Can you really stay happily ever after in a marriage?

A great marriage is always something you will have to work at. Both partners have to be willing to work at it. To keep your relationship fresh and exciting, you will need a lot of tender loving care. When you are both willing to give and receive, the chance for survival of your relationship is increased.

Apply these 8 tips on how to make your marriage work and you won’t have any problems:

1. It doesn’t matter if you have been together for a lot of years of if you just got married, to be able to build up a strong relationship you have to learn to communicate effectively. Always listen carefully to your partner and try to be able to comprehend what they are telling you. Always have the courtesy to give your full attention to the conversation when your are talking to each other. It will help you greatly to understand them, when you are looking each other in the eyes when having a conversation. It is not enough to just listen to them. Acknowledge that what has been said is clearly understood.

2. Don’t suppose to know how your partner feels about something. It doesn’t mean if you like to do something, that they want to do it with you. Ask them! Don’t automatically assume they volunteer to do something with you, that you would like. Ask them first! Always give them the courtesy to see if they want to do it.

3. Acknowledge when your partner does something nice. When you see him/her doing something nice, tell them - I got you! Then praise them for doing such a wonderful thing and show them your appreciation. You’ll be surprised how far a little appreciation goes. When you make the effort of showing your partner that they make you happy with something, you will be finding that they will repeat doing nice things.

4. Is there something that you both enjoy doing? Then do it at least one time a week together. Go to the cinema, take a course together, go walking, swimming of whatever you like. Find any interests that you can share and do these things often.

5. Be your partner’s best friend. When they are working on something they really want, always cheer them on. Be there for them when they need it and provide a shoulder to cry on if necessary. Reveal your dreams to them, share your goals and try to work together. When the accomplish something, always let them know that your are proud of them.

6. Never neglect your partner. Don’t get so wrapped up in your own life that you completely forget the everyday niceties. Hug and kiss them daily. Don’t spend the whole weekend out with friends or watching TV. Make it a point to do something each weekend with your partner and you will grow closer together and have more in common to talk about.

7. It is very important that you “never go to bed angry”, this might be hard sometimes, but it is vital. Once you let an anger simmer for too long, it becomes much easier to come to a full boil and before you know it, you never work out any problems you just go to bed or leave the house to avoid them. Learning to agree to disagree if you have to will help in keeping the peace. This will specifically be helpful with smaller problems. You need to make sure though that you really agree to disagree. This helps you in not wasting time by being angry about small things.

8. You don’t lose anything if you admit that you were wrong. If you were wrong, admit it. Your pride will not keep you warm at night and a bad marriage is a high price to pay for it.

You can live together in harmony despite your individual differences. Practice these things and be sure to work out any fights before you go to bed.

Love and cherish another. Build a strong bond by being loving and honest with each other. This will help you to make your marriage work.

Asking the love of your life to spend the rest of her days with you is not something to be done lightly. The moment, the atmosphere and above all the ring have to be as close to perfect as you can get.

The choice of location is not so tricky, the right moment can be fairly tricky but the ring can outfox you completely even if it’s the most expensive one in the shop.

As we all know girls like shopping, and when it comes to such a symbolic item as the ring some of them would like to be involved in the choice - even if it means ruining the surprise.

A quick look on some fashion, wedding and beauty related forums and communities shows that a large per cent of ladies want to be able to choose their own engagement ring. Some want to be surprised and will be happy with whatever you choose, some will smile and say yes but later ask if they can exchange for something more their style.

But my research has shown that the most popular option it seems is for you to take her into a jewelry store, pop the question there and then and let her choose the ring on the spot like in the scene in Tiffany’s from the movie “Sweet Home Alabama”. The downside being that if you had a certain budget in mind it’s just gone out the window…

Now not every girl will want to choose her own ring. There is a large proportion who will want you to choose it for them and will wear whatever you give them with unquestionable pride and love.

A lot depends on certain elements beyond your control, for example does she have competitive friends who will look straight at ‘the rock’ and comment on its size and value?

Does she make a lot of effort picking out her outfits and like to have complete control over how she looks all the time?

How do you find out if she wants to be completely swept off her feet or if she wants to pick out her own engagement ring without ruining the surprise and moment when you pop the question?

Well there is the proposal in the jewelry store option and there is another which my research has also shown as a popular solution. 2 ways of doing it actually:

1.Just buy the diamond and present it to her when you propose - this way she can choose the setting and even exchange it for another one and you still give her something nice, sparkly and expensive.

2.Buy a placeholder ring from somewhere like bidz.com so she can wear something until you both choose the ring of her choice.

When I proposed to my girlfriend I got the wrong size ring so we had to take it back to be resized. There was no way to know her ring size without giving the game away and luckily she was more than happy with my choice.

So don’t sweat too much over the right ring, give her something be it a diamond or a placeholder then you can go online to some of the sites that let you design your own unique ring and everyone’s happy.

Peter Webber is the owner of custom-unique-engagement-rings.com where you can find unbiased reviews of engagement ring websites that even let you design your own ring online – find out more at:

Design my own engagement ring

Statistics in Western society tell us that roughly 50% of all marriages fail. Worse yet is that many of those don’t even make it through the first year.  Understanding why marriages fail can be key to ensuring that your own marriage succeeds.  Some factors that can contribute to the marriage failure include a lack of communication, financial issues, the circumstances of the marriage, and even society as a whole.  All of these issues can exist even in a healthy marriage, but if they are not dealt with properly, the marriage is more likely to fall apart.

