Civil Ceremony/vow Renewal

We did a civil and it was short ans sweet as oppose to church renewal which is about an hour. Thats the difference i find between the two plus cost for an officiant is less

Will you be telling people that you are only doing a vow renewal?

One of my friends had a civil ceremony in Canada and then a religious one in South America with the reception where his wife is from, so it's definitely doable. One is the legal portion, the other the religious one.

I think that depends on what you want. If you are religious and want to do a religious vow renewal, you may want to get a minister or priest to do the vow renewal, even though it wouldn't be a legal ceremony. If you don't want it to be religious, you may be better off doing it in a non-religious setting and maybe asking a friend to officiate (especially since they wouldn't need a license if you're already married).

Talk to the church where you want to get married. I think it will look different because you are already married. Ministers are officiants. For a vow renewal, I don't think you need an officiant, though, because the legal part is already done. But, if you use the church, they probably require you to use their officiant. And take pre-marital counselling. Most churches I know require counselling before they will marry you/let you use their space

Most priests are officiants as well as priests so they can do the civil and religious part at the same time. But that doesn't mean it has to be done that way. You can certainly get married civilly then ask the priest to perform the religious part in July. You will just need to provide them with the marriage license, and civil certificate that's it's all complete . But talk to the priest of the church you are thinking of having the ceremony to make sure you have all the right information .