Renewing your vows – tacky, or a great way to cement your marriage?

You are considering renewing your marriage vows. Here are some of the reasons why:

Your marriage has recently come through a rather rocky period
Your marriage was a legal one, and now you’d like to do it religiously
You eloped and missed out on the ceremony completely
You’re celebrating a key wedding – 10, 15, 20 years
Your last child just left the house
You want to do it in style this time around
You just like the idea, you think it’s romantic

Renewing your vows is a symbolic rather than a legal ceremony. It is a special way for you to declare your ongoing commitment to one another, infront of friends and family.

This time around you won’t need a marriage officer of any description to perform the ceremony, nor will you need a marriage license. A special friend or someone close to you can perform the ceremony.

Really, renewing your vows is a re-commitment of love or a re-affirmation of love, whatever is meaningful for you. Bottom line is that this time around there are no rules, and what you say in the ceremony is entirely up to you.

And you can hold the ceremony anywhere – garden, beach, building, church – the choice is yours.

It can be a wonderful time to re-explore what your marriage means to you and how your relationship has grown over the years.

There are a few ways in which your renewal of vows will differ from your wedding, for instance you won’t need attendants, although your children can obviously play an important role in the ceremony, and you won’t have a gift register and there won’t be any need for a bachelor party.

The winning formula is: keep it casual and simple, focus, in your vows, on your future together, walk to the area in which the vows will occur together, and re-dedicate your rings, if you would like to.