It’s a Beautiful Family Affair for This 10 Year Vow Renewal

Erin Lepperd
September 18, 2017
Categories: Real Weddings, Rustic, The Blog

While there is no denying the gorgeousness of a wedding day is, there is something to be said for the heartfelt emotion and beauty that comes from a vow-renewal. For Amanda and Chris, that ceremony included 10 years of marriage and three beautiful children standing by their sides as they exchanged vows. With elegant florals by Juniper Designs, the prettiest garden details designed by the bride, Amanda Watson, and coordination by Emerson Events, watch this 10 year celebration unfold through the lens of Callie Manion.

From the photographer… I am so excited to show you this gorgeous 10-year Vow Renewal for Amanda & Chris Watson at Daffodil Hill in Oklahoma City. What was so special about this vow renewal was that Amanda & Chris are photographers themselves, and I actually first met Amanda at one of her workshops. When she contacted me about photographing her vow renewal, I was so honored that she chose me and so thrilled because I knew she had exquisite taste.

Amanda and Chris shared an intimate ceremony in the lush garden setting at Daffodil Hill, a romantic venue in the countryside of Bethany, Oklahoma. I love how the warmth of the garden setting beautifully enhanced the cool tones of Amanda’s color scheme. The gorgeous light blues and greys, combined with the deep greens of the garden and all white flowers, created a dreamlike setting for this couple to renew their commitment to each other. Juniper Designs created the most gorgeous floral arrangements, completely transforming the venue into an even more verdant and lush garden. I loved how the monochromatic, all white arrangements made this garden feel like a restful oasis. I also absolutely loved the delicate and deeply meaningful details Amanda chose to incorporate into her day. I was so impressed by the feminine, minimal calligraphy by Oh Honey Paper, with the gorgeous illustrations that so perfectly represented this vow renewal. I also styled and photographed a bible passage that is sentimental to the couple, along with the bread they used during their ceremony. These significant moments were at the heart of the entire event and it was so nice to hear how focused on God–and each other–they are in their marriage.

Amanda & Emerson Events created the most beautiful tablescapes, adding just enough detail and beauty while keeping the overall atmosphere simple and clean. I also loved how everyone was so invested in making sure this day was a memory Amanda and Chris would always cherish. The entire family was so gracious and so thrilled for Amanda and Chris. I loved watching their cute daughters dance the night away, and wave to all the guests all night. You could feel how excited they were for their parents to celebrate the love they have for each other. One of my favorite moments of the day was before the ceremony, when Amanda helped get the girls and baby boy ready, before she turned to help Chris put on his boutonniere and he helped her zip up her dress. I love that they chose to help each other get ready so they could experience the entire day, side by side. These small, careful gestures speak so much to the tender love at the heart of this generous, lovely couple. This vow renewal was absolutely overflowing with love, and I was so honored to be there and capture memories Amanda & Chris will cherish for a lifetime.

From the bride, Amanda Watson…When you’ve been married for 10 years, it’s easy to look back and see how ingenuous you can be. When you get married, you’ve never felt happier; you look beautiful and you are surrounded by friends and family who love and support you. The day you’re married, you don’t consider that marriage may be filled with ups and downs… you think about the happy and healthy times even though you vow to stay through the hard times, too.

Your marriage vows aren’t something you say one time and you’re all set, but something you vow to live for on a daily basis. We soon found our marriage, as many do, in a hard place. We were 5 years in and our lives were flipped upside down. Our marriage was suffering and we vowed again to start over. We knew we wanted to celebrate on the opposite end of that 5 years with a 10 year vow renewal.

We’ve always enjoyed tradition and gift each other the traditional anniversary gifts. The gift for 10 years is tin, so we wanted to incorporate that element into our day. We were lucky enough to have our actual anniversary fall on a Friday and exactly 10 years to the day, we renewed our vows. We were surrounded by 35 of our closest family & friends, and of course now our children. After 10 years of marriage, we have three beautiful children who stood (or sat) by our side during the ceremony and I carefully handpicked each of their outfits to fit their personality. Our oldest wore a very pretty long white dress as she’s very demure, our middle daughter wore a fluffy gray tulle dress that she twirled in all day long because she’s our spitfire and our baby boy wore a very dapper shirt and pants with darling gray suspenders and bow tie, our little man.

The setting resembled our actual wedding day with ceremony & location both taking place outside and we found the most perfect intimate setting right in the heart of Oklahoma City but with a backyard garden look & feel. Being in the wedding industry, we had many vendor friends help bring our vision to life. It was a dream to work with some of the best in Oklahoma City, and abroad, on a personal level to bring our day together flawlessly.