THINGS TO DO BEFORE SAYING “I DO”

While you’ll be sharing tons of new experiences with your new wife or husband, there are somethings you should probably know about significant other before the big day arrives!

Do they snore?  Are they super messy?  Are they good with money management?  Do they want kids?

Take some time to consider doing the following 6 things before saying “I do”.

Talk About Money

This can be a touchy subject with some people being very private with their finances or very poor with their planning!  Talk through things like your savings so far and what you think you’ll be doing with your income once you’re married.  Are you planning to have a joint account or keep your separate accounts with each of you taking care of a certain number of bills? It may be a lot to get through but knowing where each of you stand, who will be managing the money for the family and what expectations are overall will not only make for a smoother transition but help solidify the family you’re starting together in the long run.

Family Planning

Another tricky subject for some is the question of children.  Do you want five while your partner will be content with just one and the dog?  Many couples can spend years in frustration arguing about this, so set each other up with expectations beforehand.  Try and come to a general agreement on what you’d like your family to look like in the next five, ten or fifteen years.  Maybe you want it to be just the two of you for the first few years and start trying for kids thereafter, or is it go time as soon as the honeymoon is underway?!

Take a Trip Together

Taking a trip together before you’re married will help give you a lot of insight into the little things that will come up after moving in together (assuming you’re not living together already!).  Things like general hygiene, organization, how they deal with stress (if the travel is less than smooth sailing), how they can pre-plan and more than anything, how it will feel to be with this person 24/7!

Meet Friends

The family meet up is guaranteed but see if you can meet up with many of your fiance’s friends beforehand.  This will allow you to understand everyone who is coming to the wedding day while also forming some great relationships with those that are most important to your wife or husband-to-be.  You will also come to know where everyone lives and if hanging out with these people is going to mean a road trip, a long trip or a quick 10-minute drive.  All important factors when you consider post-wedding social time.

Discuss Ex’s

No one loves the idea of discussing ex’s but its a good idea to have an open dialogue before the wedding day.  You can control the level of detail you’d like to go into but both of you should know about any significant past relationships especially if that person is still likely to cross your social path in the near future.  You don’t want to surprise your new spouse after the fact as it can lead to a lot of unnecessary arguing and hurt feelings.

 

This article was originally published by our friends at Suhaag.