By Ellen Braunstein
Courtship Stories

Your wedding day will be all about “happily ever after.” But how
did you get to that point? There are joyful and significant
moments you may want to share with your wedding guests, the
special times that led to “I Do.”

Preserving your courtship story can revitalize the magic and
memories of those special times. You and your groom will bond more
as you crystallize the reasons you fell in love by creating a
story booklet or video to share with your guests.

Your story is the beginnings of your family history. It will be
read or watched by you and your children generations from now.

Many wedding guests want to know how you met and got engaged. I
remember wishing that I had a handout at my wedding for everyone
who asked us about the strange new way we had met -- on the
Internet. We were pioneers in the mid 1990s.

Most important, two families will get to know each other through
the story of how you came together. One family knows the groom,
the other knows the bride. By learning your story, they will know
“us.”

Here are some ways to preserve your love story to share with
family and friends.

Have your videographer produce a seven to 15 minute love story to
be projected on a large screen at the reception. You and your
groom are interviewed separately in a place of your choice. It
might be where you met. The video can be edited so you alternate
telling your story in a running dialogue. The videographer often
incorporates music and a montage of photos going back to your
childhood.

A professional writer or journalist can write your love story by
interviewing you separately. The text of the story can be printed
in a ceremony program or designed with engagement photos and
snapshots in a magazine style booklet. Guests will be surprised
and delighted when they discover this unusual keepsake at their
table.

Try writing your own story. One approach is to alternate passages
so both of you tell the story. You can signify who is speaking
like this: John: Mary: or just make your transitions
clarify who is speaking. Carefully edit your story and keep it
family friendly. Show it to at least one or two people in your
family before putting it in print.

Another option for sharing your story is to have your DJ
interview you live during the reception. Make sure the DJ is well
familiar with your story.


The story should focus on what interests guests the most - the
first meeting and the engagement. In between, stick with
significant events in your courtship that moved you closer. Keep
that part shorter so guests can get to the juicy part – the
proposal.

Another approach is to have a wall of framed photos of you and
your groom from childhood to the present. Showcase your engagement
portraits on the wall as well.

Lastly, you can have a friend or professional artist draw cartoon
sketches of your courtship. They can be printed in a program or
other keepsake for the guests.

Sharing your courtship story is one way of connecting intimately
with your wedding guests and giving you and them a permanent
reminder of why you are in love.


Ellen Braunstein is writer and creative director of Courtship
Stories Courtship Stories. She writes the magazine style
stories of how couples met and got engaged for all their wedding
guests. They are professionally designed and printed in 12 to 16
page booklets with engagement photos and snapshots.  

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