Real Men Help Out
by Marco Rodriguez
"Would it kill you to lend a helping hand?!"
How many times has a groom-to-be heard this phrase before? The wording may not be exact, but the sentiments are the same. It may be hard to believe, but you’re not the only man in the world slacking off on your wedding chores. For many people, planning a wedding is a very complicated task. For most women, planning their wedding is difficult, but it’s also a dream come true. Here’s the challenge: How can a man participate in the process and convince his mate that he is contributing to the wedding?
Here are a few suggestions:
Accept the obvious.
Men, listen up. You need to realize that most women have had dreams of their perfect wedding since they were little girls. It can be an uphill battle for many of you to provide any input at all. Remember, your fianceé may have been planning your wedding for a long time, and the only missing ingredient was you.
Don’t feel bad if you feel like you’re being left out of the planning process in the beginning. There’s a good chance that your girl rushed off to the magazine stand the day after you proposed and snatched up every wedding magazine she could find. She’s been waiting for this moment for a long time, and it’s finally arrived! Unfortunately, this can leave most men lagging behind their brides who’ve had a head start on this event for years.
There are two of you now!
Hey, guys, remember the day that you got engaged? You probably spent countless days trying to come up with the best time and place to pop the question. In most cases, your big plans worked out and your fianceé was overwhelmed with joy. Note to brides: See, men can plan things out if they want to!
But, now, there are two of you and you have to create your wedding with your bride-to-be. This may not be as much fun. Planning the wedding proposal took a lot of time and effort, but you were able to control every aspect leading up to that moment. You had the freedom to iron out all of the details without having to check in with someone else. Now, you have to negotiate and figure out what’s best for both of you.
Here’s something else to think about. Since you went to such great lengths to plan out the proposal, your bride-to-be might have high expectations of your participation in the wedding plans. Your creativity impressed her so much that she looks forward to planning your wedding together. She might be disappointed if you don’t throw yourself into the wedding plans with gusto.
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