written and photographed by Britt Ehret of Britt Ehret Photography
“There are so many upcoming moments to celebrate, but don’t spend all your time looking ahead that you forget to see all of the sweet blessings and moments right in front of you.”
During this time of year, many newly engaged couples are about to embark on their journey to their wedding day and beyond. But in the midst of wedding planning, it’s not always easy to stay present and make decisions from a place of intention. Here are five ways to make sure strengthening your relationship stays top priority while planning the big day.
01 / Continue Dating Each Other
It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day rhythms of life and neglect continuing to pursue one another like you used to at the very beginning, especially when you’re planning an entire wedding. But I think that it’s even more important now than ever that you continue to do so.
Plan a date night for your boo, surprise them with flowers or a coffee, have a movie night and take a break from the planning — the options are endless. At the end of the day, don’t lose sight of why you fell in love with each other in the first place. Continue to cultivate and deepen your relationship as you get closer and closer to saying “I do.” There are so many upcoming moments to celebrate, but don’t spend all your time looking ahead that you forget to see all of the sweet blessings and moments right in front of you.
02 / Spend Time Listening
As someone who has had a Pinterest wedding board since I was in middle school (which is tough to look at now let me tell you what), I know what it’s like to have a picture in your head of exactly how you want your wedding day to look. My challenge for you is taking a second to step back and ask your partner what their vision looks like. How is it similar and/or different from your own? Is there anything specific that they have always wanted to include? What does their perfect day look like? Feel like? What do you want to remember most from your wedding day?
A big part of a relationship is compromise, and something that I’ve learned while working in this industry is that planning a wedding is a very tangible example of that. Your wedding may not end up being everything you have always imagined in your head down to the smallest detail, but how much more beautiful it will be for it to be a combination of both of your dreams in one.
03 / Dream Together
I think one of the most exciting parts of engagement is getting to dream and plan for what life will look like together in the years to come. It’s easy to get caught up in the flood of wedding details, but I would encourage you to spend time with your partner just asking each other questions. What is your soon-to-be spouse most excited for when it comes to your marriage? What are they hoping for day to day of your married life to look like? What do they want to prioritize in the first six months, first year, and beyond?
Set tangible goals for your relationship and have a vision for all the things that you want to prioritize together. I think one of the most beautiful aspects of marriage is the joining of two into one. Make sure you’re fully harnessing the strength and power of that kind of commitment.
04 / Soak in Every Moment
Regardless of whether your engagement lasts two years, 12 months, or less, the reality is still that this season of your relationship is finite. It won’t last forever. Make sure that you take breaks from planning occasionally and give yourself the opportunity to soak in the excitement of all that this season holds. You’re planning and preparing for the rest of forever with the love of your life… that’s so worth cherishing for the short period of time that it lasts.
05 / Prepare More for your Marriage; Stress Less About your Wedding Day
A wedding vendor saying to focus less on your wedding day?? Crazy right?
As much as I love this job and this industry, I do think that sometimes there is too much emphasis put on the wedding day versus the actual marriage. I’m someone who really does appreciate aesthetics and I love getting to photograph a breathtaking wedding day that is planned perfectly from top to bottom, but ask yourself — ten years from now, what are you going to remember more — the exact way that you designed and laid out the centerpieces at your reception or the way that it felt to be surrounded by all your closest family and friends as you joined your life to the person you love most? Don’t get me wrong, I want you to have your dream wedding. One that is all that you’ve ever dreamed of and more, but I also just want to encourage you that if all of those details fell apart and you were left with just you and your fiancé saying “I do,” that’s still so worthy of celebration.
So while the industry will continue to scream at you that you have to spend thousands and thousands of dollars, have the perfect color palette, and plan all the details down to the tee in order to have the perfect wedding day, spend time actually thinking about and dreaming about what YOU two want to prioritize and then run with that. Your wedding day is just a small 24 hour period in light of a forever commitment.
About Britt
Hey there, I’m Britt! I’m a wedding and lifestyle photographer in Ohio whose main mission is to capture my clients’ most real, authentic, and genuine moments. I started this business my Freshman year of college, but had no idea that the Lord would bless it as abundantly as He has the past few years. Photographing and delivering galleries that allow my clients to relive their special days forever is a privilege that I’ll never take for granted. You can typically find me in a coffee shop with an oat milk latte in hand, buying new plants at my favorite local greenhouse, or laughing the day away with my sweet boyfriend. My hope is that working with me leaves my clients feeling loved, seen, and appreciated.
brittehretphotography.com | @brittehretphotography
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