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Vow Renewal Examples

Vow Renewals are very special. For the most part the ceremony is just like any other wedding. What makes the Vow Renewal Ceremony so special are the vows which typically thank the spouse for the years gone by and further pledge commitment for the future. You may choose to write your own renewal vows, but the following serve as fine examples of what can be said to reaffirm your marriage with that special someone. A vow renewal is not a "legal" ceremony so there is no paper to be applied for or submitted afterward, it's just an opportunity to show appreciation, further the marriage committment and share your love with those that may not have been able to attend or participate in your origninal wedding. You may ask, what compels a couple to renew vows? Most commonly it is a celebration of an anniversary such as 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 50 years. This gives the couple the opportunity share thier love with children or even grandchildren. Another occation for a wedding renewal ceremony is for couples that may have been married by the justice of the peace because of busy schedules, budget, a baby, or the inability to include loved ones in the original ceremony. Whatever the occation, Vow Renewals can be every bit as special and sometimes even more special than the original marriage ceremony.

Renewal Vow 1
Blessed with you, (name), I give thanks to God for our togetherness through all these years which has enriched our lives beyond measure, and promise again with all my heart to love you and to cherish you all the days of our lives.

Renewal Vow 2
X years ago, I pledged my loyalty to you, (name), as your wedded husband/wife, to live together after God's ordinance, in the holy estate of matrimony. I promised to love you, comfort you, honor and keep you, in sickness and in health. I further promised that, forsaking all others, I would keep myself only unto you, so long as we both shall live. During these X years, I have been faithful to that pledge. Now, again, at the beginning of the X year of our life together, in the presence of God, in the presence of our family, and in the presence of friends who have gathered for this happy occasion, I renew these vows, pledging myself to continue my devotion to you as long as we both shall live.

Renewal Vow 3
Bride: How little we knew of love, my love.
Groom: How little we knew of love.
Bride: We knew of movie love and book love and other peoples' kinds of love.
Groom: But we really didn't know anything at all.
Bride: We have learned, you and I. We have learned how to love.
Groom: The learning has been a splendid process.
Bride: I have learned that a choice, once made, is not necessarily completed. I have chosen you many times since our wedding day. I choose you still.
Groom: I have learned that a love, once formed, is never wholly finished. My love for you grows daily.
Bride: How little we knew of love, my love. How much more we know of love now.
Groom: Do you suppose, some years from now, we'll look back on this day and say "How little we knew of love?"

Renewal Vow 4
Groom: How young we were X years ago.
Bride: How much we've learned since then.
Groom: We've learned that not all dreams are attainable.
Bride: We've learned that people grow and change.
Groom: We've learned that nothing is quite the way we thought it would be. The hurts have been deeper than we expected -- and the joys have been greater.
Bride: The pleasures have far outweighed the disappointments.
Groom: If I could go back and do it over again, I would still marry you.
Bride: And I would still marry you.
Groom: X years ago, I thought I loved you. Now, I know I do.
Bride: X years ago, I thought I loved you. Now, I know I do.

Renewal Vow 5
You have changed since then. I have changed, and the world around us has changed most of all. But one thing has not changed. X years ago, I promised to love you, to give of my best to you, to cherish and keep you no matter what else happened. I have not always lived up to my best intentions but I have always loved you. I still love you. I love you more now than I did then because I know you better now. And I've matured: the sharp edges of youth have mellowed, increasing my capacity for, and my pleasure in love. We've watched our babies grow up and become independent. We've moved, we've had successes and setbacks we've weathered a good many storms. Some of the things we worried about turned out not to matter at all. What really mattered was our love. The one constant in our lives has grown stronger and I thank you now for the joy you've given me during these 25 years together. It is with a glad heart that I renew my original wedding vows. I still promise to love you, honor you, cherish and keep you. I continue to want you, for better or worse, for richer or poorer. Whatever the future may hold for us, we will always have our love. It is enough.

Renewal Vow 6
Groom: We promised to love for richer and for poorer-and it has come to pass. We've known plentiful times and lean times; we have loved through both.
Bride: We promised to love in sickness and in health -- and it has come to pass. We've been strong and we've been weak. We've each had our turn to take care of the other. We have given and received comfort.
Groom: We promised to love for better and for worse and that, too, has come to pass.
Bride: Our love has made the good times better and the bad times bearable.
Groom: Fifty years ago, we promised to spend our lifetimes together. We were filled with hopes and dreams and youthful anticipation. Today I thank you for making those hopes and dreams come true.
Bride: Thank you for the years of joy for the laughter and the hugs and the unfailing, supportive love.
Groom: We promised to love, and it has come to pass.

Renewal Vow 7
Bride: We are here for a celebration.
Groom: We are here to celebrate love.
Bride: We are here to celebrate marriage -- our own specific marriage which has endured for X years.
Groom: Today we celebrate those X years. We rejoice that X years ago we had the good sense to marry one other.
Bride: We have dried each other's tears. We have applauded each other's successes. For X years, we have lived and loved.
Groom: Today we celebrate the memory of all those years. We celebrate, as well, the hopes we cherish for the years ahead. Most of all, we celebrate now, today, this special once-in-a-lifetime occasion which our love has earned for us.
Bride: It is a day of days, a time of times, a dream come true. Like all the other days of our lives, we celebrate it together.

Renewal Vow 8
On our wedding day, I made a choice. It was the most important and significant choice of my life and I made it only after a great deal of consideration. On that day, I chose you to be my husband/wife. I thought then that such a decision, once made, as final and irrevocable. Now I know that the selection of a life partner is not a one-time decision but an on-going process. Many times in the years since then, I have chosen you again. Faced with changes and alternatives, I have become keenly aware that a marriage lasts only so long as both partners desire each other above all others. As our lives have been affected by the ebb and flow of other lives and events, there have been many times when I could have chosen to go in a different direction. I did not. The reason is simple: no other person has ever aroused in me the feelings of tenderness, joy and caring which you elicit. I elect to stay with you not because I feel obligated to meet your needs but because you continue to meet mine. I live with you not because a legal document says that I am your wife/husband but because, in my heart of hearts, I still want to be by your side more than I want to be anywhere else.