Wedding season is upon us. Brides spend so much time planning the big day that they often forget that it’s the rest of their life with their partner that is most important. Building a strong foundation and growing with each other are some factors that lead to a happy marriage, but what other advice is worth listening to?
- Have fun together. Relationships are a lot of work but if you have fun with your partner the work is all worth it.
- Laugh lots. Humour is important in any relationship so laugh together and laugh at yourselves.
- Disagreements will happen. The key is learning to get past them. Pick your battles so you’re not fighting over every little thing. Never go to bed angry. Talk things through and even if you can’t come to an agreement, agree to disagree and make up before you go tosleep.
- Know your partner’s moods and their reactions. If you know they are already in a disagreeable mood don’t bring something up that will cause a conflict. Learn to read your partners attitude and behaviours.
- Celebrate with your loved one, even the small stuff. Praise them for all achievements big and small and never take them for granted.
- Take time for each other. Even when life gets busy, schedule a date night together so you can reconnect without the distraction of kids or friends.
- Relationships on autopilot won’t last. The take work and effort. Respect your differences and your similarities and make sure to take care of each other. Both of you and your relationship will change as you go through life so you’ll both have to learn to adapt and work together.
- Communicate! This may be the most important thing in any relationship but especially in a marriage. Talk about what your goals are, what bothers you, what motivates you...talk about anything but be sure to talk.
Picking the right dress, the right venue and the right flowers may seem like life altering decisions right before the wedding, but a wedding is only one day and marriage is for the rest of your life. Don’t forget about all the reasons why you’re getting married in the first place, because you love your partner and you want to spend the rest of your life with them. Focus on that and all other things will seem trivial.