The first time you got married your stomach was in knots, you barely got enough sleep the night before and while everyone sang their praises about the food you thought, “What food? I barely had time to sit down let alone eat!”

Whether it is your second marriage or your second wedding to the same guy or gal, know that your wedding day can be even better the second time around. Here’s how:

Learn From Your Past Mistakes

You’ve been through this before, which means you have experience. You may have learned, for example, that relationships take work or the things that are really important to you in a wedding and a marriage. Use that extra experience to your advantage to help you personalize the wedding with everything you’ve always dreamed about.

This Time Around Focus On What You Want

If you eloped the first time or had an uber-extravagant wedding, but you weren’t thrilled with either, take this as an opportunity to create the wedding of your dreams. This time don’t spend any extra energy on what your families want or on what you are supposed to do; make it fun and make it about the two of you.

Be Creative With Your Vows

If you have been married for a while and are renewing your vows as a testament to your marriage, throw away all that generic stuff and make your vows personal and as unique as you.

Invite Who You Want

Forget great-aunt Carol who you hardly ever see unless she is dear to you and you want her to be there. This time around, create a wedding made up of those near and dear to your heart. If you’ve already done the big wedding reception thing, consider going somewhere to renew your vows, a party of two. It will be more meaningful and not to mention more romantic that way.

No matter what you decide to do, remember that while celebrating a marriage is an important thing renewing your vows is equally important. Let your renewals be a reminder of your love for one another and a reason to celebrate the fact that you were lucky enough to experience a once-in-a-lifetime event not once but twice.