Blog
The journey to the wedding day may be a winding one. I’m happy to share some tips and tricks along the way. I continually offer ways to strengthen your relationship, and provide additional resources & tools. Scroll on down, and click on a post that interests you. The comments are always open, and I would love to know what you think!
Let’s Celebrate VALENTINE’S DAY
Whether or not the idea of Valentine's Day makes you giddy or groan, here are some fun things to do to celebrate with your mate, your friends or even to do something special for you - even during a pandemic!
Premarital Counseling: TIME SPENT TOGETHER & SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
Time Spent Together and Social Activities is one of the Big Issue topics I cover in premarital counseling. Sometimes it comes up as we discuss Parenting and Child raising or Intimacy and Sex. In 2 recent sessions, it was important enough to to talk about on its own.
Premarital Counseling: BELIEFS & VALUES
We formulate our values and beliefs as we grow up and experience life. Some beliefs are passed down from our families and some values we pick up along the way. It’s imperative to have an open and honest conversation about your beliefs and values with your partner before marriage.
Premarital Counseling: PARENTING and CHILD RAISING
Amazingly some couples never discuss whether they are on the same page about having kids. If you want kids, but your partner does not, is that a deal breaker in the relationship? Since this is not an area one can compromise, that needs to be the first discussion. We can certainly do that in premarital counseling!
WEDDING YOGA: For You and Your Squad (part 1)
Doing yoga with friends allows for better connection, support, and keeps your ego in check. Just what you need prepare for your wedding day. I mean we want to be Zen brides and grooms, right?
Premarital Counseling: DECISION MAKING
Decision making builds strong relationships - which in turn builds strong marriages. How decisions are made in a relationship tells a lot about the openness of communication and partnership. That’s why it’s imperative to discuss in premarital counseling.
5 Ways to Bring Zen to Your Wedding: BEFORE THE CEREMONY
Weddings can be stressful. As a wedding officiant, I often find that couples get nervous about 30 minutes before the ceremony starts. Everything starts to feel very "real" for brides and grooms. Here are 5 things I recommend to ease your nerves before your ceremony.
Premarital Counseling: Sex and Intimacy
Intimacy consists of both emotional closeness and sexual connection. In a strong relationship, they are like two sides of the same coin. Since issues around sex & intimacy is one of the causes for divorce in this country, I find it essential to cover in premarital counseling.
Zen Weddings: LIMIT PLANNING DAYS
When couples come to me either for premarital counseling or to perform their wedding ceremony, the first stressor they mention is the overwhelm of wedding planning. Most modern couples are busy! So what happens if you are INTENTIONAL about your schedule?
Premarital Counseling: Roles in the Relationship
There are lots of reasons why marriages can fail today, and one has to do with how roles in the relationship have changed. However, whether we talking about heterosexual or same-sex couples, I prefer to look at it in terms of shared responsibilities.
Wedding Yoga: For Couples
I like to think about wedding yoga for couples as a physical counseling session. It is a fabulous medium for deepening relationships - whether it is friendship, a family member, or your significant other. Postures and flow sequences are designed to nurture and create a sense of light heartedness!
Premarital Counseling: Family Relationships
When you commit to each other or get married, you are meshing with your partner's family, as well. Navigating difficult personalities and past behavior can be challenging. It should also come as no surprise that, family relationships is one of the main causes of divorce.
Vendors I Love: THE VOW COLLECTIVE
I met Stacie at a Tuesday Together NYC meeting a few months ago. There was an immediate connection as we talked about the power of words and just how meaningful promises are. Usually I say farewell to my couples at their weddings. That’s when she says hello! I love her outlook on love and commitment, on partnership and longevity. Without further ado, here’s STACIE STINE of THE VOW COLLECTIVE.
5 Reasons to do Premarital Counseling
The reasons couples come to me for premarital counseling are as diverse as the couples themselves. It pleases me to report that most couples do not reach out because they have major problems, although though some do. More often than not, they want to strengthen the relationship they already have, as they plan for the future.
Here are the top reasons that couples like YOU may benefit from premarital counseling!
Appreciation and the 5 Love Languages
Just as all of us were starting to shelter-at-home, Amy Shack Egan of Modern Rebel asked me to join her on Instagram Live to talk 'emotional wellness' in our current crisis. Amy posed 5 questions, but with limited time together, I was only able to offer limited responses. Two weeks ago, I wrote about Respecting Boundaries. Today, I answer the question, "What are small ways to show appreciation for your partner during this time?" However, when I think appreciation, I first think of Gary Chapman's 5 Love Languages.
Respecting Boundaries in our Current Crisis (part 1)
On Friday, I got an email from one of my PM Counseling couples with their agenda for the next session. I usually see "Family Relationships" or "Finances," but what I got was "Respecting boundaries during isolation." So when wedding planner, Amy Shack Egan from Modern Rebel asked me to join her on Instagram LiveStream to talk about couple's wellness and her first question was "For couples working from home - what are small ways to draw boundaries + be intentional about alone time?" I was totally ready!
Strengthening Relationships: SIBLINGS
At the end of April, I had the opportunity to do something new: a sibling counseling workshop. The groom from a past counseling couple reached out and told me that he and his sisters were starting an annual sibling retreat weekend. Their mother suggested they not only spend quality time together, but also meet with a counselor to help them strengthen their relationships. How cool is that?
Building Community
We live in a growing world that’s growing smaller every day due to the ease of communication through social media. But those connections while miraculous and easy, don’t usually result in true friendships. In building community. In my pre-marital counseling program, we discuss topics that tend to trip couples up in their marriage. Talking through social activities and time spent together in and out of the relationship is on that list.
The Ceremony Reading, Alain de Botton [video]
As a wedding officiant, I work with couples to create unique wedding ceremonies. One of my current wedding couples is a pair of writers who are very picky about how certain ideas are expressed in their ceremony. I mean who can blame them? They're writers!
A Little Bit EACH day
In an effort to keep my small apartment clean, I constantly read articles with tips that always suggest doing a little bit every day. Taking care of incoming mail as you enter your home so it doesn't clutter, sweeping and mopping on a certain day each week and cleaning all dishes in the kitchen sink before you go to sleep. But why not think the same way with our relationships?