Wedding Help

One thing many new couples are facing before their wedding day is premarital counseling. Premarital counseling for an engaged couple is required by many institutions before any kind of wedding ceremony can be performed at their facility. I think premarital counseling is a great idea, as so many couples seem to rush into marriage with blinders on and love the idea of having a wedding more than they do the married life that will come after the wedding. Premarital counseling kind of requires that couple sit back and talk about the different issues that will come up, such as the responsibilities that come after marriage, and the expectations that they have of the other person. Premarital counseling is designed to help root out problems before they occur, and to give ways to solve them before they ever develop. The idea behind premarital counseling is to help the couple build a firm foundation for their marriage, and to perhaps save it from a future divorce. So if you are looking at facing premarital counseling, or wondering if it is right for you, here are some major topics covered in premarital counseling that you should definitely discuss.

Premarital Counseling Teaches Conflict Resolution Skills

Let’s face it, sometimes couples fight. It doesn’t mean that you have a terrible relationship, or that your relationship is in serious trouble if you and your sweetie have an argument. That is not true at all. What is important is that you and your future husband understand how to fight, and how to fight fair.

Premarital Counseling Talks about Future Expectations

Being able to talk about future expectations can surprise you. You and your spouse need to have some kind of idea how many kids you want to have, if any. You’ll also need to settle a discipline method in your minds so that you’re on the same page. While many parents feel that spanking is a good thing, many other people would rather try to reason with the child. It’s best to get it straight early. Also, will both of you be working? Who will be in charge of the finances? Who will be in charge of the housework? These are all important expectations that you will have on your future spouse that premarital counseling can help you work through.

Premarital counseling is meant to educate newly weds and engaged couples in the attitudes and other skills necessary for a lasting marriage. Premarital counseling is great because it gives you things to think about in your upcoming married life and let’s you in on areas of the other person’s way of thinking that you may not have seen before. Premarital counseling can help to put the odds in your favor and help you to build a stronger more successful marriage. Not all couples go through premarital counseling though, I know my husband and I didn’t. It wasn’t required by our church for marriage, and my husband and I had known each other for so long that we already understood where the other stood on many of these topics, and how we felt about things. We had talked through many of the expectations of responsibilities that would come after marriage, and pretty much knew what to expect. But if this isn’t your case, then I think premarital counseling would be a great opt in before marriage.

Tags: engaged, marriage counseling, premarital counseling

For many couples in love, young and old alike, Valentine’s Day is a great way to set aside the day-t0-day tasks and schedules that seem to rule our lives sometimes and let that certain someone in your life know just how much they mean to you. Whether it be a romantic dinner in a nice restaurant, a sunny picnic, or even just a card and a hug, Valentine’s Day is a great day for spending time with the one closest to you. Valentine’s Day is also perhaps one of the most popular days of the year for couples to get engaged. Several of my friends were proposed to on Valentine’s Day, and their engagement story is always one riddled with romance and sweetness. Be SURE to remember ladies, that not all men are born with the romantic gene that knows exactly what the right thing to romance you on Valentine’s Day should be. This morning in fact, I rolled over and told my husband, “Happy Valentine’s Day”, to which he responded, “Today is Valentine’s Day? I thought it was on the 16th.” I love him. He was being completely serious, but he still made me laugh.

For some reason, Valentine’s always brings back memories of college. Instead of celebrating Valentine’s Day, a group of the single girls in my dorm would have a “Val-o-ween” party. Our Val-o-ween parties were open to only single girls, and girls who had no plans for Valentine’s day. We had great anti-love songs and yummy snacks. While I dated throughout college, there were times when I still went to the Val-o-ween parties for the fun of it. This was a bit off the subject, but maybe I’m a bit off today as well. Just remember that whether or not you have a date for Valentine’s day, remember to have fun and don’t sit around wallowing in self-pity because you haven’t found your Mr. Right yet. Get out and have some fun.

So ladies remember, Valentine’s Day isn’t about what your boyfriend or husband does for you, or buys for you. It’s about taking some time out to tell that special person in your life what they mean to you, and to really show them that you care. I hope everyone has a fabulous Valentine’s Day, or Val-o-ween (whatever your circumstances may be).

Tags: valentines, valentines day

For those of you who are engaged, you should know that perhaps one of the most romantic times of your life is that time from the wedding proposal of your true love, and the planning that goes into starting your new life together. You’re happy and in love, and can’t wait for that wedding day celebration that celebrates that love you share with all of your friends and family. Pair that with the most romantic day of the year, Valentine’s Day, and you’re in for a treat. Now perhaps when you were dating, Valentine’s day could be a bit awkward, but now that you’re engaged, your Valentine’s day together should be something special. But what about the budget? When doing your wedding planning, you most likely won’t have a lot of extra cash to drop on anything fancy or extravagant. So, here are some great Valentine’s day ideas for the engaged to help you celebrate this very special time of your life.

Valentine’s Day Ideas that Celebrate your Love’s Past

You just can’t go wrong with Valentines day ideas that celebrate the love that you both have together. If you have a special memory of a first date, then go back to that location to remember when you first started getting to know each other. If you proposed in some place very romantic, like on a nearby beach, then another great set of Valentines day ideas are to go to the place where you proposed, perhaps with a picnic lunch. Perhaps the first time you told her you loved her, whatever memory that is cherished of both you. Tell each other how much the other means to you, and how much you can’t wait to spend the rest of your lives together.

