The worriless wedding lead-up

By Daniel Francis

The older I get the more the topic of marriage comes up. It’s not surprising, it just seems to be the natural course of action.

Over the past three years, I’ve had several close friends and family members get married and I always get an interesting answer whenever I ask them how they feel after the wedding.

In most cases, they both say, “I am happy I don’t have to plan this wedding anymore!” Not the answer I expected but as someone who is unmarried, the insight from the months leading up to a marriage has been eye-opening.

The couples have described the lead-up to the wedding as a true test of their relationship. The planning alone can be exhausting, and you see sides of your partner that you may have never experienced.

Some come to fully understand the gravity of two families merging and the input and expectations some family members have. It sounds like a roller-coaster ride and a true test of love and faith.

It is a test of love in that you see the connection between you and your fiancé/fiancée at work and under strain and a test of faith in that this is another leg of preparation where two become one and how you handle that.

Over the weekend, I attended a wonderful book launch for a book Plan a Worriless Wedding in a Year by Natalie Orr. It’s funny how my thoughts were on marriage, and I got the invite to this book launch.

Natalie is part of my author community, and I always make it a point to celebrate their books with them as much as possible. The book launch had a beautiful setup, akin to a wedding celebration.

The book launch consisted of a question-and-answer section by the author, a book reading, a speech from an EQ (Emotional Quotient) Coach, and a panel discussion with all the typical players involved in a wedding: decorator, photographer, wedding coordinator, etc.

One of the major takeaways for me was hearing the same sentiments that my friends mentioned. The lead-up to a wedding is a true test for the couple.

As single people, we may be thinking about the wedding day, the church, the ceremony, our family and friends being present. But I learned that it’s more than that. It takes an enormous amount of planning and coordination.

You have to go into the preparation with a great amount of mental fortitude knowing that you and your fiancé/fiancée may have some back and forth on some decisions, the family may try your patience, and you will learn a lot about yourself and your fiancé/fiancée.

I loved that during the book launch, they made sure to highlight pre-marital counselling. I once had a friend forgo that before the wedding and I could not imagine why. It can only help the union because we may not recognise our blind spot, and we have no idea how that will affect our union with our partner.

After marriage, you will be living with this person so why not properly prepare for that new experience?

I think the book is an excellent guide for persons wanting to learn about preparations for planning a wedding and for those currently planning a wedding to pick up on different insights to help the process move along more smoothly.

As always, if God is in the centre of your relationship, you are already on the right track. The minute you come together as one and God is not involved you will find yourself in difficulties.

If you would like to purchase Natalie’s book you can go to www.worrilessexperience.com and of course, reach out to her if you need wedding planning and execution services.

Congratulations Natalie on your new book!

Daniel Francis is a millennial helping other millennials. He is a two-time author of the books The Millennial Mind and The Millennial Experience, and an entrepreneur. Over the past four years, he has served as a Personal Development Coach whose work targets Millennials and helps them tap into their full potential. He is also a self-publishing coach and has guided hundreds on self-publishing their book successfully.

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