Civil Wedding Vows

Is it appropriate to have a wedding party for a vow renewal ceremony?

My husband and I are renewing our wedding vows for our 5 year anniversary. Due to the lack of finances, my mom married us with only my Grandma (who has since passed away), and Dad as witnesses. My husband and I would like to show our renewed commitment to each other in front of our friends and family with a ceremony and I would like to have a wedding party, but I did not know how appropriate it would be. Thanks for all of the answers. It's really helped.

Public Comments

1. you dont usually have a wedding party in the renewal of your vows, plus your witness needs to be the ones standing next to you. so whoever witnessed your marriage needs to be your wedding party. like you said your grandma has passed away then you can have another family member stand in her place.
2. I think if you really wanted to you could. Maybe instead of having them walk down the aisle and do the WHOLE traditional thing you can just have them in dresses so they represent your close friends/family but so you don't make it seem like it's the first time around because it's not! but of course, it's really up to you!
3. thats a good idea a party or u could do the whole wedding over again and your friends and family could be there 2 c how beautiful your luv 4 each other is
4. i think you just do what you want now a days. go with your heart.
5. I found an article regarding vow renewal etiquette. I think you will find it helpful: http://www.idotaketwo.com/vow_renewal_etiquette.html. However, if you want to break away from tradition and have the wedding of your dreams, I say go for it! It is your special day and you want to incorporate all that you missed out on the first time.
6. I think it would be great and those whom you pick will be honored. Since it is a vow renewal, I would skip making your maids buy the expensive dresses though.
7. traditionally, no because it's not a wedding and you are a wife, not a bride.... ...but if you've been reading questions & answers here for any length of time you'll see many who chuck tradition as if it's yesterday's trash......then grouse when 'smack' is talked about them behind their backs for doing what they have done....oh well, that's what happens when tradition is set aside (in some cases) and replaced with very bad taste instead of another equally tasteful new 'tradition'.....good luck.
8. sorry your wedding wasn't the big do that you wanted but its over and done with. your idea of a wedding party is not appropriate at all - you can have your service with your friends and family in attendance - anything more than that is just tacky - have your service and then a bit of a party afterwards but no attendants, no wedding cake, etc. it isn't a wedding, you've had that, this is simply an anniversary party. end of story. good luck!
9. That would be a really good idea! If you are familiar with the show "Jon & Kate+8" they recently renewed their vows at a beautiful ceremony in hawaii and they used their 8 children in the ceremony. One of the twins was the maid of honor and the other was the best "girl" i guess you would call it. The sextuplets just ran around but they were definitely part of the procession (is that what its called?) and they hung out up at the front when they wanted to. Anyway, the reason i bring that show up is that Jon's family was unable to attend the wedding because they lived in hawaii so it was the same idea. They had all the people that couldnt attend the first one be able to attend the second. They had the ceremony, then had a small reception where they danced and had a cake. I wouldnt make everything as big of a deal as a first wedding would be, like more of a low-key version. Dont go over the top with decorations or flowers or anything but maybe small centerpieces for the reception and you can have a low-key cake.
10. I think it sounds wonderful. I'm in the early stages of planning a very romantic, private renewal of vows for me and my husband. Not sure if the kids will be participating. good luck.