Last year I met Becca of Modern Vintage Event Planning at a Hallmark blogger event. We both run personal blogs on the side that Hallmark had discovered and they thought we’d enjoy the event. We both had a great time but were kinda left wondering how on earth we ended up on Hallmark’s radar.
We become friends through the blogging world and I find out that Becca is this refreshingly honest voice about marriage. Naturally, the girl crush goes into full bloom. It isn’t often that you find someone who is happily married AND not afraid to talk about how, well, boring it can be, too.
We got together a couple of weeks ago to talk about co-hosting a vow renewal ceremony thing together. We’re really excited to announce the first annual Vowentines Event.
*Can I quickly note that it is funny that two bloggers that are introduced by Hallmark would later get together to create an event that pushes back at the idea of candy hearts and perfect love to celebrate the idea that this whole “I love you until death do us part” thing is hard but totally worth it? Sticking it to The Man (just kidding, Hallmark was actually SUPER awesome and their Tell Them campaign makes me cry every time.)
This probably isn’t the official logo for the Vowentine’s thing, but I need something for you gangsters to Pin. So go do that.
What is Vowentines?
We’re making it up as we go along. BUT I think this is going to be big. Really big.
It’s sad to say but sometimes the vows get lost on the wedding day. You say them and you mean them (of course!) but it’s easy to lose sight of how heavy these vows are in the midst of choosing the perfect dress and DIY’ing your invitations.
And I think vows are the glue to the relationship. The vows are what make you more than boyfriend and girlfriend. Vows set your relationship apart. Vows are why you stick around even when you don’t feel like it. Vows are why you are loving even when you have the right to be hateful. Vows are how we communicate to the other person that we’re going to be here no matter what.
Sometimes those vows need to be renewed, revived, refreshed. That’s what Vowentines is about.
I don’t care if you’ve been married 30 minutes or 15 years. Marriage isn’t easy.
Some of us are going through really tough times, times you never dreamed of on the day you said “I do”. And it’s hard. Maybe you need the refresher. Maybe you need to hear your partner make those promises to you one more time. Maybe you need to repair a vow that has already been broken.
Maybe it isn’t so much a rough time, but a new time. You’re moving, changing jobs, having a baby, going back to school. Maybe life looks a million shades of grey different than it did on your wedding day. Your vows are intact, but you’re about to start a new part of your journey together and now is as good a time as any to make all those commitments again.
Maybe you just need a little Us Time. A time to reconnect that digs a little deeper & gets a little more romantic than a typical dinner date.
Vowentines is for you.
We’re going to enjoy an evening of renewing our vows. You’ll think about how your relationship has evolved since your wedding day and the promises that need to be made again or new promises that you never knew you’d need to make (“I promise to change a dirty diaper as soon as I smell it”). I’ll guide you through (almost Mad Lib style) writing new vows that you will make all over again.
We’ll celebrate with a champagne toast, Vowentines cake, and a photographer to capture the love all over again. It’s literally like your wedding without the stress of someone spilling something on your dress.
After the Vowentines ceremony you guys can have the rest of the night to enjoy dinner in Nashville and return to the hotel for a peaceful (or not… wink, wink) night away from “real life”.
Right now we’re looking at the weekend of February 16th at the Hilton Garden Inn in Nashville.
I want to sign up now!
Well, you can’t right now because you’re literally getting breaking news coverage of this story. But there are a couple of things you can do:
- Mark your calendars for February 16th.
- Right now it looks like the price for the Vowentines celebration and a room at the Hilton Garden Inn is going to be about $175. If you save $20 each week between now and Valentines you’ll be ready to go.
- Tell your hubby it’s what you want for Valentines (he doesn’t even have to think/plan/do anything!).
- Sign up for this email list so that I can get information to your inbox and so that you won’t miss any early bird prices. (Mark that you’re interested in Vowentines)
- Share this on Facebook, Twitter, your own blog, Pinterest. More of your friends that are there the more it will really be like your wedding day!
Get excited you guys. Marriage is going to look so different in 2013.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
this is a really fantastic idea!!
I don’t live anywhere near Nashville, but this is such a fabulous idea, I wish I could join. Very cool ladies!
I live all the way across in another part of the world, but I must say I absolutely love the idea behind Vowetines! It’s what every couple needs. I agree marriage is hard work and a few years down the line, (I’ve been married for 7), and things do get a bit “stand-still”. Not that that’s a bad thing, but maybe not the best?! And I would love to repeat the vows we made together on our wedding day and possibly add new ones. I think that would do wonders for every marriage! And reading about how you guys have planned the whole Vowetines evening, it’ll be just like re-creating our wedding evening, with a hotel afterwards, and everything! Since I don’t live near Nashville, I’ll probably plan something similar for my husband and me here! Thanks for the lovely idea!
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