Your promises, your words, your way, spoken under a glowing sunset.
Short summer reads…
A non-religious vow renewal is simply a ceremony built around your marriage rather than a set of fixed words. Nothing has to be recited, and nothing is included unless it means something to you both.
I'm Leon, a celebrant and photographer at Twilight Ceremonies. Every ceremony I lead is written from scratch, so a non-religious renewal is exactly how most of mine begin.
What "Celebrant-Led" Means
A celebrant writes and leads a ceremony around you, rather than following a set order of service. There are no required words, no hymns and no fixed structure. If you would like a reading, a poem or a song, it goes in. If not, it does not. What does a celebrant actually do explains the role in more detail.
What Goes Into the Ceremony
A typical Twilight renewal has a gentle shape: a welcome, your story told back to you, your refreshed vows, and a closing moment as the sun drops. Some couples add a ring exchange or a handfasting. A few like to include a Welsh word or two, which I am always happy to help with as I keep learning the language myself. How a vow renewal ceremony is put together goes step by step.
Photo: Steve Daniels, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Writing Your Vows Again
We work on your words over the months before summer, at your own pace. You do not need to be a writer. What to say when renewing your vows has prompts if you are staring at a blank page.
Is It Legal?
A vow renewal is a celebration, not a legal ceremony, whether it is religious or not. You are already married, so nothing needs registering. Is a vow renewal legally binding covers the detail.
Where It Happens
The Sunset Vow Renewal is £450.00 on the offerings page, at a location of your choosing. That could be the Llŷn, an Anglesey beach, the Conwy estuary, a hillside in the north-east, your own garden, or anywhere else that means something to you.
Leave out whatever does not fit and keep everything that does. Read what happens at a Twilight ceremony, or speak to me about the ceremony you have in mind.
No script but yours, no light but the sunset.