Creating Holiday Traditions as a Couple
/CARISSA PLUTA
Being newly-wed or newly engaged offers couples a unique opportunity to approach the holidays with a new lens.
Up until now, you may not have thought much about how you will celebrate, but approaching the holidays for the first time as new family may give you pause. How will my new husband and I enter into this holiday together?
As a newly-wed, I couldn’t wait to create special traditions with my husband. And between Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas (not to mention all of the upcoming feast days), there is a lot to be excited for.
If you’re like me and you can’t wait to get started on making festive memories with your spouse, here’s some advice to get you started.
Talk about what is important to you
With the amount of fun and festive activities available, it can easily become overwhelming for a couple to decide how to spend their energy.
Talk to your husband about what aspects of the season you’d most like to observe and celebrate. Decide as a family what values you want to uphold and how your holiday traditions can reflect that.
Keep your family favorites
Traditions are deeply tied to family so both you and your spouse will likely bring some holiday traditions into your marriage.
Discuss with your spouse which traditions you’d like to carry over your new family. It is fun to share in these beloved and memorable activities with your new husband and your future children.
Be realistic with your expectations. When establishing a new family, you may need to make modifications or even some sacrifices to make the holidays work for everyone.
Related: How to Decide Whose Family To Visit for the Holidays
Draw from the history of the Church
Why reinvent the wheel? The Catholic Church has over 2000 years of traditions for their members to draw from.
The Church’s liturgical calendar provides a rhythm for your daily life and a framework for the faithful to orient themselves toward heaven. It tells us when to repent and when to rejoice, when to fast and when to feast.
Learn more about the Church’s liturgical calendar and the various traditions that go along with it, then choose a few you want to implement in your domestic church.
Related: Need some ideas to get you started? Check out “Liturgical Living for Catholic Couples"
Be Patient
Nobody has ever forced a good holiday tradition. (Trust me, I’ve tried).
Family traditions develop organically throughout the years so don’t be in a rush to try to form something your great grandchildren will enjoy.
Be willing to try several traditions before the right ones stick. This may even mean that some of the traditions you thought would last are lost over time.
Don’t be discouraged. One day you will look back and give thanks for the life-giving (and possibly) surprising traditions that your family created.
