A few weeks ago, KPW and I attended a wedding of some dear friends. Recently, the flood of wedding invitations has been replaced with baby shower and kiddo birthday party invitations, and while I love this new season of life, I leap at any chance to attend a wedding celebration. I’m a sucker for the exchanging of vows and I love dancing the night away. Throw in a good Southern sweet treat or cocktail, and I might never leave. Dancing and desserts aside, I don’t take lightly the importance of participating in someone else’s first day of married life.
During this most recent ceremony, KPW leaned over and whispered, “Wanna get married again?” I nodded profusely, partially because I’d jump at any chance to marry my husband all over again (I think we’d get married on the Fourth of July and serve homemade ice cream for dessert) and partially because there is something unspeakable about the joy and magic of a wedding day that that I wish I could bottle up.
From our wedding, by Martha Manning
KPW’s musing got me thinking about recreating the enchantment of our wedding day in an every day setting. Of course, there’s your anniversary–a formal “holiday” celebrating the start of your marriage. But that only happens once a year, and Lord knows life is busy and things don’t always go as planned on set holidays (on our fourth anniversary this year, we packed our house and moved). Instead, I wanted to try to take the “magic” of our wedding day and that feeling I get every time I attend someone else’s wedding and intentionally unleash it on unexpected days throughout the year–those days when we might need a little burst of encouragement or a throwback to that joy-filled weekend in June 2012 in order to re-center and refocus our priorities. Or maybe on a day when we want to laugh, get googly eyes for one other, and remember why we started this whole journey in the first place.
The best part? The time commitment for these actions varies from three minutes to a whole (fun!) evening. I have friends who will stop and dance to their first dance song no matter where they are when they hear it (ahem, the middle of the grocery store) because they swear it transports them back to the dance floor at their reception. Recently, after a hard life/moving/work week, KPW and I curled up on the sofa, ate takeout sushi, watched our wedding video, and laughed and cried (well, I cried). These little things aren’t magic, but I do think it’s entirely possible to unleash a little of that wedding day joy more often, with a little effort!!
Friends, y’all already know of my love for all things Southern and all things marriage, having shared them on the blog from time to time (see here, here, and here). I’m excited to ramp things back up and regularly share tips, tricks, and thoughts on how to intentionally invest into your sweet marriage. I’m convinced that while the idea of “marriage advice” can be heavy at times, and marriage is definitely work, it is more than worth the conversation and investment, and I love having a place to come together to connect!
For the love of the Sweet Tea Society!
xo, KNW
Love these ideas so much, friend! I’m going to a wedding on Saturday and am already looking forward to the jolt of wedding day love I’m going to feel :)
Love these tips! :)
Happy Anniversary K Squared. Love you both dearly. Xoxo