Anxiously Engaged

Getting engaged is such an exciting time of life! You begin to plan the rest of your life with the person you love and you get to plan a wedding and tell all our friends and family the big news! There is so much to do and so much to plan and all of it is so exciting! The bride needs to find a dress, the groom a tux, pick out colors, pick when and where you'll be married, find a cake, get engagement pictures, (get tons of ideas from Pinterest for all of this of course!) plan a honeymoon, find a place to live, make a wedding registry, and a million more things to do. Not only is this a very exciting time for the joyous couple but it is also a crucial part of how they will be together as a couple after they are married.

This part of the relationship helps couples learn how to make important decisions and work together. There are important things to talk about when you are engaged, a lot of the important topics should be discussed before the couple gets engaged so they know what to expect. (Here is a Value Survey the two of you can take to discuss important topics.)  It is important for the couple to plan the wedding and not the parents or other family members. Engagement is the time for a couple to bond more together and learn how to work as one and cleave to each other (Genises 2:24). Too often it becomes a time where the mother daughter relationship is strengthened when it should be the future husband and wife's relationship should be strengthened. This can also be a very stressful time. It is important to see how your significant other reacts to your stress and how you react to theirs. If couples are able to make good plans and decisions together this will in turn help with their first year of marriage where they will be making many adjustments and accommodations together as they learn to live with each other and support one another.

Marriage is such an exciting part of life and is a great learning experience for those involved. It is important to work together. Frequently, the fiance lets his future bride go with whatever plans she has been making since she was young and it becomes her wedding and her reception when it should be their wedding and their reception. It is important for the couple to be one in the decision making process and both have an opinion about the events to come.