Cover photo credit: Feddy Weddings
We all know in our heart of hearts that a wedding is a symbolic expression of love and union. It’s about two people coming together as one, promising that they’ll always be there for one another until “until death do them apart” like it’s said in the vows. It’s a declaration, a commitment, and a lifetime promise.
But we also know that it’s become so much more – a performance of sorts, an experience, a really big party that can cost an arm and a leg.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it all depends on your personality and what kind of celebration you want to put together. Just remember that unlike your annual birthday parties, you will not get another chance to remarry “the love of your life” in a better way. You can have an enormous and luxurious wedding that leaves guests starry-eyed or you can have a more intimate, do-it-yourself kind of wedding that focuses on rustic details and the guest experience.
Either can make you happy.
But here’s the thing – strip down all of the decor, the venue, the champagne toasts, and what do you have? You have you and your life partner making a commitment to each other. You have love and union. According to www.theweddedbliss.com, those are the bare bones of a wedding and the most important.
It’s so easy to get wrapped up in wedding planning and creating an event that both you and your guests will swoon over. And it’s equally as easy to get swept up in the day’s events, rushing here for photos and there for mingling.
No doubt your big day will be special and full of laughter, fun, and possibly a few happy tears, but how can you make it even more special? How can you get back to the bones of your celebration and appreciate what it’s truly about?
Spend Quality Time With Your Fiance BEFORE the Wedding Day
Sure, you spend most of your days with your significant other, but how much of that time is quality? Even if you do set aside a special date night or something similar, spend the precious moments before your wedding day with your fiancé. May be that means relaxing together at a spa, having a picnic, or just spending time canoodling on the couch. The point is to take a moment together to just “be” because the wedding day will go by so fast and you’ll hardly have time to hold hands and whisper “I love you.”
Write Your Own Vows
Traditional vows are by far very meaningful, but maybe they’re not the right ones for you. Writing your own vows is a powerful and personal way to communicate your love for your spouse.
You can write your own vows by taking some time to think about what you truly want to say, how you feel, and what you want to promise to your better half. If you need help, there are lots of websites that offer sample vows that you can make your own. Just do a search for “sample wedding vows” and look through them to find the ones that speak to your feelings.
Write a Shoe Note
A shoe note? It’s a little love note that each of you writes on the bottom of the other’s wedding shoes. It can be anything from a simple “I love you,” to a phrase that only the two of you know the meaning to.
Don’t Sweat the Stuff
Big or small, it’s not worth worrying about or beating yourself up over if it doesn’t all go as planned. Go into your wedding day with an open mind and heart. Maybe it will be exactly how you pictured it or maybe the napkins will fly into the wind like tiny kites. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. You and your spouse will still love each other, your guests will still be cheerful, have fun, and all will be well.
The most important thing to remember is that the wedding day isn’t about your family, your best friend, or the other 200 guests sitting in the comfortable reception seats. It’s about you and your one-and-only. Do what feels special to the both of you and what will hold meaning for you for years to come.
