know men, they want the easy way out.'

But he emphasises that there is no vow- writing service provided at his wedding planning studio. 'It is a promise to your partner, I can't write it for you.'

Web manager Julian Poon says he 'wasn't very excited' when his fiancee Jean Wu, 27, told him that she wanted both of them to write their own vows for their wedding in September next year.

'I agree it's more meaningful as the Registry of Marriages' standard script sounds rather empty as so many people have said it. But I can't really express my feelings in words,' says the 27-year-old, who intends to turn to search engine Google for inspiration.

His financial consultant wife-to-be is not expecting a literary masterpiece, though. All she hopes for is something 'simple and meaningful, just like the wedding'.

But magazine beauty editor Jasmine Alimin, who has been married for four years, advises couples not to get too caught up with the hassle of penning their own vows.

'Personalised or not, the vows are promises that should be kept. They are just words and at the end of the day, you're both still the same person,' says the 33-year-old, who promised her husband in her vows that she would not smash his precious toy collection in a fit of anger.

She says that this meant that she would not 'disrespect him, his hobby and his passion'.

As for her success on keeping her promise, she says with a laugh: 'I've been tempted a few times, but I always remember the vow that I made on my wedding day.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.