Wedding Vow Renewal June 2012?

Around our 2nd wedding anniversary, we decided that we'd really like to renew our wedding vows someday. We agreed that our 5th anniversary would be perfect for that. Now that we just celebrated our 4th anniversary & our 5th is a year away, I can start figuring things out about renewing our vows. We aren't 100% sure if we will be doing this but it is definitely something we are thinking about.

There are several reasons we want to renew our wedding vows:
#1 We had the most beautiful wedding but we want a fresh start. We didn't have a nice house to go home to since we were moving to Oregon right after the wedding. We struggled alot for the 1st 4 months of our marriage. We're in a better place right now than in 2007. We still face the everyday struggles but we're doing better now & things will just get better between now & June 2012.
#2 I wasn't totally happy with our photographer. He did a fine job & I'm very happy he video taped the wedding but he didn't do anything special, he didn't come prepared with a list of traditional wedding poses so we missed getting those & he didn't do any unique poses. If we do the vow renewal, I would hire a much better photographer & get alot more pictures & more of what I want.
#3 There were alot of people that missed our wedding & have said that if we chose to do the vow renewal they would definitely come. Our wedding had a small turn out but it was still beautiful & perfect. The renewal ceremony would give everyone who missed our wedding a chance to come to this.

Since I've been a stay at home mom for over a year & we decided 2 years ago that we wanted to do this, I've had plenty of time to start getting ideas. Again, not 100% sure we'll be doing this next year but it's fun to think about it & start planning it. I won't start making any official plans until it gets closer but for now, I can have fun coming up with ideas. So I thought I'd share what I've come up with so far. Before I share my thoughts, let me start by saying that I've been doing alot of research on proper etiquette for a wedding vow renewal ceremony & there really isn't any. So that gives me the freedom to do whatever I want.

LOCATION - We aren't sure where we would do this at. I wanted to have this at Christ the King since that's been my church for years & that's where we got married. Neither one of us was planning on moving back to AZ in late 2009. I would have it in AZ but a majority of the people that want to come are in WA, the church is in WA & the photographer I want is in WA. That is a decision that is totally in the air & can be changed no problem. Definitely unsure of where it'd be but again, everything is up in the air & won't be decided or booked until it gets closer to June 2012.

DRESS - I am planning on wearing my dress again. The dress is so breathtakingly gorgeous & expensive that it needs to be worn more than once. I want to dress it down a little so I won't wear a veil & the train will be bustled the entire time. I want to wear my jewelry & shoes that I wore for the wedding day as a fun memory. As it gets closer I'll decide on the smaller things like hair style. I'm determined to fit into the gown again especially since we will be paying for this ourselves, I want to save the probably $200 it would cost to alter the gown. I'm already down to my pre baby weight & know I can get down to my wedding weight in a year. If it needs to be altered then so be it but I will find a cheaper place.

When I 1st started thinking about this, I wanted to order the same tux for Garyn & one for Hayden. Now that I think about it I don't want to rent a tux for my boys. Since we will be paying for this ourselves, I'm trying to figure out ways we can cut cost corners as much as possible. I figured renting a tux for Garyn & Hayden would probably be upwards of $300 or so. Plus they both would be incredibly hot especially if we do it in Arizona! Instead, I want to buy both of them khaki pants which will tie in with the champagne color of my dress, a white button down shirt & a light blue tie. The way I shop & the places I shop, I can probably find all of that for around $100. Plus I think it would look so awesome! Garyn looked so handsome in his tux but I think this would be better for a vow renewal ceremony.

I want to order a little dress for Rya. I wanted to get her the same dress our adorable flower girl, Kaylee wore but I've already checked David's Bridal & they no longer carry the dress. I do want the color champagne in Rya's dress so it will match mine. I'm sure we'll be able to find her a sweet dress & she will look so beautiful. Kaylee was a wonderful flower girl & looked so cute!

RECEPTION - We will most likely not do a reception, nothing big anyway. We will most likely just have a gathering of the people that attended at the location of the ceremony. A big reason I want to do this is get alot of wonderful pictures that we didn't get at our wedding so we'll most likely get some before the ceremony, mingle with people afterwards & then finish getting pictures done. If we do this in WA, I have a photographer that I really want! We went to high school together & we on the cheer squad together & she's the most amazing photographer! I love her work & really would love pictures done by her. If we do it in AZ, then I want to try to find someone with the same style as hers.

Since the reception won't be anything big, we won't do dinner. I definitely want lemonde to drink (maybe coffee too, small details that would be figured out later) & cupcakes. I loved our wedding cake & at 1st I wanted a small replica made for the renewal but looking around online I found these cupcakes that would be perfect. Plus I thought cupcakes were more laid back than a cake & that's what I'm going for - a more laid back & casual feel. I want to order cupcakes like the ones pictured which will be perfect! They have the yellow & blue colors of our wedding & the little dots on each cupcake is perfect because that will represent the dots that were on our wedding cake!

We won't be ordering alot of flowers either. Most likely something for the alter that will hopefuly resemble our original alter flowers. I would like a small bouquet to carry. Just a few white roses & blue carnations which is what my wedding bouquet was made from. That will most likely be it for flowers. Since there really won't be a reception, I won't need to order flowers for centerpieces. Since this is just a renewal, I don't think it's necessary to order a boutineer. I think we will order yellow rose petals just to scatter on any tables that are set up or maybe just a few yellow tulips. I will definitely order a single yellow rose in memory of my Mom. We had one at our wedding & it was very special to me to have that there & have it again. Definitely not many flowers but a few.

One thing I really regret was that we never got a honeymoon. After the wedding, we flew back to AZ & had to leave a week later for OR. Neither of us liked AZ & Garyn was offered a job in OR that he used to do & loved. Since we had to be in OR for Garyn's new job, there was no time for a honeymoon. We still haven't taken one & it really bothers me. Our 1st anniversary we spent the weekend in Seattle but that doesn't count as a honeymoon since we only lived about an hour from Seattle. Idealy, I'd love to do our renewal ceremony & leave the next morning for a small delayed honeymoon. Obviously, depending on where we lived & do the ceremony would depend on where we'd go plus we'd need someone to watch the kids for those few days & I think that will be really hard. I think I might just need to accept the fact that we won't get a honeymoon for another 18 years or so. LoL

Anyway, that's really all the thought I've put into this so far. I would love to do this ceremony but it's a long time away so we'll start saving & planning & hopefully we'll be renewing our wedding vows for our 5th anniversary next year!

I've already figured out about what this entire thing will cost. The most expensive thing will be the photographer but it will be worth it. Again, this isn't a for sure thing but something I'd love to do next year for our 5th anniversary if we can afford it. If not, then we will just wait until we can afford it & do it then.