Beyond the Wedding - Tips For a Healthy Marriage

By Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway

Bride and Groom Topper.jpg

These days, brides get married to the wedding before they get married to their mates. With so many choices and so much stress, it is easy to get lost in planning a great wedding and forget to focus on building a great marriage!

Here are some Wedding Goddess tips for stepping into married life with strenght and wisdom:

1. Be aware that getting married can stir up a lot of emotions. The process itself sets forth period of growth and change that can be very nerve -wracking. Once you decide to marry you will begin the process of getting ready for marriage … and unresolved emotions may come to the surface to be explored. Be prepared to do some inner work along with all the external preparations. Honor and address the emotions and fears that arise. Trust they are natural. Don't sweep things under the rug. There are things you can do in addition to pre-marital counseling.

2. Ask yourselves, and each other, A LOT of questions. Don't assume that married life will be the same as single life. And don't be afraid to get to know each other's truest feelings. It is important that you you delve into everything from how you'll raise your kids, to what kind of color scheme you want in your home, to how you will spend free nights at home once the wedding is over. Many brides and grooms tend to want to avoid the deep talks, and dwell on the surface aspected of getting married. Your married life will be a lot smoother if you communicate with and listen to. Be willing to hear things you may not like and agree with... find ways to compromise or give in to one another.

3. Picture Your Future. In addition lots of questions and thoughtful answers, begin to think about and visualize the life you want to share. What will it look like? What will your new roles be like? What kind of home and family life do you home to have. Although it is fun to day dream, it is very practical to give thought and vision to the life you want to create. You might even want to create a treasure map or a book of choices to guide you.

4. Visual language is powerful. Cut photos from magazines that illustrate the essence of your ideal life together and paste them in a special journal book or on poster board. Superimposed photos of yourself in a picture of that fabulous vacation spot, or cut out a happy family picture that represents how you'd like it to be, with the number of kids you’d like to have. Visual cues give strong messages to the subconscious. Working together to find the images, and gluing them into place together, will begin to expand your picture of life together. Studies have show images can be like visual prayers.

5. Create your new home together. Find, it buy it or rent it and begin to get it in order before the big day! Your home will be the safe harbor for you both and your marriage. Whatever your budget, make home beautiful, sacred and truly compatible with you both. Start merging your stuff as soon as you can so that you don't spend the first months of marriage arguing about furniture and belongings. Use Feng Shui, and the many advances in emotionally uplifting decorating, to help you merge into married life with less stress. It can guide you on everything from where to place your bed to best place for your couch, TV and plants.

6. Create a Mission Statement For Your Marriage: You may not be able to write your own vows for your wedding, but you can put some personal thoughts on paper. The first step of any new enterprise is to create a mission statement. This applies to your marriage, as well. Brainstorm, discuss, process and bat around ideas until you come up with a Marriage Mission Statement. This is your mutual intention for marriage; it is what you want to be and build together. It can have one sentence or reflect a number of ideas. For example:

Our union gives us strength, power and fortitude to deal with all of life’s ups and downs, and it empowers us to contribute to others and the world. We are best friends, confidantes and partners, and we have many close relationships with people we consider "spiritual family." We are a couple who inspire others with our love and who model what it is to be in a great relationship.

7. Do pre-wedding vows. You can put forther your commitment, before your wedding day, in a very simple and loving way. It can be as simple as reading a poem to each other, to declaring your love in one or two affirming sentences. This excerpt from Song of Solomon is a beautiful example of selecting words that are simple, yet powerfully honor and express your love. You can just look each other in the eyes, hold hands and say: "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." Every time you experience a ritual that declares your love, it’s like giving each other a special boost of love and will bring you even closer for your wedding day.

8. Establish rituals that will make you both feel loved and happily married. In his book, Soul Mates, Thomas Moore talks of those little life rituals that make the soul feel content. These are usually mundane yet sacred elements of living that keep the two of you connected, keep your dreams alive and accentuate your togetherness. It's these things – a call from the office every day, a romantic dinner at home on Fridays, going to your favorite restaurant or Inn once a year – that keep you both aligned with the goals you set forth. When you establish loving rituals to look forward to, they will never become boring. They become a part of who you are, together. They will be experiences you can share to reawaken your love at any stage of marriage.

For more information on ways to inspire a healthy marriage, check out: http://www.artofmarriage.org and http://www.marriageframe.com.

Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway is a leading interfaith and non-denominational wedding officiant. She creates unique ceremonies for couples of all backgrounds and faiths, and is also widely recognized as a relationship coach, bridal stress expert and columnist. She is author of YOUR PERFECT WEDDING VOWS: How to Write, Find and Select the Words that Express What is in Your Heart and WEDDING GODDESS: A Divine Guide to Transforming Wedding Stress into Wedding Bliss. To help reduce wedding stress, get your personally autographed copy at www.WeddingGoddess.com.

Posted November 14, 2007 5:16 AM by Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway | Permalink | Email This