Bari Braun.com

There’s no better day to re-affirm a couple’s love and commitment than on Valentine’s Day!
This past February 14th, I had the pleasure of performing a renewal of vows ceremony for a loving and lovely couple who had been married for about twelve years. Joanne and Andy along with their two young children live in Guernsey (an island off the coast of Great Britain). They flew across the continents to celebrant their happily married life. Well, it was actually a surprise for Joanne that Andy had planned. She didn’t know about the ceremony until right before it happened.
The event was held at The Robert Restaurant (part of the Museum of Art and Design) in New York. It was a beautiful location – glass enclosed windows which overlooked Columbus Circle. It had recently snowed and the view was breathtaking (although I’m sure glad winter is over and that my tulips have started sprouting).
I normally meet with couples before performing the ceremony, but due to the distance, I didn’t actually meet them until a few minutes before. But, I had corresponded with Andy over the internet and from his responses to my questionnaire, I felt well prepared that I could deliver a personal and touching ceremony. Since it was an intimate affair with only Andy, Joanne, and their two children, I wanted to involve the whole family as much as possible. So I did a family sand ceremony and brought little bells for the kids to ring at the end of the ceremony. I explained it to their son and daughter like this “I’m going to ask you to ring these bells to honor your parents love for each other and for you. The ringing of the bells will signify that much continued health and happiness is wished for all of you as a family.”
The ceremony went off without a hitch and all were quite happy. Congratulations, Joanne and Andy and may you have many many more years of happiness.