Dear one…now that the good news of your engagement has gotten out I’m sure that at times you feel overwhelmed. Well hold on to your hat…it’s just beginning. But never fear…these waters you will soon learn to navigate with skill.
Who would have thought that after you decide to marry you’d have so decisions make? As many decisions as you and your fiancé will be making in the coming months…it doesn’t hold a candle to the all the advice you will receive from well meaning family, friends and even a few strangers. Even this you will learn to handle with grace and ease.
There is so much joy when the wonderful news of an engagement is announced. Before long…decisions and planning will start.
For my husband Chris and me…those decisions started right away with shopping for an engagement ring. Because we had only known each other 3 months, Chris decided that it would be best for us to go ring shopping together. That experience was a mixture of comedy and frustration. In the end…it turned out to be good practice for the other elements of our wedding that we would have to plan.
We started engagement ring shopping at Robbins Brothers. It was kind of funny. We still felt the magic of being newly engaged. But we dealt with a clerk who was used to selling to young people who didn’t really know what they wanted. But I was 49 years old…and had an opinion on just about everything…and wasn’t too keen on explaining myself every time I said no. While I couldn’t tell you exactly what I wanted in a ring…I knew it when I saw it. After repeatedly being quizzed if I like this ring or that one…and why…we decided that perhaps we should look at some other stores.
That turned out to be wise and providential decision. God led us to a jewelry store…where with no pressure browsing we found an engagement ring and our wedding rings. I also learned…that I don’t have to worry that I’m hurting the sales person’s feeling when I say “No, that’s not what I want.”
Some of the first decisions you and your fiancé will need to make will include when you are getting married and what’s your budget. Both answers will drive the other decisions you need to make while planning your wedding.
Because we decided to get married relatively soon…we had a lot of decisions to make in a short period of time. That necessitated…making decisions quickly. Because we were paying for the wedding ourselves…and not our parents our budget wasn’t extravagant. While we wanted to have a nice wedding…we didn’t want to break the bank on that one day.
We wanted a ceremony that would honor and glorify God. One where we could praise and thank God for bringing us together. One that we could invite family and friends to and have the gospel message shared…even in our wedding ceremony.
We both knew where we wanted the ceremony to be held…Kindred Community Church. Kindred had been my church home since we became a church. It was the place where Chris and I first met. But we had a decision to make. Should we hold the ceremony in the church sanctuary…or in one of the lovely garden areas? The garden areas were less expensive and would have easily accommodated the number of guests we wanted to invite. But my heart and soul were in the sanctuary because I have so many fond memories in there. It was just right for us.
Once those important, driving decisions were made...when, how much and where…we had to get busy. We had a wedding fast approaching in four months and counting.
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