Wow, that's a dress made for a princess, for sure!

  Mikla

Say Yes To the Dress!   I am a wedding dress addict as well.  I love them...and for the most part ALL of them.  Plain ones, couture ones...all of them. 

http://www.brides.co...gner/stpucchi?page=1

Pretty much all of these are nice.  They also come in COLORS!   Your diamond does not have to be white and neither does your dress.

DJ
You`ll love it if you renew your vows. Fair enough I was much older than you when we renewed ours and had been married for over 30 years by then. The whole thing was arranged in a hurry because of the circumstances but it was lovely to have a second wedding day. In fact it was a WONDERFUL day !
I had a plain - ish Alfred Angelo dress, almost identical to the one I`ve posted except mine was in Antique gold colour and I had those very very deep red velvety roses with gold threads intertwined through them. There wasn`t time to spend weeks or months searching for a dress but apart from a tiny bit of altering around the waist, mine looked made to measure even though it was off the peg. I still have it.
Lynne

Of course you serve cake, Robin! But more drinks than cake. I'm kidding. I have no idea.

Those are some killer wedding dresses. You've made ME an addict.

My excuse would be to get a new diamond of some sort.

   That is just plain silly DJM...of course there is a new ring.   

One of my doctors said that he was not very romantic in like 20 years of marriage.  As a surprise he booked a trip to Bali and got the hut over the water...massages at sunset...then the renewal of the vows, where he opened up a 5ct solitaire.  He said "this should make up for 20 years of romantic gestures."  To know him is to love him.

I also had an associate that renewed his vows 3 times in 5 years. I never got it. He said that his wife was always disappointed in their wedding so he was constantly trying to make up for it. In fact, she had years of therapy because of it. After the third "renewal" I asked him what possibly went wrong at the first ceremony that he felt a need to renew his vows so many times. (Here I was thinking that maybe an old girlfriend showed up, or her father got stinking drunk or there was a fight of some sort.) His reply: not a thing. The wedding reception was beautiful just not what she "envisioned".  

As for a ring, you can always give a diamond for a milestone anniversary. I'd think that it would mean more to celebrate a milestone rather than a "start over again". As for your friend to renew his vows because he wasn't romantic for 20 years--don't you think that is kinda sad?  

Well DJM I suppose you`d have to ask every individual person why they want to renew their vows ? I can only give you the reasons why we renewed ours.
We wanted a day full of smiles, happiness, fond memories and a good excuse to bring together all those people we loved and who`d supported us through thick and thin.
Many of the folks from our original ceremony 30 years earlier were long gone, parents, aunts, uncles, old friends etc but now we had new people in our lives who weren`t there first time around, sons, daughters in law, new friends, new family.
Nope the original vows hadn`t worn out as you put it, in fact it was all the more reason to write our own news vows because we`d lived the first lot, got the T shirt for them and had a lot to thank them for.
It was also a day of happiness in an ocean of sadness and it wasn`t about new dresses, new bling or showing the world a big romantic gesture. We simply wanted to be with family and friends and let them share some very special words and a very special marriage. Yep we could have had a big birthday party for one of us and done the same, yep we could have had a big Christmas dinner and done the same but Bob knew he wasn`t to be around for any of those.
It was a wonderful day. We both wrote our own words and a dear friend and colleague did the ceremony. Everybody loved dressing up and for once, people around us smiled and laughed instead of looking pained or embarrassed about what to say around a dying man and his wife. Neither of us wanted to bring folks together for a sad day, that came 6 weeks later but we wanted to bring them together for a happy day where they could hear us say all the things 2 people who love each other and who`ve shared a long long time of ups and downs, want to say to each other and what it all meant. We`d lived the " in sickness and in health, the love and to cherish, for better for worse " and we were just about to hit the " till death us do part " but our new vows didn`t say that, our news vows took it from there and said you will always be with me, you will always be in my heart, your love will keep me going and even though we may not be together we will still be man and wife and I thank you for everything you have given.
My oldest son walked me down the aisle, Bob told me I looked more beautiful than even the first time around, my sister and my little neice got all dressed up as bridesmaids, youngest son who was only 16 at the time sulked all day because I`d made him wear a suit, people ate well, some got drunk, laughed, hugged, kissed, hit the dancefloor and generally had a terrific time and there in the middle of it all was me and Bob loving every minute of it. He said he was taking polaroids of the whole day in his head and planned to take them with him when he left me.
Frankly I think every long term couple should renew their vows once. We actually knew our on earth marriage was about to come to an end and so we grabbed the moment, others won`t be that lucky and so take one special day out of your lives, plan it, enjoy it, write down your own news vows, share it and just do it, even if it`s only the 2 of you together.
Lynne