Renewing Wedding Vows

Renewal of wedding vows ceremonies have always taken place with celebrants. Recently their popularity has increased for various reasons, including the pandemic. What is a renewal of vows ceremony and is it a personal consideration?

Why do couples renew their vows?

There are many reasons people choose to renew their wedding vows and some of the most common reasons include:

  • Celebrating a milestone anniversary such as a tenth or twenty fifth one.
  • Having family and friends present at a ceremony if the pandemic or a marriage abroad prevented guests from being at the original ceremony.
  • The original marriage or wedding ceremony perhaps had not gone as intended for those it was for. Parental expectations could have led to a religious wedding, but the couple aren’t religious.
  • A change in lifestyle, appearance or gender happens and the new way of life, appearance, or new way to live is acknowledged during a new ceremony for those involved in a relationship. New images are taken to denote who they now are.
  • Limited finances meant the original ceremony wasn’t what the couple truly wanted and, once in a more stable financial situation, a renewal of vows can take place.
  • A renewal of vows takes place after the couple have been through testing times and they wish to renew their vows to celebrate their new start, love, and unity for each other.
  • The couple are Pagan, or one has a different belief or cultural background than the other partner and they wish to have a ceremony based on their beliefs which couldn’t be or weren’t acknowledged during their original ceremony.
  • A house move to a new area or country may inspire them to hold a ceremony in their new surroundings.
  • The loss of any original wedding photographs.
  • The couple are now involved in a polyamorous relationship and choose to renew their vows to acknowledge this.
  • Illness or a terminal condition.
  • Or they just plain and simply want to renew their vows.
Steampunk wedding ceremony

What vows are said during the ceremony?

Renewal means to start again, or the act of repetition, but how many couples who renew their vows will say the same vows they originally declared to each other? One of the reasons a wedding celebrant ceremony is preferred is choosing to have a celebrant ceremony gives the opportunity to write and say individual, meaningful and personalised vows.

Vows are declarations of personal intention said between a couple during their marriage or wedding ceremony. The legal and widely known Christian marriage vows are said by every couple who have a marriage in church or in a licensed marriage venue with a registrar. Couples may not have the option to say:

‘I promise to continue to love you for the person you are and will be’
‘I vow to continue to accept your love of sport/music/movies even if I do not share your them’.

If the original marriage vows are restated then it is a renewal of vows ceremony, but if new vows are declared is it a renewal of vows or a different ceremony?

Rockabilly and rock renewal of vows

Those who renew their vows a few years after their original ceremony rarely wear the same outfits they wore. Fashions and lifestyles change, and these can be acknowledged during a new ceremony.

You might have a passion for all things Rockabilly and 1950’s and would love a rock and roll style renewal of vows ceremony, arriving to your ceremony in a Cadillac or Hot Rod car. The traditional white wedding you had years back, started off your lives together, and now you might love your rock concerts, brightly dyed hair, and would like to renew personalised vows at a festival such as Download or Bloodstock.

Goth, and Steampunk renewal of vows

Perhaps you are part of the Gothic community and would love a Gothic themed ceremony complete with bespoke Gothic romantic vows in a candlelit evening ceremony? Maybe you would like to renew your vows during a Goth event such as Whitby Goth Weekend or on Halloween?

Are you into Steampunk and would like to renew your vows dressed in your best Edwardian meets science fiction mechanical finery with fellow Steampunks in attendance at one of the many Steampunk events?

Pagan renewal of vows

Paganism has many different branches and whether you are a Wiccan, Astaru, Celtic, Druid, or you follow Odinism or Hellenism or many more, a renewal of vows ceremony can include your beliefs. Handfasting is a Pagan wedding custom and for those who follow Pagan paths, a handfasting and many more rituals and elements can be included in any ceremony.

Wiccans may choose to have a renewal of vows during Ostara which is a time of renewal. Wedding ceremonies take place during Beltane in celebration of the union of the Goddess and the God.

Why, where, when and how you choose to renew your vows is always a personal choice, but whatever your choices and reasons, I can create the most memorable, meaningful, and unique renewal of vows ceremony for you.