Resident bride-to-be Keisa’s parents have been married 40 years!

My wedding is in 37 days…yikes! The last couple of weeks have been some kinda of hectic, to say the least, but I can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel… thank you, Lord! This past week and a half has been all about RSVPs. I’ve been so overwhelmed with gathering RSVPs, making phone calls to those #stragglers who didn’t RSVP on time and drafting the beginning stages of our seating chart. *Sigh* As the RSVPs rolled in each day, I couldn’t help but smile at the outpouring of support from our family and friends.

Many of our invited guests who are unable to attend the wedding, sent sweet notes with their regrets or called us directly to inform us that they would be unable to attend. We are truly loved! As we tally each “accept” or “regret” from the returned RSVPs, the reality that our wedding is approaching is so real. The RSVPs not only represent our guests responding to attend our wedding, but their intent to witness the beginning of our marriage — of our forever.

The sanctity of marriage is often lost when planning a wedding. Instead of focusing on the marriage, many couples focus on the venues, flowers, and RSVPs — all things wedding, but the marriage is somewhat of an aside until after the wedding.

Keisa and fiance Vlad are an AKA and Omega Psi Phi duo just like her parents!

For us, we understand how important it is to place the focus on the marriage first and the wedding second. We both came into our relationship with different ideas of what marriage represents and we have worked to develop our own path.

This September, my parents will celebrate 41 years of marriage. Their marriage, although not perfect, as no marriage is, represents commitment, selflessness, forgiveness, strength, faith, trust, and unconditional love. These days, it seems folks are married for less than time than they were even dating! Divorce isn’t taboo and too many people just do not respect the institution of marriage.

Well, for me and my house, we are most definitely in this thing for the long haul. I know that each day will be different from the day before, there will be good and tough times, and we may even fall in out of love with each other, but I pray each day that God will continue to guide us and those core values that my parents have shown me are present throughout our marriage.

How do you ensure that you remain focused on the marriage and not just on planning the wedding? Do you have married couples that you look to for guidance?

Check out last week’s Road to Mrs. post here.