You’re getting married! People want to give you parties. There’s not a darned thing that you need, since the two of you already have an established household. So what do you do with people’s generosity?
The point of showers and wedding presents was to provide the couple with the things they needed to set up household. People who lived around you, went through their meager supplies to get you the items that allowed you to keep house and livestock. It’s a wonderful tradition, so how do you transform it to something that will make a huge difference in your modern life?
If friends ask you what you need, how about asking for a party focused on one or more of the following:
Food: What if everyone sent recipes? They could be party recipes or favorite dinners, whatever interests you. What if they included its history along with the recipe. Then you’ve got a wonderful keepsake to give everyone. No one needs to carry anything home, just send it out as a pdf after the wedding!
Wine: Are you wine enthusiasts? People could bring you a bottle of their favorite wine with a story about the best time they had it. (or what they went through to get it for you if they’re not wine drinkers.) Extra points for romanticism or hilarity. More points for homemade. Get your wine cellar started.
Advice: Here’s a whole community of people, many of whom are managing marriages, all of whom are managing lives. What’s their best advice to you as you sit here on the brink of marriage? You can put it in categories if you want!
Stories: What do you want to know about? Do you want marriage stories? Dinner table stories? Family stories? Figure it out, ask people to send them (and pics, of course) to you or a volunteering friend, and assemble them into a book of delightful history.
Community Building: You’re going to need the support of these wonderful people throughout your marriage together. What’s going to get them involved with one another? How are you going to help your community knit themselves together around you? Take them bowling, play croquet, send them on a treasure hunt, play charades, get them laughing and eating and they’ll want to gather again. And there’s nothing that supports a marriage more than a group of friends who always want to spend time with them.
Community Service: Get people together to do community service. It’s an amazingly bonding experience. Picking up litter in a park, working on a house, raking leaves for the elderly, all of these help bring the community together.
All these events (and there are surely more!) are great ways for your community to get to know one another. The better they know each other, the more eager they will be to assemble to attend your wedding ceremony, witness and support your wedding vows and celebrate your good fortune and happy life.
Bottom Line?: Give your relationship the chance it deserves to succeed wildly, against all odds! After all, you deserve it. Your relationship deserves it! And now I’d like to invite you to sign up to receive 2 free templates for creating the wedding ceremony of your dreams, the wedding vows of your heart and the marriage of a lifetime: http://annkeelerevans.org/weddings/free
