Second Time Bride

As a second-time bride, I was more in tune with the commitment aspect of the nuptials. My husband and I wrote our own vows and recited them at our intimate ceremony. Not that this was unusual, but it was easier to focus on the meaning behind the words when I wasn’t distracted by lavish bridesmaid dresses and ornate flower bouquets or concerns about whether or not we’d make it to the reception in time for cocktail hour.

I think about my second marriage differently. It feels more permanent, especially since the first one wasn’t. And I so desperately want things to work, to be successful, for us to be happy. So there is a different level of commitment we share, an unspoken vow to stick with it – even when leaving seems like the easier way out.

I took more time deciding to get married the second time, too. There was no rush masked by expectations to do certain things at a certain age. We waited until we were sure, even though I suspect our certainty came long before the proposal.

Because of that, I had the best of both worlds when it came to the wedding. My first was saturated by all the glamour and glitz that a girl from Long Island expects with her nuptials– even though I always felt much of the material aspect of the ceremony was more for status and expectations than what I really wanted. The second time, we had a quaint outside reception preceded by the cozy wedding ceremony along a creek at a state park I had never even visited before.