Tips for Starting Your Marriage Off the Right Way

While being a newly wed can be the most blissful time in your blossoming partnership, every couple must make sure they start off on the right foot to ensure a continual, prosperous relationship. In order to effective merge your lives together, it requires a collaborative effort of planning and organizing of each other’s ideals and future plans either before or right after the wedding day. Below are some tips to help make sure your marriage starts and continues in the right direction. Setting Expectations Create a list of visions and aspirations you both wish to achieve at the beginning of your marriage, and refer back to them regularly to make sure you are both on track. Of course with life’s propensity of throwing unexpected curve balls, this may require some alterations along the way. However, establishing individual and joined expectations can set up a working roadmap eventually leading to the end goal you both have in mind. Good Communication One of the best assets a couple can have is strong communication. This means that you must always “hear” what the other person has to say without any type of defensive wall built up. Equally as important, always refrain from bottling up emotions and masking your feelings from one another. This will only create friction in the marriage, and could lead to an explosive argument in the future. If you are not sure what type of communication pattern you and your partner already have, head to Dr. Phil’s website and take a quick quiz that can outline this for you! It’s important to identify weak and strong spots in your communication early on so you can work towards fixing these problems. Organizing Your Finances Perhaps the biggest stress factor for newlywed couples stems from finances. Once you decide that you want to share a life with someone, it is crucial to let all the skeletons out of the closet. This means fessing up to any money spending habits, or compromising your overly frugal ways. Make sure your partner knows about all your financial transgressions before you decide to link bank accounts. To safeguard economical security, try saving money anywhere you can. This can begin with your wedding by opting for cheaper alternatives, like a David’s Bridal wedding dress rather than an Oscar de la Renta original. Date Each Other As you move further and further away from your honeymoon stage, always work hard to keep the romance intact. While everyone’s schedule is busy, make it a priority to set aside mandatory quality time for just the two of you. Couples who treat each date like before they were married during their courtship will always feel like their relationship is fresh, new and exciting. Running out of a date ideas? Websites like Living Social and Groupon have a plethora of discounted meals, services and activities that you and your partner can try out! It’s a great way to try something new and exciting without spending a fortune.