Day 109: The Royal Wedding

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 109: The Royal Wedding

Whether it’s a royal wedding, a celebrity union, or the girl next door about to say “I do”, on the big day it’s all about the bride and her outfit. Whether the wedding dress is designer made or off the rack, it is the best-kept secret.

I found the royal wedding today between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to be a huge letdown. I’ve seen off the rack wedding dresses who were far more beautiful than Meghan Markle’s so-called designer dress. When compared to other royal weddings it fell hopelessly flat. It would seem that with each royal wedding, there's less and less glamour.

Let’s have a look …

Queen Elizabeth’s Wedding

Princess Margaret’s Wedding

Princess Diana’s Wedding

Sarah Ferguson’s Wedding

Kate Middleton’s Wedding

Meghan Markle’s Wedding

Is this really the best Meghan Markle's wedding dress designer could come up with ... 

Day 50: Why shacking up before you get married is a good idea

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 50: Why shacking up before you get married is a good idea

Couples are more reluctant than ever about getting married.  Whether they are crazy in love or just seem right for each other, saying those wedding vows that will bind them to each other for life is a risk fewer couples are willing to take.  Couples offer the following reasons for why shacking up before you get married is a good idea.

You don’t really know someone until you live with them

Dating someone a few times a week with an occasional sleep-over may give you an idea of their personality, but it doesn’t show you what they are like on a day to day basis.  

Little things make a difference

When you live with someone 24/7, you get to experience firsthand how the person handles stress, disappointment, anger, and life in general.  For some those little flaws might be endearing, while for others they could become major obstacles.

Avoid taking each other for granted

Others prefer shacking up before marriage because it keeps both partners on their toes.  Once married a lot of men and women feel they have it made and overnight develop a careless attitude. They relax to the point that their partner no longer recognizes the person they dated. They may quit their job, put on weight, or generally no longer take care of themselves. By living together, especially in the early stages, there is always the chance of the other calling it quits. That percentage of danger keeps the relationship fresher.

Children and family in the mix

If one or both partners have children, shacking up before you get married is a good idea. The adults may love each other, but can they tolerate each other’s offspring? It worked for the Brady bunch, but it may not work for you if the kids don’t get along which, in turn, puts stress on your relationship.

The same could apply to extended family members.  You and your partner may get along perfectly, but inconsiderate parents and difficult siblings could sour the deal. 

Sexual compatibility

You might love each other dearly, but are you sexually compatible? While you may have tested the waters already, dating sex and relationship sex are two different things. Your partner’s needs may be different from yours over the long haul or you may discover some unusual requests which you may or may not like. 

Maintaining a healthy and compatible sex life over the long-term becomes a challenge for all couples. Shacking up before you get married can be a good barometer of how your sex life will mature if you remain together.

Financial compatibility

Why shacking up before you get married is a good idea also applies to whether or not the couple is financially compatible. She may love to shop and be addicted to shoe shopping, while he may be hardcore thrifty. When you live with someone it becomes more difficult for them to hide their money habits.

Lower exit costs if the relationship fails

Probably the biggest reason why shaking up before you get married is so popular is because if the relationship doesn’t work out, no divorce is needed. With no lawyers or alimony in the mix, the couple can walk away with a clean slate without spilling as much financial or emotional blood that usually happens during a divorce. 

Most people don’t buy a car without taking it for a test drive first. Before making a legal and spiritual commitment to another person, many couples today are opting to go slow and take that all-important test drive first.

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Day 32: Can a marriage survive an affair?

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 32: Can a Marriage Survive an Affair?

Of all wedding vows, the vow to forsake all others is often the one most married couples have difficulty with.  By the time a couple reaches their silver anniversary, 50 percent of women and 60 percent of men will have had an affair.  Can a marriage survive an affair?  Much will depend on the state of the marriage before and after the occurrence.

Why start an affair?