Valentine’s Day Ideas that Celebrate you Love’s Future

One great Valentines day idea that you can use is to show just how excited you are about your future. Maybe you are moving into a new home or apartment together after the wedding. If possible, go and look at where your new home will be, and talk about any plans you may have for fixing it up. Or, another great Valentine’s day idea is to make her something for your new home together that you know she will love.

Valentines Day Ideas on a Budget

I know that when you are doing your wedding planning, you need some great Valentine’s Day ideas that won’t break the bank with the bill for the dress, flowers and catering that you are planning. But whatever you do doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Perhaps fix her a nice dinner and light some candles, or take her out for a moonlight stroll down by the beach or local creek. Flower aren’t very costly, and they always make an impression.

Some guys like to have a lot of fun on Valentine’s day. They love the challenge of doing something that is new and different to show their girl that they really love them. Other guys, like my husband, have to be reminded when Valentine’s day actually is. Girls, whatever kind of man you are marrying, it’s not about how much he does for you for Valentine’s day, it’s how much you love each other, and the new life you are starting together.

Tags: valentines day, valentines day ideas

You know it’s true. When women are working on their wedding decorations, they’ll look anywhere and everywhere for some great ideas to make their wedding truly unique. I did a lot of my searching on the Internet, but I also asked a lot of the women close to me what they did for advice, what worked best for them and what didn’t, and little things that they did to save some money. I also went through countless photo albums of their weddings, looking at their decoration ideas and such. Many brides scour the Internet for ideas, and talk to their friends and family, but there is another venue to use which could help you out a lot, and that is wedding movies. Personally, I’m more into action and suspense movies than movies that have weddings in them, but there are a bunch of wedding movies out there that have some great ideas on decorating, flowers, and some great unique wedding dresses. I’ve listed some of my favorite wedding movies that I think have a lot of great tips for those planning their weddings.

The Runaway Bride

Interestingly enough, I bought this movie right before we got married. (Not because I was thinking of running, I just love Julia Roberts and Richard Gere together). While I was watching the movie one evening, I noticed just how many great wedding tips and ideas that were in that wedding. I mean, she had a total of five weddings in the movie, and each one of them was different. She has outdoor weddings, church weddings, and even a themed wedding. The wedding decorations are beautiful, the dresses are all unique and out of this world. This is one of my favorite wedding movies for helping with wedding planning.

Father of the Bride

You remember the movie with Martin Short as the wedding planner? He was hilarious in the movie, but more importantly, he and his assistant created one of the most beautiful wedding movies ever. While you may not have the resources to plan the extravagant wedding that they made, there are still a lot of fabulous ideas for planning and wedding reception that is out of this world. Not only that, but wedding movies that make you laugh are great.

Sweet Home Alabama

I love Reese Witherspoon, and one of my favorite roles that she has been in is Melanie Carmichael in Sweet Home Alabama. While there is only one wedding in this movie, she looks fabulous and has a lot of great decorating ideas that couples can use for outdoor weddings.

Wedding movies are often overlooked as a way that brides can get some great information while planning their wedding. If you have any favorite wedding movies you’d like to add, please comment and let me know. Like I said above, I’m typically more the action and suspense movie lover, and am not up on all of the great wedding movies. But my favorite wedding movies made me laugh, helped me out, and were a lot of fun. So if you’re looking for ideas to help with your wedding planning, go rent some wedding movies to help you out. They’re fun to watch too.

Tags: wedding movies, Wedding Planning

It’s another worst nightmare of brides on their wedding day. What if you get sick a few days before, or even on the wedding day? You want to be able to enjoy your wedding day, and being sick and feeling miserable will not be a fun way to remember your wedding day. Illness on your wedding day can make you miserable, so you’ll need to find a way to hedge off any illnesses that could arise before your big day. Perhaps what prompted this post is the fact that I’ve been sick for the past week, and haven’t felt like doing anything, which is totally unlike me. And I thought back to last year when I was planning my wedding, and thought that if I had felt this bad last year, my wedding planning would have been much more difficult. So, maybe you’re planning your wedding and you feel terrible, or know that you get sick around a particular time of the year and your wedding is in that time of year, then you’ll need to be proactive when it comes to staying healthy on your wedding day.

Avoid Illness on Your Wedding Day

If you know that you typically get sick, or suffer from allergies at a particular time of the year, and know that your wedding will be right in that time frame, then be proactive when it comes to fighting it off. Do whatever you need to do to make sure that you don’t get sick. Be sure to take your vitamins, and take any pills you need to when you start feeling the symptoms coming on. The earlier that you battle it and take care of the problem, the faster you can ward off getting sick. Also, sometimes just the stress of planning a wedding, and the nights where you don’t get much sleep because you’re working or just plain nervous can actually lower your immune system. This can mean you get sick easier, which is something you don’t want! So be sure to drink plenty of fluids, get lots of rest, and don’t skip meals!

Deal with Illness on Your Wedding Day

Sometimes you just can’t avoid it. If you do happen to get sick, then start looking for solutions as soon as possible. Talk to your local pharmacist and find out what you can take to either heal you up fast, or at least to find something that will take away most of your symptoms and help you to still have a wonderful day despite dealing with illness on your wedding day. If need be, then go and see your family doctor and get a prescription for any medication you might need to help you.

Don’t worry, even if you do have to deal with illness on your wedding day, that doesn’t mean that you’re going to have a terrible wedding day. Find something you can do to lessen the symptoms, and be proactive in making sure that you won’t have to deal with them on your wedding and honeymoon. It’s not difficult with the right information and back up plans just in case.

Tags: illness on wedding day, illness on your wedding, wedding day illness