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Faith
Friendship
Relationships
I'm Maya and I help women navigate life! Check out the podcast to listen to practical advice, and biblical truths
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Raphael and I have been married an entire month! The time has flown by so fast I can’t even believe it. It was so fun to record an episode all about engagement season (links for that are at the bottom of the page) and I can’t wait for you to listen. In the meantime, I wanted to post a few things I learned during engagement and ultimately, help you prepare for this time in your life!
We were engaged from July 19th – June 15th and at first that felt like a lifetime away but let me tell you, it all goes by in a blink of an eye! I really wish I would have journaled more during this time, but I made sure to take tons of pictures and videos. Whatever it is your into, make sure to document all you can!
So planning a wedding takes every empty space in your brain, so it’s important to realize that going into engagement season. We could’ve been better at planning specific times to work on wedding stuff, verses talking about it on every date night. Remember, you are still dating during engagement season and it needs to feel like it! Not every date needs to be a wedding planning session. Lesson learned.
Our families were great throughout the entire process but it was SO important to communicate clearly with each person when it came to roles, expectations, and the heart behind planning. My advice: each person needs to communicate with their family members. There is no need for Raphael to communicate wedding details to my parents or vice versa when we each can speak to our own families. Make your family members feel special by asking them to do something specific in your wedding. They will feel very special when you single them out and as much as the wedding is about the couple, it’s also about the families too.
Engagement Shoots are meant to be fun and meant to represent who you two are as a couple. Make sure you pick a spot and outfit that feel like you. We did two shoots, the date we got engaged (thanks to Raphael on that one) and then another date while we were in Spain. It was absolutely magical. Raphael felt most comfortable in the morning and so we got up at around 6am to get to our destination around 7am. I would not have picked this for myself (definitely not a morning person) BUT I wanted him to enjoy the experience as much as possible since he’s already not a photo kind of guy.
I didn’t go with the traditional white dress when it came to the engagement shoot, but I loved how the photos turned out. They felt so special and I really wouldn’t change a thing. Remember to have fun! If you’re not having fun while taking these photos, you’re not doing it right.
Pre-marital counseling was huge for us! I think it really helped us mentally prepare for the lifetime commitment that we were about to make to one another. We had to be patient for so many things in our relationship since we dated for almost three years. With that said, we learned so much about one another through our mentors, Mike and Marja. We had heard such amazing things about them and they took us through so many topics: faith, conflict, finances, sex, and more. We are forever thankful not only for helping us talk through these hard conversations, but also for coming to our wedding and officiating! It was so sweet to have someone officiating our wedding who really knew us. Mike did a phenomenal job and so many people were blown away by his thoughtfulness.
Raphael and I had so much fun recording this episode so if you haven’t listened to it yet, it’s linked below!
In the meantime, stay savvy and we’ll talk soon!
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This didn't happen over night. It required God's grace and a ton of prayer Read my full story
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