11 Things to do Before You Get Married

1- Be thankful to Allah. Read the Quran

2- Spend quality time with your family

We all take our families for granted till the time we know we will be leaving them. You will be moving into a new house and family and it will never be the same again. So make the most of your time with your family. Make plans, go out to the mountains, beach, movies, send them all a gift separately, and most importantly make memories!

3- Look after yourself

You know the biggest day of your life is coming near. You don’t want to look your worst during it or let the signs of all the stress and chores show on your face. You better make a proper plan of having at least one raw vegetable (e.g. Carrot, cucumber), one fruit, one glass of milk and a Multivitamin tablet every single day.

You must make sure you have 8 glasses of water and at least 15 minutes of exercise every day. You must also use Sandalwood powder, Ubtan, rosewater and other herbal products on your face and neck for natural radiance on your face. Please stay away from skin doctors unless you have a big problem. You are the most important person in your upcoming wedding so you better take care of yourself, first of all.

4- Cook, clean and practice how to be a better manager

5- Give Zakat or charity

As you are going to have a new beginning, it is best to start it by giving to the poor. It will make you feel better. The best thing is to give to household staff who had served you all your life. If you have contact with your old staff workers, you can call them up and transfer money to them also.

6- Have a decent saving in your personal bank account

A lot of girls today get married after working for some time. It is vital for a girl to have savings in her personal bank account. You never know when you may need money for any unforeseen circumstances. Although it is husbands responsibility to take care of wife but she should at least have some back up for emergencies. She should also have an organized banking system. She should have a running cash bank account and one for savings which she almost never touches.

7- Take out a little time every week to do what you love doing

If you are into arts, make paintings. If you love riding, ride a horse. Some other examples are Tennis, friends, movies, eating out, reading books and scrapbooking. Sky is the limit. Just do what you love doing.

When you get married, you will need to adjust to the new lifestyle and if you are unable to do what you love over there for some months initially, you may get frustrated. To avoid that, its best to do it while you’re at home now. Hobbies and interests also tend to take over, at times. We lose track of time when we want to finish our painting or complete a journal. When you are married, you will have a lot of responsibilities and fact is that you will only be able to continue your hobbies within certain time limits. So try to complete your previous projects fully before you get married.

8- Self-talk 

Getting married is surely the biggest decision of one’s life. I think between different stages of one’s life, we need some time in between to be able to accept and adjust to reality. I think it’s vital to find a peaceful place and spend some alone time. Doing Yoga or breathing exercises while you are alone is also a good idea.

9- Organize yourself 

Since you will be starting a new life altogether, it is best to start organizing your things and decide what you want to leave behind. These can then be given to a sister or friend. The most important thing that I can’t stress enough is that you must sort out all your legal documents. In a file, put all your education, health, work, legal documents and scan them. In case you don’t have a scanner, take a good picture of them with your cell phone and edit them on an editor within your phone.

Once you have a softcopy of all your legal documents, upload them on your online space. You already have access to free online space with your email provider. Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, all provide it. For more information on this important topic, please click here for my full post dedicated to sorting out legal documents.

10- Talk to your fiance about important matters

I do not believe that a couple should be too friendly before marriage but I believe very strongly that a couple must have a few good sessions where they discuss important matters like their beliefs and values.

My husband and I talked to each other openly about our priorities, expectations and commitment. I asked my fiance right before our marriage to write his thoughts on a piece of paper regarding marriage. We then met in a park where I took my relationship commitment note as well. Although we had an idea about each other’s beliefs before I said ‘Yes’, this particular discussion made us feel very good and confident about our upcoming marriage.