1. It ensures that all guests are happy
Speaking of family conflicts … yeah, that’s a thing, even in the most seemingly functional family dynamics.
No one understands the inner-workings of a family quite like a person who belongs to it, which is why both spouses need to be actively involved in the planning every step of the way.
This should be taken into consideration throughout the wedding planning process, but especially when you’re formulating the guest list and creating seating assignments.
2. It helps you strengthen your relationship
Between the family drama, the constant decision-making, and the fact that you’re about to drop a ton of money on this thing (the national average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is $29,200, FYI), weddings are a massive study in relationship-building, trust, and patience.
The fact of the matter is that all couples, even the strongest ones, will disagree about something along this process—especially if both parties are actively engaged in planning—and that will only help you learn more about each other and work out issues before you tie the knot.
3. It’s fun, plain and simple
We’re sending a message loud and clear to those not-so-involved future spouses: Wedding planning is actually kind of fun, as long as you have the right attitude.
You get to do really fun stuff like design custom wedding bands, taste food, and cake and come up with fun gifts for the people you love. And, hopefully, you’ll only get to do this once, so lean in and enjoy it.
How to get your (Seemingly uninterested) spouse involved
This all sounds fine and dandy, but how to get your partner involved with wedding planning?
Here are a few tips that may help to understand how to get your fiancé on board with wedding planning:
- Assign tasks that appeal to his or her interests. Got a spouse who’s super into music? Give the task of coming up with some fun playlists or going to see a few live bands that you can hire to play the reception.
- Let them choose how they want to help. Barraging your significant other with a list of tasks can make them feel like you’re the boss, but there’s no boss in marriage. Split up the duties equally, with both of you determining who gets to handle what.
- Explain that it means a lot to you. At the end of the day, your spouse will (hopefully) do the thing that makes you happiest and helps support a strong marriage, so make sure to explain to him or her why your involvement means so much.
- Take his or her taste into consideration. In addition to the nitty-gritty tasks, like putting together favors and writing thank-you cards after the fact, you can involve your spouse by incorporating his or her tastes into all the decisions.
- Make lists, schedules, strategies, and plans. This way, your future spouse will be able to see what exactly needs to be done when, so he or she can start checking off some tasks without having to ask you what to do.