I will be interested to see the final product of this article. I had noticed how quickly people were renewing their vows in grand fashion. I have to wonder how they have money to do it! We would like to do a vow renewal each year on our anniversary, but an intimate (like just us and kids when they come along, God willing) affair that's a reaffirmation and reminder of our vows. I think in some ways people forget the true meaning of a wedding and focus so much on the party and the material side.
Technically, our wedding in December in a vow renewal. We were married legally on August 16, 2004, in a courthouse in southern Virginia. He was in the military. With that said, nothing is certain in the military until you are legally wed. We needed that solidification... quickly.
I wore a knee-lenth white dress, a veil and garter purchased at Wal-Mart, and had a small bouquet. He wore his dress uniform. We exchanged rings we bought at the local mall just days proir. At this point, my white gold has faded to a yellow gold and is cleary visible against my much better made engagement ring. But, the commitment and symbolism is there. I'm freaked out at the idea of not wearing it later this month before our "wedding!"
We had about 15 people present of both family and friends to witness and support us in our decision. My best freind and Maid of Honor twice over drove 16 hours to be there. Brye's brother and Best Man twice over dropped my ring! He thought Brye was trying to hold his hand instead of get the ring from him! It made for a good laugh and fond memories! Our mothers (neither of our fathers were able to attend) took the group out to brunch at a lovely restraunt. If you're familiar with the
700 Club (news with a Christian approach), our "reception" was held on the same grounds that it is filmed. We had a small cake to cut and a champagne toast. Our moms and friends were our photographers and had us pose for our, "portraits," in the beautiful gardens. We knew God was smiling on us that day. Hurricane Charlie had made it's way up the coast just in time for our wedding. The weather cleared out and brought brilliant sun just as we were seated at the outisde terrace! We even got sunburned!
It was an important day becuase it was the day we were married; however, if that had become our only wedding day, I think I would have been heart broken. Within about 4 months of the time we met, we had already started planning our Disney wedding. The wedding day we had always envisioned was not in a courthouse without our fathers there. Still, the incredible commitment we were making to one another was evident. I barely choked out my vows through tears of joy... I was marrying my best friend.
We intend to celebrate both our weddings annually. December 29th is a date we have always celebrated as it was the day we met at Disney. Our "vow renewal/wedding," is exactly five years from that day. Our August date will be a much more intimate and quiet affair. As for our wedding rings from that date, we intend to give them to our children as a sign of our love from them... a promise to the commitment we have made to them for all of their lives. I will be wearing the same garter, and my veil from August 2004 will serve as my blusher this December.
The fact that we are already married has really refocused our attention for this December. We can't help but be reminded that this event is based around those incredibly powerful vows we'll be exchanging for a second time. It's nice to be able to focus on them and not the extraneous events.