Telling Your Love Story
By preparing a wedding
website or newsletter you get a chance to craft your own
love story! You can draw people into your wedding by weaving
a fascinating, funny, or romantic tale. A little forethought
is all it takes to get you started telling the world about
the person you love.
Begin
with the basics:
You could think of your
relationship kind of like a movie plot: Girl and guy meet.
They fall in love. Something drives them apart. But in the
end true love prevails.
Here’s
a basic storyline:
Set the stage by describing
of how you first met. Contrast what your life was like before
your soon-to-be mate entered the picture with life afterwards.
Add interest and excitement
by telling a decisive moment when you almost broke up or
ended up moving closer together. Creating tension in your
story this way makes your audience care about what happens
to you as a couple.
Finally, present the
proposal—the moment you knew you were meant to be
together.
Give
Both Sides
Make it interesting by
each of you sharing your perspective on the relationship.
Not only will this make your story more dynamic for readers,
but discussion brings out details you might have missed
if one of you wrote the story alone. Plus, you never now
what surprising or sweet thoughts your finance might reveal
while talking about your time together! Writing about your
relationship for other may help you achieve clarity in your
own mind.
You take turns and tell
your side of the story one after the other or make it an
interactive dialogue. Another effective alternative is to
write in the third-person, using your first names. Your
story will sound creative, like a fairy tale.
Open
Up Your Heads (and Hearts)
In order to get others
involved in your sentimental story, you need to share your
emotions. Write what each of you were thinking and feeling
when you first met and during the proposal.
Thoughtful
questions to spark your memories:
What was your first thought
when you met me?
Did you think we would end up together or never see each
other again?
What were you thinking right before you proposed?
Add Sensory Detail
Good sensory details
make your reader feel like he or she is right there with
you. When telling your story, try to include memories that
use each of the five senses: sight, touch, taste, smell,
and hearing.
Sensory
questions to ask yourselves:
What were you wearing
that day?
Was the weather freezing, hot, raining?
Did you hear music playing? Can you remember the song?
What smells were in the air?
Did you have dinner of lunch? What did you eat?
Introduce the Wedding Party
Tell who these people
are and how they relate to you as a couple. If you can,
include pictures of your wedding attendants to help your
visitors visualize the person you’re talking about.
It always helps to be able to put a name with a face.
Another intimate touch:
by each member of your wedding party write why you want
them in the wedding. Tell them how much they’ve meant
in your life or share an inside joke between you.
Connect
to Your family
Depending on how close
you are to your family, and how involved they are in your
wedding, you may also want to add pictures or thoughts from
siblings and parents as well. You can use their input too
in telling your story.
What did your dad say
to you about your fiancé after they first met?
Is your mom “helping”
you plan your wedding?
What kind of wedding
did your parents have? What do they think about it now?
Are you incorporating
your family heritage or traditions in your wedding? How?
Together, all these elements
will add up to one terrific story—your own tale of
love and marriage.
For
more articles like this one, click here to visit our Wedding
Web Sites section.
