The Wedding and Marriage

This week in class we talked about the wedding and marriage. We discussed the weddings symbolism a lot more than I ever had before. It was interesting to see how important some of the rituals we go through actually are. The one I thought was the most interesting was the wedding reception. I always thought of this as just a fun party to celebrate the new couple and in a way it is. Although it is also an opportunity to set some clear boundaries and for the families and friends of the couple to welcome the couple as a new family. These are important because it is necessary to have some boundaries between the couple and those around them. It is also good to have the husband and wife plan their wedding together. Often times it is planned more with the wife and her mom. This is good but it also builds the relationship between them instead of building the one between the husband and wife. Boundaries and experiences that build the relationship between the two getting married are important because when hard times come the husband and wife will be more likely to lean on each other and strengthen their marriage rather than leaning on others. This is going to be highly beneficial when they are first married because marriage comes with a lot of change. Some of the changes are big while others are smaller. These changes include having somebody always there with you, having to combine your schedules, sharing a bed/bedroom, creating rituals like scripture study and dinner time, and making big decisions together like when to have kids, what to do about education, jobs, where to live, and so much more. Marriage has a lot of mutual decision making involved. One thing my teacher said that really stuck out to me was, "When it comes to marriage you must care at least as much about what your partner wants as what you want." I hope this blog has been helpful and brings some insights you hadn't heard before. Thanks for reading and remember a strong happy marriage can be one of the greatest blessings in your life, but it takes work.