5 Tips for Keeping your Relationship with your Future In-Laws Healthy
We are going to shake things up a bit this week and break the 4th wall. Hi everyone! I am Madison, the voice behind these weekly wedding therapy sessions. As a newlywed myself, it was not long ago that I was in your shoes. As someone who always had a good relationship with my in-laws, I really thought that my only source of wedding stress would come from finding the right vendors and sticking to the budget my then fiance and I had set for ourselves. Boy was I wrong! I will never forget the moment that my soon to be mother in law called me practically in tears over the fact that I did not invite my fiance's former babysitter. (Keep in mind, that I had never even met this babysitter, and considering my fiance was approaching 26 it had been at least a good 13 years since he had even seen this person). That is when I really understood what the next 6 months of wedding planning stress was going to be like. (It made managing my budget seem like a breeze!). It can be really difficult to navigate this new territory with your in-laws, so we have gathered the top 5 tips for keeping your relationship with your in-laws healthy during wedding planning.
#1: Communicate from a place of respect- While my first reaction to my future mother in law's phone call was to be angry, you can always count on aggressive communication falling on deaf ears. Instead, communicate with your in-laws in a respectful manner that will result in a decision that both sides can agree upon.
#2: Be upfront about your vision- If your vision is an intimate wedding on the beach with your closest friends and immediate family, make sure to make that clear before your in-laws start inviting everyone they know. Don't assume just because you have had a specific vision for your wedding that they have the same vision.
#3: Don't dismiss their input- It is important to remember that planning this wedding is a special occasion for them as well. They have probably even been thinking about this milestone longer than you realize, and blowing off their input will not start this new chapter on the right foot. Listen to their advice and make sure their voice is heard.
#4: Include them- Which leads us to the next step, include them! Don't make them feel like an outcast in their own child's wedding. Make sure you invite them to food or cake tastings, or ask them what song they would love to dance to at the reception. This will let them know that you are thinking of them as well.
#5: Don't put your fiance in the middle- When issues arise, which might happen more than once, don't put your fiance in the middle and force them to pick a side. That is not the precedence that you want to set when conflict arises, and it is not beneficial to anyone involved. Instead, see step #1.
We hope these 5 tips help keep your relationship with your in-laws healthy during your engagement! For more wedding tips, join our email list today by adding your email to the bottom of our contact page!
Hear what our clients have to say!
"We met with Jorge to discuss all the planning and he was very helpful on planningand realizing what was priority for OUR wedding and OUR vision." - Kady W. "I definitely recommend them 100%. Definitely worth every dollar down to every penny. Thanks to them I had an unforgettable wedding, I will definitely book them for future events."- Ericka G. "I've never been to a wedding where a DJ and MC literally get everybody off their seats to the dance floor and we had 210 guests so that's pretty awesome!!!" - Leslie
