Nashville Marriage Studio

One of my favorite movies is The Story of Us with Michelle Pfeiffer and Bruce Willis. They’re a couple on the brink of divorce and throughout the movie they remember how they met and all the junk they’ve been through together and then fall back in love.

I’m crying just thinking about the movie. I’m a mess.

My love for that movie is probably why I love the first session of premarital counseling. This is the session where I get to hear the couple’s “story”. How they got together. Why he picked her. What made her flirt back. Whether they were friends first or had a torrid love affair. When they started talking marriage. Whether they broke up. How the proposal went down.

Not only does the story of a couple fascinate me, but I honestly believe that there is power in a couple’s story. Telling your story is a wonderful way to acknowledge that you are a team now. How you went from two separate individuals to a couple and, now as you prepare for marriage, your very own, albeit tiny, family.

The power of a couple’s story comes in how wonderfully joyful an engaged couple is while telling it. I’ve watched future brides light up when they hear their groom talk about how nervous he was to talk to the prettiest girl in the world. I see the smile creep across his face as he remembers his brazenness.

More importantly, I see how positive they are about their darker times. Some couples go through doubts or breakups before realizing that they’re ready for forever. And when they talk about these times they are filled with the hope of knowing that they can get through near anything together. They talk about breakups and focus on the lessons they’ve learned, rather than the bitterness that could easily eat away at their bond.

Couples, do anything and everything you can to cherish your story. Use premarital counseling to slow down and meditate on the journey that is bringing you to your wedding day. Put together a scrapbook filled with important events in your relationship. Find a videographer or grab a camera and record the two of you sharing your story together.

Because one day your story may be all there is holding you two together.