To the Bride ����You are not his mother.

Be his wife, girlfriend, lover andpartner. No man wants amother for a life partner. Keepcalm when your husband givesyou bad news, he will not tellyou next time if you overreact(and scream). Men are like bigpuppies. Treat themnice, all theywant to do isplease you.

Don’t expect married life to beperfect, it isn’t. Learn to adjust,compromise, forgive and bethankful for every day you have.

Life is short, enjoy it.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow isa mystery. Today is a Gift. Thatis why they call it the present.

To the Groom�You are not her Father.

Support her, encourage her, andlisten to her. Don’t solve herproblems, just hear her out.Women need to vent, but arecapable of making gooddecisions. She’s marrying you!

Women need 10 non-sexualtouches a day to feel loved.

Always kiss her goodnight.

After this wonderful start to life,and you decide to have children,remember the two of you arestill the same people who fell inlove and married. When thechildren are grown and gone, itwill be the two of you togetheragain. Stay dating and don’t letthose little ones take yourspouse’s place.

To the couple�Smile and laugh.

Find humor in the darkest oftimes.

Flirt with each other like whenyou first met.

Always remember why youfell in love.

Say nice things about yourspouse to your friends whenyour spouse is listening.

Kiss, even in public, whenyou say good-bye, andwhen you are reunited.

My advice, “Plan for your mar-riage, not just your wedding.”Let’s hope your wedding day willbe only one of the many happydays of your life.

Don’t expect to have as newly-weds, what your parents have. Inmost cases they have been mar-ried a long time. If you ask them,they will probably tell you someof their happiest times were be-fore they had a nice home, fur-nishings or a car.

Smile and welcome your spousewhen he comes home. Forgettalking about problems as soonas he gets in the door. Make himglad he came home.

Some things between a husbandand a wife should not be dis-cussed with family and friends.

Do not run to your family everytime there is a problem. Solve ittogether.

Strong marriages aren’t builton good times. They’re builton the bad times.

If something does go wrongwith the plan on your weddingday, that’s what makes your dayspecial! You will not rememberthe things that went smoothly.The cake falling off the table andgetting all over your beautifuldress you will remember. Youcan often tell how well a bridewill handle a problem in hermarriage by the way shehandles a problem on herwedding day. Be graceful,people will be watching.

Surprise your spouseonce in a while. Itdoesn’t have to beextravagant. A hot BLTsandwich, a small bouquet ofhand picked flowers, a note inthe suitcase of a travelingspouse. Simple!

Never berate your spouse infront of others.

Help with daily chores. I havealways said, “there’s nothingsexier than a man with hishands in dishwater.” (I’m suremen feel the same way aboutwomen cutting grass or“makin’ wood”.)

To parents& friendsLet them make mistakes and letthem correct them!

Parents need to step back andlet the newlyweds work thingsout. The best advice my parentsgave to me before I married:“Choose to marry someonewho makes you happy,however, don’t put your feetunder my table and complainabout them.”

Translation – “You marriedthem, you deal with it!”

Don’t sweat the small stuff...and it’s all small stuff.

In order for a marriage towork well, both husbandand wife have to be flexible.

Save 10% of your income topermanent savings and don’ttouch it. Don’t spend every-thing you have.

When a problem between spousesis difficult to discuss (maybe it’stoo emotional – anger or sorrow istoo great) don’t avoid the issue…communicate by letter about theproblem.

1. It leaves the emotion out.

2. It keeps a healthy dialog going.

3.You are forced to think aboutwhat you want to say.

4.You cover the subject morethoroughly and don’t leaveimportant thoughts out.