A couple of years back, 2 friends of ours decided that they would like to have their marriage vows renewed in our local church. The main reason behind this was that they had married abroad some years back, and they thought that a sort of "second wedding" would be a nice thing for the Mums and Dads who had missed out on the original. It was fine, very enjoyable.
Hmm, I got to thinking, Her Ladyship and I did not marry in church, but settled for a Registry Office bash because of parental JW pressure, and also, because I had been married before it was, back then, very difficult to obtain a Church wedding if one had been divorced.
So, I thought, why don't we do the same thing on our 30th anniversary next year as our 2 friends did and have another marriage ceremony? In a nice big Church with a basey organ and bells? Invite everyone, lots of music and dancing, a real celebration!
I put the idea to Her Ladyship, and, to my surprise, she is not at all keen on the idea. She says, that in her opinion, people only opt for a re-affirmation of their marriage vows when they have broken the first lot of vows, and folks who go in for this sort of thing do it as a sort of last resort when their marriage is on the rocks.
Now this took me back considerably. However, she then cited the cases of 3 of her friends who did this, and all the marriages failed shortly afterwards. She said that although it was a nice idea, engaging in such a ceremony would send out the wrong message to all of our friends and family.
So there you go. I guess she has a point. Is she right, I wonder? Does a re-affirmation of marriage vows send out a clear signal that all is not well?
Englishman.