Renew Your Vows | How I Planned My Vow Renewal
So your planning to renew your vows? Since I was recently in your shoes, as a client hiring a photographer and planning my own hiking vow renewal, I thought I would share my experience and things I learned from the process.
When you start to plan to renew your vows, you will want to consider the following. How to choose your photographer. What to wear. How to celebrate. Keep scrolling to see how I planned my own vow renewal and the steps I took!
Choosing a photographer:
I had been following Megan of MorningWild Photography when I found her on the gram' 4 years ago after we moved to North Carolina. I knew at some point I would have to have her photograph us. Yes, I of course love her photos, the colors, light, etc. but a few things that always drew me to her work were, how effortless the images felt, especially the deeply emotional ones, how she shoots in any and all weather, and her documentary-style candid approach that makes you feel like you know the couple in the photos.
I especially love her black and white images. It is not as simple as taking any photo and just making it black and white. Some images based on composition and tones and light do better in black and white and she crafts them beautifully. Also, after following her for so long and reading every inch of her website and Instagram I felt totally confident in her. I knew I would be comfortable on the day, especially since she was so knowledgeable about the Blue Ridge Mountains.
What we wore:
I knew I wanted to wear a wedding dress because ultimately, I did not love the one I wore on my wedding day. It did not feel like me and it did not fit well. So, my number one priority was finding one that fit like a glove which required determination given my petite size. Most wedding dresses you try on are sample sizes which meant for me that I would try on dresses at least 5-9 sizes too big for me. I had to hope that with alterations it would like "right". I spent a lot on my designer dress and additional alterations and it still did not fit me or flatter my small frame. Though I thought I would go to a bridal salon because I did want a wedding dress I also shopped online and tried some on at home.
The winner that I ended up liking more than my wedding dress was $100 from lulu’s and fit like a glove without any alterations minus the hem. Also, it was the perfect dress for hiking. It was insanely comfortable, easy to move in (i.e., I could step over logs, move my arms, etc.) did not have much delicate fabric that could snag or rip. Plus it allowed me to easily add an additional layer for warmth.
Of course, I wore my Merrell hiking boots that were comfortable and safe and hid under my dress as well.
I added a fun hand-painted leather jacket by B. Willus, who is one of my amazingly talented past brides! She lettered "Endlessly" on my jacket which is the same word I had inscribed on Jake's wedding ring. It has a lot of meaning to me and added a little edge. The jacket also allowed for my shoulders to be covered and ultimately more comfortable when wearing my backpack. Then wanting something unique and more fashion forward, I found an incredible fabric I happened upon at the store and had my mom sew me a long veil as a statement piece. I loved adding some fun accessories that I was hesitant to wear on my wedding day because I felt the need to keep things classic for my wedding photos, silly me.
Though I hiked in my dress, I only added the veil after we finished hiking because of the delicate fabric. I always tell my couples you can hike in your dress or you can certainly pack it and then change when we get to the summit of the trail. That includes changing shoes too or adding accessories.
For me, it was fun to get stains and rips in my dress because to me they are memories, and any time I look at the hem I think of that specific trail.
Jake chose to wear black jeans for comfort, one of his button-ups, and a nice blazer. He wore his hat that I love so much and vans because, for him, they were comfortable enough to hike in. I was leery just because they have no ankle support for hiking, but he was comfortable and felt true to himself. More so than on our wedding day when he wore tan slacks and a white button up I think we bought from Macy’s, ha-ha.
We also both used our lightweight day packs for water, snacks, extra layers for weather, and flashlights/headlamps for the hike down.
What we chose to do:
It was important to me that we hand write new vows. We read our first vows that we shared on our wedding day and then exchanged the new ones. Also, we chose to do a first look for fun and since we did not do one on our actual wedding day. And we planned to eat before but knowing we would not be back into town for dinner we preemptively stocked the Airbnb fridge with snacks and sushi. We also brought donuts from our favorite bakery, Suarez, in our backpacks, to enjoy after our vows (but I do wish we brought more food/snacks to sit and enjoy longer!)
And lastly, and maybe most importantly, we chose to have good attitudes. Yes, not hard to do on such a fun day, but even when we were disappointed about the weather bringing deep fog that completely obstructed the views surrounding us, we let the disappointment fade and focused on what was important.
