Usually I start off my blogs, with a “Dear Engaged Couple,” however, this blog is not for you, if you are not yet married. In this blog I mean to address folks who have been married awhile. Maybe you have been through some rough times in your married lives. Now that you are in a better place, you are wanting to recommit to each other. Or, maybe the first go around, you eloped. There were reasons. You were trying to save your money for down payment on a house or a car—spending money on a wedding back then seemed frivolous. Now, though. You feel like you cheated your mom and dad, and friends and family and yourselves, too, out of a service. Or maybe your dad never got to walk you, the now-wife, down that aisle. There are regrets. For one or all of these reasons, you have decided to renew your wedding vows!
I officiated at a renewal of wedding vows last week. It was a lovely service—on a beach at Lake of the Woods, Virginia. The day was warm, but not miserably hot and humid. I arrived at dusk. The couple had chosen to renew their vows on their tenth wedding anniversary. First go around, the bride’s dad was not present to walk her down the aisle. THIS TIME, Dad walked her, not down the aisle, but on the sand, to her place beside her husband.
The couples’ children attended the service. Daughter Ariel actually read a poem she chose herself, by Shel Silverstein. Who else? It was about friendship. The couple had saved copies of the vows they had read 10 years ago, and several readings, too. These were read again, this time before the people who are most important in their lives.
It was all in all, a moving service. One that they, their family, including their son and daughter, will surely remember a life time! Enjoy the pics!
Happy renewal of vows planning!
Your Wedding Preacher for Hire
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