2020 May Be a Huge Year for Anniversary Vow Renewals At Home

^{Photo Credit: Rebecca Sanabria Photographs; @howrebeccaseesit}

Couples who planned to get married this year have absolutely had a rough year. We mourn with them, we say oh 💩 with them, and we celebrate the hell out of them for hanging in there. These couples have been THROUGH IT to make tough decisions on whether to elope, because they #justcantwait, to host a small ceremony (minimony) now and delay the bigger party for later, or to postpone the whole thing for a [hopefully] safer time, and they’re doing this industry proud with their pivots. That being said, for other couples, who might not be getting married this year, but instead celebrating big anniversaries or even just run-of-the-mill annual ones, there probably couldn’t be a better time to renew those vows or live in those memories for just a moment.

Case in point, Tiffani Thiessen. Just last week, the actress and her husband celebrated 15 years of marriage - and she totally outdid herself with the magic she worked for the major milestone.

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Let’s just review this amazing gift Tiffani gave to her guy:

“Last night I surprised my husband with a special 15 year anniversary gift. I recreated a “at home” version of our wedding. From the table, to the flowers, to the decor and even the menu beautifully re-created by my dear friend @maili_halme who did our wedding. It was a memorable night to say the least...and I think I blew my husband’s socks off…”

We’re obsessed with this idea for many reasons, but we love it the most, because the timing makes perfect sense. COVID is still dictating everything we do, but an at-home wedding recreation “follows all the rules.” It’s intimate, it’s safe, it’s comfortable, and it’s beyond special.

According to Thiessen’s good friend and wedding chef, Maili Halme, the recreation was as on-point as possible, “she had saved everything and even had the original olive branches on their champagne glasses from their wedding day. I still had the exact trays and bowls we used at their wedding to recreate the exact centerpieces. Brady was so surprised! He had no idea! The sweetest part is that the pastor that married them, Jon Ireland, sent a video prayer and blessing to them on their anniversary.”

I mean… all the 😍 right??!

If you’ve got an anniversary coming up, use Tiffani’s surprise as a template. 

You’ll probably have these things on your side to make it happen, too!

• Some more down time to remember the historic highlights [of your wedding]
• A closet full of clothes to co-op for your couture (a socially-distanced occasion means you can dress down as much as you want #littlewhitedressgetitdone)
• An opportunistic window to renew your vows, because when we’re “back to normal” the idea can quickly fall to the back burner

Plus! Vendors have availability and they miss their fam

As we mentioned earlier, couples have been making inspiring moves with their alternate wedding plans, and it’s not just brides and grooms who are adapting - wedding pros are changing course and getting super creative with their event strategies and services so as to be more COVID-friendly. So, if you worked with a local team of talent - who you’ve kept in touch with (or not) - for your wedding, reach out and see if they’d be on-board with helping you redo your original I Dos at home. We can’t imagine any vendor not wanting to be a part of the scaled-down fete, unless, of course, they’re occupied with another wedding, elopement, virtual vow exchange, etc.

Third time's the charm - BEAUTIFUL IMAGES BY @howrebeccaseesit

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