Doing It Their Way
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
It would seem that somehow we were programmed at birth to live our lives as others would have us live them.
We tend to not want to disappoint our parents so we get good grades, go to university, study law, medicine, accounting, whatever their dream was to be, settle down, buy a house, raise a family, retire and then die.
We didn’t actually see time to have fun or holidays in there anywhere.
Why is it that we have this moral obligation no to do things that will upset other people?
Why is it that even when we are in our forties we are still making excuses as to why we don’t just step outside of everyone else’s comfort zone and do whatever it is that we want.
When will people start doing it their way?
Doing it Their Way in Marriage
We had the absolute pleasure of sharing a special occasion with a friend of ours today.
She and her longtime partner were married.
Not so unusual.
What was unusual to most was they decided to drop tradition and were doing it their way.
Doing it Their Way – Uncomfortable for Some
When you start to think about doing something out of the ordinary and what most people would view as “a little strange” – people start to get uncomfortable because that’s just not the way it is done.
You may be subjected to criticism, ridicule and even avoidance, however whatever it may be that you choose to do – at the end of the day this is your life and you should be free to make the choices you want to make and not be made to feel like an outcast because you are thinking outside the box.
Our girlfriend and her partner decided that they didn’t want the fancy wedding with hundreds of people that they barely knew, didn’t like or felt obliged to invite as so many couples do.
They didn’t see the point in spending thousands and thousands of dollars feeding and watering a group of people at a party that would be over in a few short hours and that they wouldn’t be able to completely enjoy.
Instead they chose to have a quiet ceremony performed by a Celebrant in her private home with only a few witnesses.
They then invited about 30 close friends to celebrate their marriage at a local Tapas Restaurant and Bar.
Such an awesome idea.
They were able to relax and actually spend some quality time with the people who chose to share in their day.
The bride’s dress was simply exquisite with her strapless, beaded bodice, floor length flowing tulle skirt and a simple blue ribbon around the waist to compliment the groom and pageboy’s navy suits.
They were truly the picture of happiness.
They had a glow about them.
There were no signs of stress or panic that they wouldn’t be able to get around to all of their guests.
They mingled, talked, laughed and thoroughly enjoyed the evening with their friends and family.
The crowd may have been small but the atmosphere certainly wasn’t.
Why Doing it Their Way Worked
At the end of the day their wedding day was and should have only ever been about the two of them as should all weddings.
As our girlfriend said to us:
As long as I have that man by my side … nothing else matters
What a lot of couples fail to see is that extravagant weddings and receptions are not only an unnecessary use of resources but by the end of the day the chances of the bride and groom actually remembering all of it are very slim.
They tend to end up stressed, tired and wishing they had eloped.
The only important factor when it comes to a wedding is the two people getting married. It doesn’t matter whether it is in a church, a backyard, on a boat or on a beach – it is all about the commitment the couple are making to each other – nothing else really matters.
Why put on a lavish party for others to enjoy when you can have a simple ceremony and then surround yourself with people who truly want to share in your special moment.
If more people started doing it their way instead of listening to the masses perhaps we would have a lot of happier people in the world.