Contrary to popular belief, the reason men and women start affairs is not sexual but rather emotional.  The majority of men and women cheat on their partners because they feel neglected by their spouse.  Some feel they’ve grown apart and lack an emotional connection, others feel no longer wanted, taken for granted, or misunderstood.

Who is to blame?

Apart from physical abuse, men and women might go looking for love elsewhere because they are no longer willing to put up with the situation at home.

Some husbands, who were attentive to their wives in the early years of marriage might have lost interest in their spouse.  They spend more and more time at work, with their friends, at a sports club or in front of the television.  When they are around, they criticize their wives and lack appreciation for what she does.

Some wives have lost interest in themselves.  At the start of the marriage, they might have made an effort to look beautiful for their husbands, but over the years they let themselves go.  They feel harassed by their job, the amount of housework and the number of children, and don’t have time for their husbands anymore.  When he is around they nag and complain.

Can a marriage survive an affair?

While the spouses might still love each other after an affair, the foundation of their marriage has crumbled.  An affair might be forgiven, but the trust between two people is broken.  If the couple decides to stay together it might take years before that trust http://www.lifescript.com/life/relationships/wreckage/building_trust_in_a_relationship_again.aspx is re-earned. 

  

Life after an affair

After the anger is gone, spouses often suffer from humiliation, poor self-esteem, guilt, and depression.  Most couples split up after an affair, not because they can’t forgive, but because they can’t forget.  The mental image of the one they love with another man or woman haunts them.  They might forever wonder if given the chance if the spouse might stray again.

Does counseling help?

Couples who want to stay together might find counseling helpful.  Not only will they get the guidance to deal with the aftermath of the affair, they will get a chance to dig deep into their history and possibly uncover the reason why the affair started.  Through counseling, the couple will communicate, deal with the past, focus on the present and possibly make plans for the future.

Can a marriage survive an affair?  Some can forgive and forget, for others, the breach of trust is a fatal blow.  What took years to build was destroyed in seconds.

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Day 22: Wedding superstitions

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 22: Wedding superstitions

Her wedding day is one of the most important days in a woman’s life.  Because of the importance of the day, a number of superstitions and old wive's tales are connected with the event which can spin already nervous brides into a frenzy.  Whether or not these superstitions are true is beside the point, most brides will rather not test their luck.

The Outfit

It is said that the bride should not tailor her own dress and not even help with the stitching because for every stitch of the needle she will cry a tear in her marriage.

The outfit should not be tried on before the wedding other than for fittings.  Should the bride show off her outfit chances are she will not get married.

Neither should the groom see the bride in her wedding fineries before the big day.  Of all superstitions, this is possibly the strongest one and followed by brides the world over.

Pearls

Pearls represent tears.  The bad luck superstition around the bride wearing pearls states that the pearls represent the tears she will shed during her married life.  The good luck superstition of the wearing of pearls states that the pearls take away the tears that the bride would have shed. 

Rain

Rain on the wedding day can also be taken as a good or a bad sign.  One superstition states that rain on a wedding day predicts tears in the marriage; another superstition associates a rainy wedding day with the gift of children to the couple.

The Church

Seeing a nun or a monk outside the church can be one of two things.  Either the marriage will not be blessed with children, or the couple will fall into poverty.

Seeing a black cat on the way to the church is a sign of good luck.

For good luck in a marriage, rather marry on a weekday than a Saturday.  While no bad luck is associated with a weekend wedding, no good luck is associated with it either, so, no luck at all.  According to superstition, Wednesday is the best day to marry.

Signing your Married Name

This is considered another way of tempting faith.  If you dare to sign a document with your married name, chances are the wedding will not take place or the marriage is doomed.

Dropping of the Ring

It is said that if the best man or the groom drops the ring the marriage won’t last.

The Wedding Night

Finally, there is the wedding night with the threat that who falls asleep first will be the first to die.

If all these superstitions were to be believed, it’s no wonder brides are jittery.  To play it safe, just stick to the wearing something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue and don’t let the rest worry you.

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