There’s nothing more sacred than taking the wedding vows with the one you love. Making the trip down the aisle is a time to celebrate finding the one person who completes you.
Yet, every year, many people decide to renew their vows and make the declaration of love all over again.
Marriage isn’t easy. You must weather many storms as a couple, and there are times that throwing in the towel seems like a viable option. According to a study cited by IF Studies, divorce has hit an all-time low of only 14 percent.
Have the events of the past year brought marriages closer together, or are people not getting married as much. It’s anyone’s guess these days. Millennial crowds prefer to live together before making such a lifetime commitment. Many of these individuals do not need a piece of paper to signify their devotion to one another.
Still, many folks have old-fashioned values and want the piece of paper and the ring that accompanies it. Marriage is just as much a legal union as it is a physical one. When it comes to renewing the oaths made to each other, more people favor this symbolic act.
What’s better than having one wedding is having two. Why not? If you have the person, the time, and the money, then a second wedding can be just as special as the first one.
Ten Reasons to Renew Your Vows
1. A Reaffirmation of Love
The best reason to have a renewal ceremony is to reaffirm your love. Some people do this once a year and others at least once during their union. It’s just taking time out from your busy life to tell the one you love that you choose them, today, tomorrow, and forever.
2. To Start Over Fresh
Since marriage can be so hard, there are many times that you need to refresh things. Maybe there was infidelity, health battles, or troubles of another kind. Once you’ve been through some severe storms, it’s often nice to reaffirm the commitment you made to one another.
Some say that it might be a last-ditch effort to save things, but it can be a fresh start and an effort to put the past behind you.
3. To Change Vows and Promises To Each Other
Perhaps, you let the minister speak the oaths over the two of you, and you didn’t get a say. It wasn’t popular that people wrote their vows until the past decade. Maybe you want a chance to renew the promises to one another with words that you want to say and not scripted content.
It’s okay to use hindsight from many years together to write oaths for the rest of your journey. Things certainly change as time and ages roll, and it’s okay to reaffirm your love and dedication to this person who is your other half.
4. Celebrating an Anniversary
One of the more popular reasons why people want a renewal ceremony is to celebrate an anniversary. It’s commonly seen at monumental occasions like 25- or 50-year intervals. If you make it to 25 years, then you’ve done something significant in this lifetime.
Imagine spending 25 birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries with one person by your side. It’s certainly a cause for celebration. The best thing about making such a step forward is that you’re telling this person that even after all these years, they’re still the one for you.
Another benefit is that the entire family, many of whom wouldn’t have been born yet, can be there to help you celebrate.
5. To Make the Union Feel Special Again
After being together for a while, it’s not uncommon for things to become dull or stale. How many times have you felt that your love or union isn’t special anymore? As much as you grow together, you can also grow apart.
A renewal ceremony can put some spark back into a marriage where you exist together. It’s exciting to plan a wedding at any age, and it’s even more exciting when you know that the person standing beside you is in it for the long haul.
6. They Didn’t Have the Wedding of Their Dreams
Some folks want a redo on their first nuptials. This type of renewal ceremony is often observed when people eloped with a courthouse wedding, or there weren’t the funds to have the wedding of their dreams. Perhaps, there are no pictures of the bride in a dress because there was no dress.
Whatever the reasoning behind this action, it’s remarkable to have a ceremony where a couple can redo things they’ve regretted during their union. I found this list of 30 Best Maine wedding venues. It’s not uncommon to see these ceremonies sooner rather than later, especially among the younger brides who want the fanfare.
7. Sharing the Event with Children
Though it was briefly mentioned before, another reason to renew your oaths to one another is to have your children with you. In most cases, there are no children before the marriage began, so this will allow you to celebrate your love and commitment to one another with your precious kids by your side.
If the time has allowed grandchildren, then it can be an even more glorious occasion. Family is everything and having all these precious people by your side is even more an event to celebrate. It’s always amazing to see what true love and dedication to one another can produce.
8. Inclusion of Absent Parties
It’s not always possible for all the people you love to come to a wedding. There are always considerations like jobs, finances, and distance that make getting to such an event challenging. Thankfully, having a renewal service allows you more time to plan to include those people.
This type of service is often seen in instances where people marry someone from another country. They may have a ceremony in the United States and then travel to the other nation to have a service to include the family there.
9. A Formal Ceremony
Formal ceremonies are essential to some people. Maybe you got married at the courthouse, and now you want a church wedding. Perhaps you weren’t spiritual when you first got married, but you have since become strong in your faith. Having a formal ceremony based on your spirituality is not uncommon.
On the other hand, your first wedding might have been minimal because of funding, so this time you want to have all the glitz and glamour that a formal ceremony can bring.
10. To Fix a False Start
Many marriages have false starts. It simply means that you got married for all the wrong reasons. Countless couples walked down the aisle because the woman was pregnant, or they felt that they had no choice. Some people got married for a joke or because they didn’t have anything better to do.
There are 101 reasons why people make this commitment to each other, even those that want a “business relationship.” However, after spending a lot of time together, you realize that you love the person for all the right reasons. In these instances, renewing your vows is a perfect opportunity to set the record straight.
Though things didn’t start like the fairy tale that most people envision, it certainly became everything you could have ever hoped for and more. So, why not take the time to renew your commitment and do it for the right reasons?
Final Thoughts on Renewing Your Vows
Is there anything more amazing than the love between two people? Statista states that there are currently more than 62 million married couples in this country alone. When you’ve found the one who is your other half, then it’s a commonplace to make a trip down the aisle to solidify that bond.
However, many people believe that at some point in the union that they should renew their vows. Whether you want your kids to be a part of this ceremony, you had a false start, you didn’t get the wedding of your dreams, or you want to recommit to one another, having a renewal service is a wise investment.
Maybe you didn’t get the pictures you wanted because there wasn’t money for a dress or a tuxedo. Having a renewal will allow you to take the images you want. The beautiful thing about renewing your vows is that you can make it as elaborate or as simple as you want.
You can choose to do it barefoot next to the ocean or in a ballroom with fancy attire. The choices are endless. Some people love reaffirming the commitment to one another so much they do it every year.
Whatever your reasoning, there’s never a wrong rationale to make a declaration of love to someone who means the world to you.
Community
