A retro vow renewal in Washington D.C.
To celebrate their wedding anniversary, Rachael and Ryan decided on a private vow renewal in the nation’s capitol, captured by Sheaulee Ng Photography. I love their Mad Men-inspired style!
I knew I wanted to do something fun for our five year wedding anniversary, but I wasn’t sure what. I thought about it and decided that what I really wanted to do was profess my love to my husband all over again, but without the audience and stress of a big event with guests. Ryan agreed to do it, and thus, our intimate little vow renewal began!
The inspiration for our renewal was Mad Men. I really love the vintage look of A-line dresses and slim suits and ties. I bought my dress through ModCloth, my favorite online clothing destination, at the very last second and I was so pleased with it. Poor Ryan suffered through wearing a three-piece suit in 89 degree weather for me, and it was totally worth it. He looked amazing! Best husband ever.
I was also very inspired by Etsy. Sadly, when we got married in 2007, I had never heard of it. Once I started frequenting the site in 2008, I kept seeing all these gorgeous handmade items and wishing I had a wedding to purchase them for! For our renewal, I was specifically inspired by an Etsy listing of a white clutch purse that was adorned with a brooch and spray of white and peacock feathers. I drooled over it for months, but in the end, I decided I didn’t really need a purse for the renewal so I didn’t purchase it. But, I took the inspiration from there and after looking at several designs online, made my own peacock feather sash and birdcage veil. I also made my bouquet, and since there aren’t too many deep blue and green flowers to be found in nature, I just tried to find as many complementary-colored flowers and greenery at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s as I could. I’m generally not a great flower arranger, so I was really pleased that my bouquet turned out as nice as it did.
Of course, the best part of the day was standing with my love and telling him, in my own words, just how much I love him. We didn’t write our own vows for our wedding (in fact, all we said was “I do” during our wedding ceremony because I was so afraid of crying if I had to say any more than that) so I was really excited to do so for our renewal. It was so intimate and special and perfect; it was a moment in time that I’ll never forget. Sheaulee captured that moment and the day for us so perfectly. I couldn’t have asked for anything more! – Rachael
Artists
- Photographer: Sheaulee Ng Photography
