Planning Perfect Vow Renewals

If you do destination weddings, chances are you also do destination vow renewals. But if you do neither, here’s what you need to know when planning the perfect vow renewals.

First off, what is a vow renewal ceremony and why would you have one? It’s for a couple who is already legally married to recommit to each other or to celebrate their marriage. They’re often planned for milestone anniversaries, like the fifth, tenth or twenty-fifth.

Vow Renewal Basics

Couples often turn to travel professionals with help planning vow renewals, which makes sense because turning it into a vacation and going somewhere exciting makes it that much more memorable. So how far should vow renewals go? Should it be an all-out, wedding-level thing?

Sharon Campbell Little, president and owner of Wedding and Honeymoon Travel Group in California, has some insight on this. “It can be as simple and basic as you want it to be, or it can be as elaborate as or even more so than your wedding,” she says. Little explains that a reason for an elaborate ceremony may be because when the couple first got married, they didn’t have as much money for their dream celebration, or maybe they wanted to get married quickly so they couldn’t incorporate as many things as they wanted to. “So sometimes the vow renewal can be more special than the wedding day,” she explains.

Expectations for Guests and the Couple

Vow renewals can be just for the couple. They can also be for close friends and family. The beauty of this type of celebration is that there really aren’t the traditions and expectations that come along with a wedding. Couples can do whatever they want, as Little explained.

Within that flexibility, however, there are some general guidelines to follow. Vow renewals usually don’t include attendants or a bridal party. Couples can invite the people who had a part in their wedding and give them special recognition, but in general, this is not part of a vow renewal celebration. If the couple has children or invited someone who could not make it to the wedding, those people can also get a special call out during the ceremony. Maybe a family member who was unable to attend the wedding can lead the ceremony. Since the couple is already legally married, the ceremony can be officiated by anyone.

Generally speaking, couples should not register for gifts or throw bachelor- and bachelorette-style parties or bridal showers beforehand, even if they didn’t do either thing for their wedding.

What Will Be Expected of You

Couples renewing their vows will generally have the same expectations as a couple planning a wedding, but most likely with less pressure, since it’s a more low-key affair. Even though the couples may be more relaxed about it, you shouldn’t be. In fact, Little recommends treating it as if you were planning their first wedding.  “We don’t see vow renewals any differently,” she says. “It’s still a wedding as far as we’re concerned. It’s just given a different name. It has the same special meaning as if you were getting married for the first time.”

So even though it has a bit of a different meaning and calls for a different experience than a wedding, help make the vow renewal experience special by thinking of it as if you’re planning a wedding.