Australian couples ditch 'death do us part'

Couples in Australia are abandoning "till death do us part" wedding vows in favour of those with a get-out clause, just in case their love "shall falter or fail".

Celebrants claim that only one in five couples from almost 40,000 marriages in NSW last year stuck to traditional vows.

Instead, some are dropping phrases about lifelong commitment, replacing them with finite pledges including "as long as our love lasts''. A few even make agreements to review their marriage after as little as five years.



Divorce rates have dipped slightly, but one in three marriages ends in divorce and celebrants say the trend is acknowledged in ceremonies.

Celebrant Coral Kortlepel said many newlyweds had accepted "if you're not happy, you don't have to stay together'' and some were writing it into their wedding vows.

"I actually had a couple recently that said: `I will love you today, I will love you tomorrow and if our love shall falter or fail, I will respect you for the period of time that you were in my life','' she said.