I never wanted to own a wedding venue.
For years, I officiated ceremonies for friends, family, and church members at various locations, and I was baffled that homeowners would rent out their backyard or barn to neighbors and strangers every other weekend. I grew up in an era where most people still got married in their house of worship or even the courthouse.
Still, I have spent the first three decades of my working life helping people gather with purpose and build lasting marriages. That’s where The Renavelle was birthed. To me, it had to be more than transactional, more than renting a place.
A lot of this goes back to when Tammy and I were planning our wedding 27 years ago, we kept coming back to one question: How will our friends and family remember what they experienced here, years from now? Not just remembering us, but how they felt when they drove home. What they talked about the next day. What still surfaces decades later.
That question didn’t come out of nowhere. We’d been attending weddings together since college, taking mental notes, what worked, what didn’t, and what we never wanted to repeat. One wedding in particular sealed it for us. Guests waited hours between the ceremony and the reception, hungry and frustrated, while the wedding party chased perfect photos. By the time the couple arrived, no one cared. We made a note: no moment is worth losing your guests.
Years later, as all three of our children married, we carried the same conviction into each celebration. Different settings. Different styles. Same goals every time: sacred, hospitable, and unforgettable. American wedding culture has slowly drifted from what is significant and lasting, and often, marriage has drifted with it. Weddings can be beautiful and expensive, yet strangely hollow in meaning. We gather, but we are rarely transformed.
As Priya Parker observes in The Art of Gathering, we continue to gather in familiar, formulaic ways, hoping meaning will somehow take care of itself. Weddings are among the clearest examples. Marriage is often treated the same way, relying on sentiment and optimism, assuming vows will sustain themselves without preparation, coaching, or intention.
But neither great gatherings nor great marriages happen by chance.
The Renavelle was born out of a desire for change, one marriage at a time. Our name reflects that calling. Renavelle blends two Latin roots: rena, meaning to renew, and velle, meaning vow or promise.
We exist to help couples and their families renew the significance and sacred meaning of wedding vows and ceremonies, while rediscovering what marriage was always meant to be. Scripture describes marriage as a leaving, a uniting, and a becoming one. These words point to intentional design, marriage created to be strong, generative, and enduring, shaping families and communities across generations.
When couples choose The Renavelle, they aren’t just booking a venue; they are stepping into a carefully designed experience that honors their vows, their families, and the legacy they are beginning.