For Claire and Jonathan, this was not a first marriage. And they did not pretend otherwise. Their vows were shaped by experience—what had failed before, what they had learned, and what they refused to repeat. There was no rhetoric of forever without effort. Instead, there was language of maintenance, repair, and accountability. As an observer, I noted a striking absence of illusion. This honesty created trust. Guests responded with respect rather than sentimentality. The ceremony emphasized consent as ongoing, not singular. My conclusion: second marriages benefit from narrative maturity. Claire and Jonathan’s wedding demonstrated that realism does not weaken romance—it stabilizes it.