Photo Session vs. Vow Renewal?

I like the idea of a photo shoot. I've friends who have done more wedding photo shoots after their wedding. If you don't have photos and you want to look back on it then I don't see why not.

I would say have a vow renewal and maybe make it a mini vacation or something, I hate to ask this but I am assuming things are better but do you feel the vow renewal will make things better within the relationship? I know weddings are important but I do not want that to be the reason you two are fighting. I would toss the wedding stuff or try to sell it but nothing wrong with doing a vow renewal just you two.

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During our first year of marriage, I gave him an ultimatum of marriage counseling or divorce. It had gotten so bad that I had to even point out vows he made on our wedding day, which he had already broken within the first 6 months of our marriage. Also, one of our groomsman told me that they were concerned that he was going to collapse during the ceremony due to the amount of alcohol he consumed prior. A lot of hurtful things, and those are just some of the big ones. With marriage counseling we were able to get through a lot of our issues.

Fast forward to today: We have open lines of communication, financially we are doing well, and finally back to being like we were before we got married (if that makes sense). Personally it feels like something worth celebrating and building a future on.

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OOoooooh okay awesome. I am glad you worked through it. I just hoped the bad experience with the wedding is what caused issues. I do feel that you both deserve a happy day and doing a vow renewal is a great idea!

If I were in your shoes, I would go full on photo session. I would pack our wedding attire and take myself and my husband to a trip on the beach, hire an amazing photographer and get you both some memories of a wedding you will love. You don't need the officiant, decorations, the table settings, fancy food or even family and friends to make new and better wedding memories. Then when you get home, you can take out those Mr and Mrs frames, dust them off and add some of the new photos around the house to remind you both just how far you have come and how happy you are.

Final Decision - We will have a family member or friend take some photos of us for our 2nd anniversary, and plan a vow renewal for our 5th or 10th anniversary. This way we have photos to give people who keep asking and we have more time to decide and plan our vow renewal.

Thanks for the advice!!

I'm so sorry photos of your day didn't turn out how you'd hoped. i would say do a photo shoot!! i mean it won't be the same as a "wedding day" shoot perhaps but you could definitely do newlywed photos. buy a cake - do a cake cutting. do solos and hey even try a cake smash to make it fun

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I think we are going to do just a few couple photos for our 2nd Anniversary, and plan a vow renewal with close friends and family around 5 or 10 years.

View Quoted Comment This sounds much better. But aside from the photos, do something special, just you two, to treat yourself on your anniversary. You have turned things around and made the marriage work, not other people's business, but important for you to recognize and celebrate. I wish you happiness going forward.

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We will make a day out of it. Not sure what all that will consist of at this point since it's not until September, but I am sure we will have something planned by then. We have talked and decided to have a small vow renewal for our 5th or 10th anniversary, especially since we have turned things around. Nothing big, but a small gathering with a few close friends and family if they wish to attend. We have decided the renewal will be on the beach. Since that was my original intent for the venue of our wedding, but we couldn't due to his family being unable to travel.