Erin and me after a smashing karaoke performance of “If I Had a Million Dollars” in our days as roomates at Benedictine
My best friend Erin is GETTING MARRIED!!!!
By the time this post goes out, she will have been engaged for just over 12 hours and will undoubtedly still be glowing in the sparkle of her diamond. The world of wedding and marriage prep is a vast one and so I’m asking you, fabulous readers, to pass on your wisdom to the world’s newest bride-to-be.
Dispensing advice is a fantastic form of nostalgia. A friend or stranger enters some new phase of life and you, having experienced your own version, get to relive it in hopes that they can avoid same the pitfalls and achieve the same heights. So here’s your chance! Leave your advice for Erin in the comments, on Facebook, or on Twitter (#lessons4brides). What were the lessons you learned wedding planning? What’s the best advice someone gave you in all of your marriage prep? How do you two handle stress, money, newlywed life, etc.? Offer any insight you like, and in the mean time, please say one Hail Mary for her and her dashing groom, Chris – that God will grant them peace, wisdom, and grace in their sacrament!
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Dearest, Most Wonderful Erin, my first bit of advice to you is to pray for wisdom and humility. God offers plenty of opportunities for both in marriage; and, having met so many of them with resistance, I’m learning to recognize that husband and wife together are much bigger than one spouse alone. Cover your groom in prayer from now til your last breath and relish in your brand new joy! OH – and travel as much as you can before the babies come – it’s a bit tougher after! I love you and I’m SO SO thrilled for you both.
Congrats, Erin!! My best advice for newly engaged couples is to get financially savvy while you’re engaged. Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University is excellent. I just read about a couple that decided to live simply and not get caught up in how our world tells you to live. They got married debt free with $35k in the bank. After a few years they paid cash for their first home. What freedom that brings! Good luck!
Congratulations Erin! First, enjoy this stage of engagement! Let yourself be excited before jumping too far into plans. Second, once things have settled and planning starts, sit down with your fiancé and make a list of your top three things that are really important for you to have for your wedding. We got this same advice and it helped keep the other things in perspective. I wanted a beautiful church, a reception hall attached to a hotel and certain songs. From there it made picking a cake, dj, etc easier because we didn’t care very much. Third, remember that it is your (you and your fiance’s) day. Finally, enjoy every minute that you can. Learn as much as you can about each other, grow, communicate. Congrats!
Erin – best wishes to you and your fiance’! As words of wisdom, I offer you the suggestion of understanding that marriage is a long journey – and so will have many beautiful vistas – and as many bumps in the road! Remembering that my goal is to help my husband get to heaven puts everything back in perspective when things get challenging! God bless you both!
Enjoy your time being engaged! So many people rush through this time in their life planning, being busy and generally distracted by the goal of being married. Yes, that is an excitement in itself but your engaged period is more than a holding pattern. It is a beautiful time to live on the moment, to learn about yourself and your fiancé, and to soak up this blessed short station in your life. Experience it fully. Embrace this unique time, and try not to become overwhelmed by all “the things I must do” to enter into the next phase of your forever life.
Congratulations and many prayers and blessings to both you and your beloved fiancé.
Congratulations Erin! Keep your eyes on the cross and the sacrament. All things will fall into place as God designed. How exciting!
Best wishes, love & prayers,
Mary
Hey Erin, congratulations! My advice is to remember you are your husband’s biggest supporter. Your words and encouragement will mean the world to him! You are the person God gave Chris to get him to heaven. Always speak with words of love and respect to your husband and about him. Remind him often of his strengths and the reasons you married him. Also, if you haven’t already, learn his love language and speak it often. 🙂
Best wishes for your wedding and marriage! Something practical (I second the advice above)- when you go grocery shopping, make sure to buy something that he prefers every time. A cheese, a beer, whatever. You are combining two lives and you will have different preferences. This will show that you are thinking of him. Also- something practical (this will be more important when babies come)- have a family calendar and a family meeting once a week to go over your schedule and bills. Make a time every day where you will text him at work and he will either text if he can’t talk or call if he can. Communication is important- but what is it? Sometimes, it is talking about big picture, esoteric things- but sometimes it is talking about ‘can you bring milk home?’
Congrats! My advice? Enjoy the engagement and don’t stress over the little things! Wedding planning can be a lot of fun and you only get t do it once. Just remember while you’re planning for the wedding to plan for the marriage too 🙂
Oh my goodness CONGRATS Erin!!!!!
My advice is pray, pray, pray for each other! Don’t get caught up in the small details and make sure you order enough food for the reception, trust me!
LOVE this, Erin 😉
My baby girl is getting married! And I am so happy for you, Erin! Only Mothers can know the deep bond they have for their children, no matter how old they get. In some ways, we always think of them as when they were little. God has certainly blessed me in watching you grow into the young woman you are today and I couldn’t be happier to “almost” have a new son-in-law named Christopher. I want to say “Thank You” to Katie, for being a faithful friend to Erin, a treasure many do not find. This website is so neat and you (Katie) have a gift for writing. After reading all of the comments, I have to say that they all have wonderful, well written advice. I “ditto” everything already said and the only thing I will add is that I am always here for you, Erin, anytime you want advice from your Momma. I look forward to planning your wedding with you. It will be so much fun! I Love You!