30 Years Later… They Would Still Choose Each Other

From young love to 30 years of marriage, this is a powerful reflection on commitment, resilience, and why renewing vows can mean even more than the wedding day.

30 years ago, on a sun-drenched day in their Aunt and Uncle’s beautiful garden in Zimbabwe, Sam & Ian got married. They were just over 20. Young. Deeply in love. Choosing to spend the rest of their lives together… without really knowing what that would mean.

I recently spoke to them, hoping to understand why they chose to renew their vows after 25 years.

And if I’m completely honest… I was also hoping to glean a little wisdom for myself, as my husband and I celebrate our 4th anniversary this year.

Their First Wedding Day

Their wedding day was beautiful. Full of joy. Surrounded by family… some of whom have since passed.

And that in itself carries a weight, doesn’t it? When you look back and realise those moments can never quite be recreated in the same way again.

But alongside the beauty of the day, there were challenges.

Planning a wedding in Zimbabwe while living in the UK in 1996 is no small thing. They relied heavily on family and friends to coordinate key parts of the day… which, as any bride will know, brings its own kind of stress.

They shared how they felt pressure to do things a certain way. Expectations. Opinions. Limited budget. All of it layered on top of being young and just starting out together in a new country.

“We had no idea the road ahead…”

This part really stayed with me, because like so many couples, they were focused on the wedding day.

The dress. The flowers. The bridesmaids. The celebrations.

“For better or worse” sounded beautiful… romantic even.

But the reality of those words? They were yet to meet it.

Life came… as it always does. Not in a straight line. But in bends. Valleys. Unexpected turns.

They faced deep loss. Suffered the anxiety of life-threatening illness in their family. Grappled with the pressure of studying, qualifying, building careers.

Coped with the quiet, stretching reality of growing up… and not always growing in the same way, or even at the same time.

When you fall in love young, that’s the part no one really prepares you for… you don’t stay the same person you were, and neither do they.

And yet… time after time… they kept choosing each other.

Their life wasn’t only valleys. There has also been so much joy.

Two handsome sons who blessed their marriage, a beautiful home filled with love, laughter, and life.

They achieved success in the careers they worked so hard to build.

They travelled the world. Experienced new things and created special memories.

Life came, yes, and it hasn't been perfect… but it’s been deeply, richly lived.

25 Years Later

They shared that renewing their vows sits as one of the top 10 best moments of their lives.

And what struck me most was that... in many ways it meant even more than their wedding day.

Because this time… they understood. They had lived, breathed and experienced, “for better or worse.”

Over the years they had

Endured. Overcome. Loved. Lost. Laughed. Cried.

Argued. Forgiven. Kissed and made up.

Grown… and Become.

And through it all… they stayed together.

There is something so powerful about that, because this kind of love isn’t naïve.

It isn’t based on feeling alone.

It’s chosen… over and over again.

This kind of love says:

"I love you… all of you. There is nothing that can separate me from you. I’m going to hold your hand until one of us is no longer here. It’s me and you… right to the end."

That’s what they were celebrating on another sun-drenched day (this time in Portugal)…

not just that time had passed…but celebrating love that refused to let go.

This time, they knew exactly what they wanted and how they wanted their day to be.

No one else's expectations. No outside opinions. Just them deciding.

Sam & Ian with both their Mum's and their two sons at their vow renewal. They both felt so blessed to have them there to share their special day.

Today

Sam & Ian celebrate 30 years together. Still together, still strong, still devoted, still happy… and still loving the sunshine.

And what I love most is that their love doesn’t just sit between them and their two boys.

It overflows.

Into their family.

Into how they show up for others.

Into the way they care for their widowed mothers.

Because real love does that. It doesn’t stay contained. It reaches beyond itself.

I pray that all marriages, whether started young or later in life, would withstand as theirs has.

For Sam & Ian, happy 30^th wedding anniversary, may the years ahead be kind to you and may your deepest valleys be behind you.

Your Love

The chapters of everyone's love story are different. Yours might look nothing like theirs…or you might see parts of your own story reflected in theirs.

You might be celebrating 7, 15 or 40 years of marriage, or something in between.

But if you have walked through the valleys of life together…faced things that could have broken you…

And you are still standing, still choosing each other…

That matters.

In a world where many relationships don’t last, choosing to stay… choosing to grow… choosing to love anyway…is something worth acknowledging.

It is something worth honouring, and worthy of celebrating.

If a vow renewal is something you’d like for your marriage, I would love to be part of that with you.

Click here to learn more about vow renewals.