Vow renewal in Vegas?

[Thoughtfulone]

My husband and I were married in the Vatican, so obviously we had a Catholic wedding We love Las Vegas and it is a special place for us, and for one of our anniversaries, I thought it would be a blast to do a super-cheesy, tacky, Vegas-style vow renewal. This is o.k., right?

 

[ConstantineTG]

No. There is no need to renew vows. Vows are meant to be carried until death. You do not renew them.

I’ll look for it, but there was an explicit document about the forbidding of renewal of vows. Another scenario tackled was because many couples desire a garden wedding, they will have a simple ceremony in the church then have the grand wedding with renewal of vows and party in a garden setting. The renewal of vows is not allowed.

 

[Phemie]

No. There is no need to renew vows. Vows are meant to be carried until death. You do not renew them.

I’ll look for it, but there was an explicit document about the forbidding of renewal of vows. Another scenario tackled was because many couples desire a garden wedding, they will have a simple ceremony in the church then have the grand wedding with renewal of vows and party in a garden setting. The renewal of vows is not allowed.

I’m sorry, but that is wrong. There is a rite of Renewal of Vows in the Catholic Church. In Canada that involves repeating the vows exactly as they were said the first time, although the introduction is not the same; in the US the wording of the vows is slightly different from the wedding vows.

That’s not the same as having two separate marriage ceremonies. The canon against that is found in the canons relating to disparity of cult or mixed marriages and forbids having a Catholic ceremony followed by another religious ceremony or vice versa as though the Catholic one was not enough.

 

[Thoughtfulone]

I don’t see why this would be a big deal. The marriage already took place, complete with certificate. Why wouldn’t I be able to stand up in front of Elvis and basically say, “I still love you, I always will, and I’m glad we’re together after all this time?” I would think that in the eyes of the Church this would basically be meaningless, but it would mean a lot to us…

 

[Phemie]

I don’t see why this would be a big deal. The marriage already took place, complete with certificate. Why wouldn’t I be able to stand up in front of Elvis and basically say, “I still love you, I always will, and I’m glad we’re together after all this time?” I would think that in the eyes of the Church this would basically be meaningless, but it would mean a lot to us…

You’re married. If you want repeat your vows in front of Elvis, or Yoda, or your next door neighbour for that matter, the Church doesn’t care. On the other hand, should you ever decide to celebrate a special event by renewing your vows in the context of a religious ceremony, the Church has a ritual for that.

 

[dconklin]

Have fun with it! My wife and I met in Vegas.

I don’t think you will be ‘renewing’ the vows, because I am guessing Elvis will not be offering the Catholic version. We do have our own version, don’t we?

 

[Claire_from_DE]

I think it would be a fun thing to stand up in front of Elvis and testify to your love. The real iffy part for me would be anybody other than the priest or official Church witness saying, “I now pronounce you man and wife…” If he instead said something like, “let’s all toast the happy couple” or if he then began to sing Love Me Tender I think it would be OK.

 

[Phemie]

I think it would be a fun thing to stand up in front of Elvis and testify to your love. The real iffy part for me would be anybody other than the priest or official Church witness saying, “I now pronounce you man and wife…” If he instead said something like, “let’s all toast the happy couple” or if he then began to sing Love Me Tender I think it would be OK.

Since it would mean nothing, legally or religiously, I doubt that that’s a problem. When you renew your vows in Church the priest doesn’t pronounce you man and wife again.

 

[NewEnglandPriest]

My husband and I were married in the Vatican, so obviously we had a Catholic wedding We love Las Vegas and it is a special place for us, and for one of our anniversaries, I thought it would be a blast to do a super-cheesy, tacky, Vegas-style vow renewal. This is o.k., right?

You’re free to “renew” your vows anywhere you want.

 

[NewEnglandPriest]

When you renew your vows in Church the priest doesn’t pronounce you man and wife again.

Indeed. But every now and then there’s always some joker (men and women) who will do a dramatic pause when asked the renewal vows, usually followed by a kick from the other, LOL.

 

[Claire_from_DE]

Since it would mean nothing, legally or religiously, I doubt that that’s a problem. When you renew your vows in Church the priest doesn’t pronounce you man and wife again.

Good point. I remember my parents doing it on their 50th anniversary and he didn’t. I suppose I envisioned them going through a whole wedding ceremony, which would be redundant.

 

[CB_Catholic]

“Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” is how the saying goes. Maybe you better not JK

 

[Thoughtfulone]

Thanks for the great replies! I can’t wait

 

[benedictgal]

What the OP could do is to have a Mass of Thanksgiving to mark the anniversary, including a renewal of vows and a blessing from the priest. If a party is planned, then, perhaps “Elvis” could make a guest appearance at that point. In this way, you are thanking God for your years of life together and then have an enjoyable reception.

 

[Joan_M]

My husband and I were married in the Vatican, so obviously we had a Catholic wedding We love Las Vegas and it is a special place for us, and for one of our anniversaries, I thought it would be a blast to do a super-cheesy, tacky, Vegas-style vow renewal. This is o.k., right?

I think it would be super-tacky! A blast? Yech! Personally, my opinion is that doing anything like what you are suggesting would be an insult to the sacrament of marriage.

 

[Thoughtfulone]

I think it would be super-tacky! A blast? Yech! Personally, my opinion is that doing anything like what you are suggesting would be an insult to the sacrament of marriage.

Oh please! I already had a wonderful wedding in th Vatican that was sacred and special. This is just for a little bit of romantic, over-the-top fun.

 

[Joan_M]

Oh please! I already had a wonderful wedding in th Vatican that was sacred and special. This is just for a little bit of romantic, over-the-top fun.

Really, romantic? Fun? Still tacky, still “yech”.

That being said, you will do what you will do, regardless of my opinion. I simply could not consider any such thing either fun or romantic, and I do like romantic and I enjoy a lot of fun.

 

[Thoughtfulone]

Really, romantic? Fun? Still tacky, still “yech”.

That being said, you will do what you will do, regardless of my opinion. I simply could not consider any such thing either fun or romantic, and I do like romantic and I enjoy a lot of fun.

Well, Vegas is a special place for me and my husband, so obviously it will be fun and romantic for us in ways you might not understand.

 

[angela715]

My husband and I renewed our vows in Vegas with Elvis for our 15th anniversary. It was a blast! Our “Elvis” had a serious side and said some very touching things and then a silly side promising to never treat him like a hound dog etc. We went into it knowing it wasn’t a religious ceremony. That’s what our first, real wedding was for. This was just to have fun. For our 20th, we renewed our vows with my parents (their 45th) in the church my great grandparents married in Sicily in a very Catholic ceremony. I say enjoy yourself!

 

[Thoughtfulone]

My husband and I renewed our vows in Vegas with Elvis for our 15th anniversary. It was a blast! Our “Elvis” had a serious side and said some very touching things and then a silly side promising to never treat him like a hound dog etc. We went into it knowing it wasn’t a religious ceremony. That’s what our first, real wedding was for. This was just to have fun. For our 20th, we renewed our vows with my parents (their 45th) in the church my great grandparents married in Sicily in a very Catholic ceremony. I say enjoy yourself!

Wow that’s amazing! Thanks