Let’s briefly examine those 4 factors leading to marriage failure.

1. Communication

The #1 key to a great marriage is good communication. It is critical to the success of a marriage.  Without proper communication, conflict resolution becomes a difficult challenge.  If the couple lacks the communication skills necessary to resolve their problems, then even the smallest problems will become insurmountable.  Communication also allows a relationship to grow and thrive by giving the partners an opportunity to share their dreams, concerns, hopes, and desires with each other.  Without sharing in this way, a couple will not grow as close together as possible. 

Communication also gives the couple a healthy way to resolve their disagreements.  If one or both partners lack effective communications skills, it becomes difficult to resolve arguments, as the couple is not able to understand each other’s point of view.  If the marriage is already on the skids, both partners in the marriage must be dedicated to working on their communication skills in order to improve or salvage their marriage.  The absence of effective communication techniques can lead to the failure of a marriage.

2. Financial

Love may conquer all but sometimes even love isn’t enough to save a marriage when there are significant financial challenges.  While financial concerns in and of themselves may not be the cause of a failed marriage, the tension that they create is often the culprit in a failed marriage.  Financial concerns can be a heavy burden to bear and when a couple is struggling to meet their financial obligations, there can be a tremendous amount of pressure in the relationship.  This pressure may be enough to destroy an otherwise healthy marriage. 

If one of the partners in the marriage becomes obsessed with the marital finances they can begin to neglect other needs of the marriage.  This neglectful behavior has the effect of making the other partner feel lonely, or even ignored. This obviously leads to problems in other areas like communication and trust.

3. Wrong Reasons

When the decision to marry is based on something other than true love, it is likely that the marriage will fail.  Some examples of marriage circumstances that often lead to failure are (a) getting married because there is a baby on the way, or (b) because the couple is feeling pressured by friends and family members.  Neither of these reasons are truly valid reasons for marriage and often lead to failure.  When a couple marries for reasons other than true love, the marriage is often doomed right from the beginning.

Marrying too young is another reason why many marriages fail.  While the right age to marry varies greatly depending on the individual, many people argue that the teens and early twenties are too early to get married.  Getting married before you have had a chance to enjoy many of life’s experiences can result in resentfulness in the marriage.

4. Society

A modern reason for many marriages to fail is that society no longer places importance on the institution of marriage.  It is now common for couples to live together and have children without being married.  This devalues marriage and results in a higher percentage of failed marriages.  With so little value placed on marriage in today’s society, couples are not committed to making their marriage work, and are often quick to give up on the marriage and each other.

Final Words

Many marriages today are doomed before they even begin.  Marriage is no longer seen as a necessary step in a relationship, so many couples are quick to divorce without making an honest effort to resolve their problems.  Communication breakdown, financial difficulties, and the circumstances of the marriage are also problems that can cause many marriages to fail.

If you want to see your marriage succeed, take the time to study. There are many excellent resources, including Grandpa Richard’s Relationships Website. Visit today and learn how to improve your relationship.

All over the world the wedding is regarded as a solemn occasion. This is a special program at which two willing hearts and minds are made united following some rituals and customs while members of the society stand as witnesses wishing the couple well. The traditions and customs of the wedding vary to a great extent between people residing at various parts of the globe. The particular culture, ethnic group, religion, country and social class to which the bride and the groom respectively belong will determine the peculiar wedding traditions that will be resorted to.

Diverse wedding traditions of cultures

Throwing light on the peculiar customs of wedding ceremonies as observed in various cultures across the globe will reflect the diversity of wedding traditions-

• Traditional marriages in China are characterized by the predominance of the red color- the traditional color of love. While the bridal gown is usually of a brilliant red color various shades of red like scarlet prevail over the various objects associated with the wedding.

• In the marriage ceremonies of some African tribes there is the custom of binding the wrists of the bride and the groom with braided grass ties. This custom signifying the union of the couple is prevalent even today.

• Old Mexican weeding customs that are still followed involves the encircling of the bride and the groom in a loose lasso made of some pretty, soft cord that is twisted into a figure eight symbol or a sign of infinity. 

• Wedding receptions in the Irish culture substitute the usual white wedding cake with a brandy or bourbon-soaked, spicy fruit cake. This signifies a special celebrative mood.

• Finnish marriages done the old way require the brides to be wearing a crown of gold. This was especially featured in the ‘Dance of the Crowns’ whereby the crown- a gold colored wreath was wrapped around the bride’s head. This beautiful ‘crown’ was also used for crowning some other maiden during the dance.

• Traditional Indian (Hindu) marriages are considered sacraments and are characterized by the exchange of garlands between the bride and the groom and the taking of seven steps together by the couple. The couple also moves around the holy fire together amidst chanting of special incantations while onlookers- friends and relatives shower petals on them.

• Spanish marriages solemnized as per old customs requires the bride to wear a most beautiful headdress made of delicate lace mantillas over the hair with orange blossoms tucked in.

• German marriages make wonderful usage of candles. The bride and the groom both hold decorative candles in their hands and light them up together at the conclusion of the ceremony.

Unity of purpose in diverse global wedding traditions

There can be observed a unity of purpose in these diverse wedding traditions- that of bringing together the bride and the groom and giving social acceptance to their union through a special, memorable ceremony. In the modern day society there is also the need of the wedding to be recognized by the state. So, meeting of some legal obligations have also become a part of wedding customs around the globe.