Tuesday, May 14, 2013

On Being Married vs. Having a Wedding

I mentioned in an earlier post that our 1st wedding anniversary is this Saturday, May 18th! We survived and lived to tell the story, y'all! In all seriousness, marriage is lots of fun, but it is nothing to be taken lightly. As we get closer to our anniversary, I can't help but be reflective about our wedding. I'm going to share stories and pictures from our wedding over the next few days, but today I want to talk about something else.

Being married and having a wedding are NOT one in the same. 

I had always told my husband that I did not want a big wedding.  I envisioned a jazz band and a bout 50 of our closest friends and family. That so did not happen. We ended up with a full-on, fabulous DC wedding with about 150 guests.
I'm so glad my husband talked me into it. He won the wedding debate by stating the following: "When will you ever another chance to get all of the people you love under one roof?"  He was so right. I can't think of any other time in my life where I'd could get my hairdresser, dissertation committee members, long-distance relatives, first roommate from college, former students, and coworkers under one roof at the same time.  Well, I can think of one other occasion, but I'm so glad that I was above the ground to witness everyone coming together. Ha! The day was magical. It was like an out-of-body experience.

Just know this: Marriage is not about flowers, bridesmaids dresses, tuxedos, and cake. That's the wedding. But through the wedding, you and your spouse can learn so much about how to operate in a marriage. You can learn about compromise, and budgeting. You can learn how to negotiate relationships with your family and friends; and trust, a few of them will get weird on you. You and your spouse can learn how to truly operate as a team. You all can learn to lean on each other and your Higher Power when things get tough.

Until next time . . . I'll be over here putting together the wedding posts!


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