Here are just some of the reasons, other than an anniversary celebration, why couples choose to have a vow renewal ceremony…

1) to reaffirm marriage following a separation,

2) starting anew after troubling relationship times,

3) after the discovery of terminal illness,

4) couples who previously were married by a judge at a courthouse and want an ordained vocational church minister to officiate,

5) couples who have moved to a new resident/location in retirement and wanting to start together in the twilight years,

6) couples who have made it an annual event,

7) couples whose work causes distance in their residency,

8) as the center piece of a family vacation and reunion with children and grandchildren,

9) couples who married at a destination spot or eloped but want to share the marriage commitment with family present,

10) couples who want to share the marriage celebration with their young children involved in the ceremony.

One couple I met decided that when they got married they would have a vow renewal ceremony in a different state, every year, for their first 50 years of marriage anniversaries!

Perhaps the majority of the vow renewal ceremonies that I have the honor of officiating at the beach or at our chapel, are vow renewals after a rough patch of marriage, and they are usually simple intimate ceremonies with just the couple and sometimes with a few friends or children present.