Your wedding vows are both the heart of your wedding ceremony and the foundation of your marriage.
The best wedding vows are sweeping and fairly general formal statements.
Each couple must choose their words and agree upon their meaning.
Before you craft those vows, do some serious marriage planning.
Determine how you and your partner will best balance your personal needs and your relationship realities in each of the ways in which you are intimate.
What does that mean for your financial intimacy? Money is not the source of all evil.
But it is the source of a whole lot of conflict in couple's lives and marriage.
Nothing, not even our sex lives, is as difficult to talk about, challenging to manage and distracting to our relationship.
So, create a new section in your Marriage Planning Binder, and make some room.
You may want to do this in steps, you may want a financial planner as your support.

• Style: How do you manage your money? Do you budget? Do you plan for the future?
• Coming Clean:  How much debt do you really have? How easily are you paying it off? Oops? You are paying it off, right? Do you have any money secrets?
• Income: How do you earn Money?
• Spending: How do you spend money? Are you an impulse shopper or a careful planner?
• Sharing: How are you going to share money?
• Decision Making: How are you going to decide what you do with household expenses, pocket money, investments, vacations major household items, savings, etc? (what am I missing?
• Risk: How much financial risk are the two of you comfortable living with? This is a big deal.
  Rather than lock yourself into one style of being, you're going to have to find a rhythm.
  Let the conservative partner get you set up and then let the more adventurous partner stretch out a bit.
  So much of marriage is give and take.
  

Now just imagine, if you did all this work for your Marriage Planning Binder before you started planning your wedding ceremony, wedding reception, honeymoon and more and more, how easy the planning process would look! Imagine how relaxed you would be on your wedding day, knowing you can pay for it! You wouldn't be carrying your worries around! What would this part of the wedding vow look like? I promise to be a good, forthright and responsible steward of our money.
I will work for the financial security of our family and our old age.
Now go create your wedding vows and your wedding ceremony.
How great will you feel when you celebrate in a style you want and you can afford.
Your comfort will be reflected in your enjoyment.
The happier you are, the happier your community will be and the more support they'll be able to offer.
You're winning here!