Friday, January 7, 2011

When Parents Meet

When Stephen and I met, we discovered that we have somewhat different family backgrounds, including in terms of economics. Even so, it was important to us, and to our parents, that they meet prior to our wedding day.

Since both families live in California, they decided it would be best to meet for dinner during a trip Stephen’s mom and dad took to SoCal, even though he and I wouldn’t actually be there to participate. In the days leading up to the meeting, I truly hoped things would go well and that our parents would develop a genuine liking for each other. Most of all, I hoped they’d find plenty to talk about and share, despite their varied backgrounds and the fact that we wouldn’t be there to take part in the conversation.

The day came at last, and after a few hours of wondering, I learned that to my complete delight, things went as well as I could have hoped, with our parents finding plenty of common ground, specifically a son and daughter who had decided to spend the rest of their lives together, but also much more than that. Most importantly, meeting ahead of time allowed both families to relax and have a great time at the wedding, where we celebrated not only the union of two people, but also that of two distinct yet now interconnected families.



Did your parents meet prior to the wedding, or will they? Do you and your groom have similar or different family backgrounds?  

(Photo Credits: Alex Neumann Photography) 

7 comments:

  1. Thats lovely they all get on so well, must have been a bit worrying with you not being there the first time!

    Since me & Graham were in the same class at school and both our younger sisters were also in the same class, our parents already knew each other way before we even thought about getting together. They also only lived about 5 minutes apart in our home town and we had also met up on holidays to Florida in previous years, who knew then we would end up married!

    So we never had the meet the parents or parents meeting stuff as we all already knew each other. They all get on really well and Grahams parents & sister were also invited to my sisters wedding.

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  2. Our families first meet at our engagement party a year before the wedding and everyone got along well. I must admit that despite the fact that our mother's are VERY similar in personality there has been tension. Almost solely from my mom who I think feels a bit territorial and jealous of my good relationship with my MIL. But other than that they get along well and even exchanged Christmas gifts this year.

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  3. Wow, that's so great that they felt comfortable enough to meet one another without the two of you there. My mom suffers social anxiety, especially since my dad passed away, so she would not have been comfortable with this. I'm happy to say that once my mom met his parents with all of us there, everything went smoothly. Love those pictures of your parents on the wedding day!

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  4. Great post Heather.... as always :)

    Our parents never have been close. They have met, but distance serves them well. Oh well.

    Anyway in response to your question, my cousin is not a blogger but I am sure she would be glad to help in any way if needed!!!

    Have a lovely weekend.

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  5. how sweet are those photos! hooray for interconnected families.

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  6. great post!
    Our parents met and well , that was all lol

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  7. That's great that your parents get along well. Because my husband and I went to college together, our parents met each other when visiting us at school, way before we thought about marriage. Our parents are from different economic and cultural backgrounds but they all get along nicely.

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