"Rick Steves" Vows

Danish Island Weddings loves holding Vow Renewals as well as weddings. So when a  recent  Rick Steves American tour group to Ærø included two couples who were celebrating their anniversaries – Dan and Shauna (38th anniversary) and Wendy and Dennis 46th!) - it was time to celebrate. As part of the Whisky and Weddings tour (which John does for the Rick Steves tour groups) he was able to include a mini ceremony, presenting them with small bouquets made by Louise and Lone, and including a reading from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin!

Surprisingly, perhaps, Americans are usually the third or fourth biggest group of international tourists (we are not talking just weddings here, but visitors generally). Most years only the Germans and Scandinavians outnumber our guests from USA.

Why? It is mostly down to one man, Rick Steves, a well-known Seattle-based travel writer with his own travel company, who has been bringing tour groups to Ærø for nearly 30 years.

In 2026 there will be 40 American groups, with 29 in each group, who visit Ærø as part of their “Best of Scandinavia” bus tour. They stay two nights on Ærø – and get to relax and enjoy the island. Additionally hundreds more Americans visit independently, and all of them have Rick Steves’ guide book.

Soon after the bus groups arrive, they are met by John, who gives them a one hour introductory tour. Although the talk takes in Ærø’s extraordinary history – Vikings, smuggling, sailing and all – the main focus is on how Ærøskøbing has regenerated in the last 20 years. Hence the subtitle of the talk – “the Whisky and Weddings tour”. As part of that they visit Louise’s wedding room in the Old Merchants House, and get to hear why Ærø is wedding island, and how much weddings mean to the island’s economy (clue: a lot).

Congratulations to Dan and Shauna, and Wendy and Dennis, who are already planning to come back for their fiftieth anniversary for a proper vow renewal ceremony!