Renewing wedding vows is a special event that celebrates the enduring love between partners and is a time to cherish the bond they share. While it's typically not as elaborate as the first-time wedding ceremony, it certainly can be just as meaningful. There's no need for wedding licenses or the formalities of a legal wedding, making it a heartfelt and personal celebration of your love story.
Keeping certain wedding vow tips and ideas in mind can help simplify the event planning process and make the special moment as stress-free as possible.
What is a Vow Renewal?
A vow renewal is a special ceremony in which a married couple reaffirms their commitment to each other and their marriage. It typically involves the couple re-exchanging their marriage vows in a ceremony that may resemble a wedding, but it can be much more personalized and informal. Vow renewals are often held on milestone anniversaries, such as 10th, 25th, or 50th years of marriage. During the ceremony, the couple can choose to recite their original wedding vows or write new ones, expressing their enduring love and commitment to one another. It's a way to celebrate and commemorate the years of marriage while reaffirming their love and dedication to each other.
Some couples incorporate elements from their original wedding day into the vow renewal, while others opt for entirely new and creative ideas to make the ceremony meaningful and personal. Vow renewal ideas often involve symbolism, such as lighting a unity candle or planting a tree, to represent the growth and strength of their relationship over the years.
Tip 1: Write Your (Renewal) Wedding Vows
It can be nerve-wracking trying to figure out the perfect words to say to the person you love the most. You want to beautifully express how you feel about the years you've spent with your partner so far and how excited you are about the time to come. While there's great value in creating your own original wedding vows, seeking inspiration from other vow examples can provide a helpful starting point.
Find Tips for Writing Wedding Vows Here
During the renewal of vows, the most important thing you can do is speak from your heart. Yes, other people will be listening, but the person they’re really meant for will be standing in front of you. That’s who your words should impact the most.
Write a draft and look it over once or twice, but don’t obsess over it. Continue to pick it over, and there won't be anything left of the initial meaning. Often, it's what you first put on paper that has the deepest meaning and is the truest reflection of how you feel, but it might just need some editing and tweaking. Try not to mess too much with what is likely already close to perfection.
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Tip 2: Peruse Other Types of Wedding Bands
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Tip 3: Decide on a Location
Renewing your wedding vows can be as simple or elaborate as you prefer. You may want to do it in a backyard, a large banquet hall or a venue that falls at a size in between.
When choosing a location for your vow renewal ceremony, think about places that hold sentimental value for both of you. However, you want to think about how many guests will be attending.
There’s also considering what you want to happen after the vow renewal. While some couples have a party similar to a wedding reception, many others opt for something like a sit-down dinner at a restaurant. You may even want to go more casual by opting for an activity like going out dancing or having a cookout.
Tip 4: Pick a Date
There are so many ways you can go about choosing a date for the vow renewal. It could be as simple as picking a random date or as meaningful as selecting an important one with significance, such as your wedding anniversary.
Where you want to get married may play a role as well. For example, if you’re planning a destination vow renewal, the weather where you’re going needs to be a factor.
Tip 5: Choose Your Outfit
When it comes to renewing your vows, selecting the right wedding dress or tuxedo plays a pivotal role. You have the option to don two different outfits – one for the vow renewal and another for the ensuing celebration. Alternatively, you can grace the entire event in one exquisite ensemble. While style is undeniably essential, the comfort of your outfit should never be compromised.
Chances are your outfit will need tailoring, so make sure to get that done ahead of time. It can be beneficial to try on the ensemble again two weeks before the event just in case it needs additional tailoring.
Tip 6: Decide on the Size of the Event
The size you want the event to be will impact many other aspects from the size of the guest list to the venue. Keep in mind that the more intimate you want the vow renewal to be, the more you may have to remind yourself of that during the planning process, especially if the venue has a small capacity limit. It can be much more difficult to stay within strict limits than when you're working with larger ones. Budget will be a major factor when determining the size of the event you want to have.
Tip 7: Decide on Outside Services
Typically, you’ll need to hire at least a couple of outside services. For instance, you may want to hire a caterer and a photographer. Depending on your situation, some family members and loved ones may offer to provide assistance as their vow renewal gift, such as making your cake. It can be a wonderful way to allow your loved ones to contribute while saving yourself some money.
Tip 8: Choose the Small Details
Many details are small yet significant. Even though it’s a vow renewal and not a full wedding, there are still many of them on which to decide. Some of the many small details to consider are whether you want to accept gifts, if you want to give out party favors, if you’ll have centerpieces and what type of décor you desire.
To keep details of all sizes organized, it’s a good idea to put everything in a single notebook. It holds all the details in one place, so it’s easier to keep track of what’s already done and what still needs addressing.
Tip 9: Consider Guest Participation
There are numerous ways guests can participate in your vow renewal should you decide you’re all for it and if they’re willing. For instance, they could perform a song, give a speech or do a special reading.
Allowing guests to be part of the vow renewal can be a fantastic way to have guests who may not have been around for the wedding, such as your children or new close friends, be a part of the special day.
Having a wedding party isn’t usually standard for a vow renewal, but you can certainly have one if you so choose. Your best friend can stand by your side as your maid of honor or best man. There’s a lot more freedom with this type of event than a wedding. You can select one or two loved ones to stand by your side or have none at all.
Tip 10: Choose an Officiant
Since a vow renewal isn’t technically "official" or legally binding, your officiant doesn’t have to be ordained or certified. This allows anyone to officiate your wedding without needing to have any qualifications.
However, make sure you pick someone who you can count on to do a good job. Avoid choosing an individual you have to worry about, such as a friend who may have too much champagne before the event or another loved one who's a fan of inappropriate jokes.
Choose an officiant who loves both of you individually and the two of you as a married couple. They will likely do the best job of ensuring the celebration gets properly commemorated.
Tip 11: Send Out Invitations
How you choose to send out invitations typically depends on how formal the vow renewal will be. Many couples will send invitations through the mail or have them hand-delivered. However, if you’re having a super-casual event, you might want to consider sending e-vites, just make sure you have updated contact information for everyone you want to invite.
It’s ideal to send out the invitations approximately two months before the vow renewal date. Add another month to that if guests will have to travel a far distance, such as in the case of a destination vow renewal. Depending on how reliable the guests are, you may have to reach out closer to the event date to get an official yes or no response if you haven’t yet heard back at that time.
Make Your Vow Renewal Plans
The sooner you start planning your wedding vow renewal ceremony, the better it can be for organizing all the details and ensuring everything gets done in time for the big day. It will also give you more freedom to enjoy the time leading up to the event rather than stressing about all the tasks you have yet to complete. Organize everything in a binder or notebook that you can easily carry with you when needed, but—above all—enjoy the process and your upcoming special vow renewal.
