A woman who said she spent over $30,000 on a wedding she “hated” found a new way to have a “beautiful” and “stress-free” marriage experience: by renewing her vows for less than a grand and loving every minute of it.
Alexandrea Acevedo, 27, of Orlando, Florida, said she had a “giant wedding” with 200 guests years ago but felt “stressed” and “anxious” the entire day, she told news agency SWNS.
Today, she feels she did “what everyone else wanted” instead of having her dream wedding day.
She and her husband, Michael Acevedo, renewed their vows last year, she said, and went up a mountain with three of their four children, SWNS reported.
She said it was a “beautiful day.”
Reflecting on her wedding years ago, in contrast, she said the event was “so expensive … We were so young. It was a rough time. I don’t know why we ever did that.”
She said the event cost her and her husband “a little over $30,000. That was such a waste of money. We could have put that toward a house deposit. A wedding is not for the couple – it’s for the guests.”
She added, “We put all this energy and stress [into] a big shiny event. Why did I go through all of that for a few hours? We did what everyone else wanted instead of what we wanted.”
The couple met in January 2017.
They were engaged in April of that same year after a whirlwind romance.
The now-mom-of-four said she’d wanted a “pretty dress, photographer and to go to a mountain” — but some family members wanted the opposite, SWNS reported.
Said Alexandrea Acevedo, “When we brought up the idea of eloping and doing it on our own, they had a fit … So we ended up having a giant wedding.”
She said she spent over a year planning a garden-themed event for 200 guests.
She said, “I planned everything on my own … Everyone is in your ear.”
She said that today, she hardly remembers her Sept. 2018 wedding day as she was so stressed about everything.
“I was super anxious the whole day,” she said.
“I don’t really remember a whole lot of it. It was like a blur. There was so much chaos going on.”
She said she knew her family wanted her to “eat her food and greet everyone,” but she said she felt “exhausted” by all of it.
She said, “This is supposed to be the happiest day of my life. It ends up being for everyone else. You don’t even get to enjoy your meal.”
After their wedding, the couple began to create the family life they’d wanted. Today they have four children, ages 9, 6, 2, and four months old.
When they were approaching their five-year wedding anniversary, they decided to renew their vows to celebrate.
So they hired a photographer, SNWS reported, and drove to Fred W. Symmes Chapel, Cleveland, South Carolina, with their three eldest children in Sept. 2023.
Said the mom, “We had a moment between us, the kids, and God. It was completely stress-free. It was just about us — not pleasing everyone else.”
She added, “It was such a beautiful day.”
The family spent the rest of the day enjoying lunch and hiking.
All in all, they spent less than $1,000 on the renewal of their vows.
The wife and mom said she’s hoping to encourage others to plan a wedding they want as a couple the first time around.
She said, “When it comes to your marriage, it should be what you want — not what everyone else wants. It should be about you and your family as a couple.”
