Why Wedding Survival?

In 92 days I am marrying the man of my dreams. We met almost eleven months ago. He was my first boyfriend and I was his first serious girlfriend. After the first two months we have seen each other almost every day. In fact, I can count on two hands the days I haven’t spent with my honey. I fell head over heels in love in a way I had only dreamed of. He is gentle, sweet, attentive and everything else I had wanted in a man. He proposed on the beach, right after sunset on July 24, and then the nightmare began.

We had started talking wedding plans almost two months before our engagement and had quite a bit figured out. We knew where we wanted to get married and how we wanted to do it. We had talked through a lot of reception details, I knew what colors I wanted, we both had our attendants picked out, and I even had my dress. He wanted to be involved and I loved it. We were having a blast planning the big day. Then the family stepped in.

Most couples will agree with the statement that planning the wedding is the hardest part of the relationship before marriage. Dating has its pros and cons, but once the date is set, life gets rough. Both of our families are totally supportive of our relationship, but each family member had some suggestion or tip or piece of advice for our wedding day. Everything from where we should have the ceremony and reception to whether or not we were going to have favors at the reception has become a battle between the families. And somehow we get stuck in the middle of all of it. It became a balancing act to keep everyone happy, involved, and still have some say over what happened on OUR wedding day.

The idea behind this blog is to give some help to engaged couples, and maybe find some advice for myself. I want to share some psychological advice for dealing with stress, dealing with family relationships, and preparing for marriage. I'll pass on some ideas for keeping your relationship strong in the midst of the marriage plans. Most of what I will share will come from the professionals. I need it as much as you! But sometimes it’s hard to find so I’ll do the research for you. The rest is personal experience. So far we’ve made it work and you can do it too! You can make it to the altar in one piece, and hopefully with your family relationships still intact.