It’s summer, and that means wedding season! While everyone loves the cake, the great food, the dancing, the chance to dress up in Gucci or Chanel and wow their partners, it’s the *relationship* that is at the center of the day. It means the world to the wedding couple, and if you’re married, you may be thinking about your own wedding day and your own relationship right now…perhaps moreso with each wedding you attend.
Just look at Tori & Dean…they planned the wedding for the guncles and then another wedding for Tori’s friend…and they really started to focus on how career and parenthood and motorcycles were putting some distance between them. Long story short, they put their relationship first, and they renewed their wedding vows, bringing their kids into the celebration.
Heidi Klum and Seal renew their vows every year, and this year had all of their guests dressing up like brides and grooms.
As fun as these celebrity vow renewals are, with their parties and the kids and the cameras and the themes, I’m thinking about a wonderful couple who renewed their vows alone on a mountaintop, in the quiet of nature, just wanting to express their *gratitude* for one another. That’s it. No themes. No cake. No Chanel.
They’re among the couples featured in my book Renewing Your Wedding Vows, and their story will inspire you if you wish to skip the big, fancy wedding re-do and just walk outside today to renew your vows under the tree in your front yard. I wish I could tell you that that couple was married for 75 years. They loved each other enough to be married that long. But Craig passed away recently, leaving Susanne without him now…comforted by the memories of their annual vow renewals and the words of love they took the time to speak to one another.
So it doesn’t matter how you do it. It doesn’t matter if you book the Plaza or climb a mountain to be alone. Just say the words. I have tons of inspiration here in my book, lots of quotes and ideas on how you can make Renewing Your Vows a meaningful part of your relationship, a refresher each year.
And if you’re not yet married, tell your parents and your married friends about it, about how simple it is to renew your vows and just ‘have a moment’ together, or re-do the wedding they never got to have — maybe a couple’s getaway for a tropical vow renewal, or a trip to Vegas…or a walk out to that tree in the front yard. With nobody looking on. And an Entenman’s cupcake to celebrate.
Sharon Naylor Wedding Books 
