Celebrating Your Story This Couples Day

National Couple’s Day falls on 18th August and it seems the perfect opportunity to celebrate relationships at every stage. From couples planning their wedding to those celebrating decades together, wedding and vow renewal ceremonies offer two very different but equally personal ways to celebrate your story.

Although we probably don’t need another date in the calendar telling us when to appreciate the person we share our life with, I rather like the sentiment behind this one.

Because every couple has a story.

Perhaps yours is only just beginning and you’re planning your wedding. Maybe you’ve already shared ten, twenty, thirty or even fifty years together. Along the way, there will have been wonderful times, difficult times, ordinary Tuesdays, big adventures and probably plenty of moments that still make you laugh.

However long you’ve been together, that story belongs to the two of you.

And sometimes, it’s worth celebrating.

Wedding and Vow Renewal Ceremonies

When you’re planning a wedding, so much attention naturally goes towards the day itself — the venue, flowers, outfits, food, photographs and all those other decisions.

However, right at the heart of it are two people choosing each other.

That’s why I love the idea behind celebrant-led wedding and vow renewal ceremonies: they give us the freedom to create something that actually sounds and feels like the two people at the heart of it.

Of course, I want to know how you met and how the proposal happened. However, I also want to know about the little things.

Who makes the first cup of tea? Who takes forever to get ready? Who is the organiser? Who suggests the spontaneous adventures? What makes you laugh? And what is it about this person that made you decide, yes, you’re the one I want beside me?

Those details help create a ceremony that couldn’t simply be swapped into somebody else’s wedding.

Instead, it becomes yours.

Hopefully, that’s exactly what your guests leave saying.

But What About Years Later?

A wedding, of course, is only one chapter.

As the years pass, life happens.

Perhaps you’ve raised a family, changed careers, moved house, travelled together, faced difficult times or celebrated things you never imagined when you first exchanged vows.

Consequently, the promises you make after twenty years together can mean something very different from the promises you made on your wedding day.

And that’s one of the reasons I think vow renewal ceremonies can be so special.

You don’t need to wait for a particular anniversary either.

Perhaps you want to celebrate 10, 25 or 40 years together. Alternatively, maybe you’ve come through a difficult period and simply want to mark the fact that you’re still standing side by side.

A vow renewal can be romantic, relaxed, funny, intimate or a wonderful excuse to gather everyone you love together for a celebration.

You can involve your children or grandchildren. You might revisit some of your original wedding vows, write completely new ones or simply tell each other what your relationship means to you now.

There are no rules about what it has to look like.

And I rather like that.

Your Story Is Worth Celebrating

So, this National Couple’s Day, perhaps take a moment to think about your own story.

Whether you’re about to say your vows for the first time or you’ve been saying “put the kettle on” to the same person for the last forty years, what you’ve built together is uniquely yours.

And if you’d like to celebrate your relationship with a personal ceremony in Lancashire or the surrounding areas, I’d be delighted to hear your story. Whether you’re planning your wedding or renewing your vows years later, wedding and vow renewal ceremonies should feel completely personal to the two people at their heart.

No pressure — just a conversation.

Helen Borking Celebrant
‘The right words, when they matter the most’