HONOR THE DAY CELEBRATE YOUR LOVE

PRE- CELEBRATIONS FOR THE ORIGINAL DATE Embrace your soon-to-be married status! Your original wedding date will always be Social distancing may prevent in-person special. Take the time to rejoice in the love celebrations, but it can't stop the love of God gave you. Choose an option below or mix family and friends who share in your joy. and match.

Host an online using Plan a fancy date night in. up, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Facetime, cook a fancy dinner, and enjoy your or Facebook messenger. favorite romantic Spotify playlist.

Coordinators may choose to:

Name a signature drink or dessert so that guests can share in a common snack.

Ask guests to ship or drop off gifts ahead of Set aside some time for prayer time. together.

Play games like bridal shower bingo, purse bingo, etc., which can easily be translated Deliberately leave the stress and to-do lists online. behind and spend time being thankful to God together. This can be as simple as saying Provide online gift cards or order and mail thank you to God in your own words, reading shower gifts after the shower. the Scripture you chose for your wedding, or Collect notes to the -to-be from guests reflecting on a quote from a saint. You may and send them in one package. also want to explore praying together in a more structured way. Coordinate a prayer bouquet from guests

Dance to the song you chose for Create an online your first dance. bachelor/

Coordinators may choose to:

Work with the bride/groom-to-be to chose a theme and encourage guests to be creative Invite close loved ones to a video in “coming” to the party in-theme. chat to celebrate your wedding day Coordinate friends of the couple to build a and share a special drink or snack themed basket/gift for the bride/groom-to- with you. be to open in real time.

Choose online games that fit the bride/groom's personality. Party games that translate easily to video calls include Apples List your top ten favorite traits to Apples, Code Names, Bingo, Scattergories, about each other. Then, separate Pictionary, Trivia, Head's Up, Psych, and and record a video message for your Charades. Adapt content to make them wedding-oriented. fiance, to be sent on the morning of your new wedding date.

Take a walk down memory lane and Invite potential bachelor/ retell each other stories about bachelorette party guests to a post- significant moments of your wedding celebration in lieu of a pre- relationship. Then, use the prayer of wedding party. Options include a betrothal below to reaffirm your single-gender or combined commitment to each other. celebration.

Our loving heavenly Father, we come to You together on this special occasion of our , giving You our grateful thanks that You brought us together, in love. Keep us united in love to each other and to You, and help us to keep You in the rightful place in our hearts and in our lives.

You are the God of love and we thank You Lord, that You have caused such a deep love for each other to develop between us. We want to dedicate our future together to You Lord - with each other. Be with us Lord as we grow closer together and as we make our plans for the future we ask that You would guide us and direct us in all our decisions. Lord we desire to be pure in Your sight and chaste in each others company and pray that you would keep us from temptation.

Unite us in love and peace and teach us Your ways. Guard us and guide us and just as You Lord poured out a special blessing on the young couple in Cana of Galilee, we pray that You would bless our union – bless our engagement. Give us hope and help us look forward to our wedding day with firm faith – bless us Lord from this day forward and for evermore in Jesus name we pray. Citation