One of the most popular topic requests I have had is for: marriage advice. While I love everything weddings and have so much experience photographing them, your wedding day really is just a tiny snippet of your entire relationship. It’s still important and pivotal of course, but wouldn’t you say your relationship overall is more important than your wedding day?

It’s so easy to get caught up in wedding planning, putting all your focus there. But, have you got great foundations to build a marriage on? Or even if you’re not engaged yet, is this something you work on intentionally, setting yourselves up for a forever future together? Do you prioritize each other? Do your values and goals align? Do you communicate well and have a good conflict resolution strategy? Do you have a shared vision for how you want your relationship to be? Do you view seeking advice, professional or otherwise, as a last ditch effort for crisis, or as a healthy and intentional platform to strengthen your relationship?

That may be an overload of questions for you to consider, but really important ones nonetheless. I am the type of person that loves to learn, and while I’m not married myself, I have gleaned so much from walking alongside my family and friends through their relationships. Of course, I can’t know fully and deeply what marriage is like when I haven’t experienced it myself, so I wanted to have a guest join me who’s a bit further on their journey, to share their wisdom! Who better than my sister Kate…

Instagram LIVE CHAT with Kate Robinson

Kate is a wedding photographer based in Brisbane, Australia and the founder of The Love Club Podcast + Membership.

For this week’s topic, I jumped on Instagram Live with Kate. You can watch the replay on my IGTV here. I asked Kate some questions and we had a great chat about weddings, relationship struggles, marriage tips and more. We unfortunately had a few technical glitches so I have mostly edited them out but it’s still got all the goodness!

Here is a summary of some of the highlights from our chat:

• What Kate would change about her wedding day if she could go back.
• She has photographed over 150 weddings, and noticed some things that make them more meaningful, like putting a lot more thought into your ceremony, telling your story and personalising it.
• Why it is important to factor in more time with your guests, less time in the car, and moments alone on your wedding day.
• How comparison can be destructive in your relationship.
• The importance of communication and figuring out your individual communication styles.
• Going through a rocky time in her relationship, and the reality of facing difficulties through different life stages.
• A vulnerable story about when Kate’s relationship reached an almost breaking point.
• The importance of reaching out for support and intentionally spending time together to create a relationship rhythm. 
• We talked about isolation and weddings being postponed.
• Not using this extra time that you’re engaged to rethink your whole wedding and go wild on Pinterest. Try not to focus on getting more overwhelmed.
• It’s a great time to focus on your relationship and think about the reasons you’re getting married. Use this time to get your relationship even better.
• If you’re looking to change your date let your suppliers know and give them a range of possible dates. Try to book a weekday or Sunday wedding if possible to help vendors still booking new couples next season too.
• A story of couple’s small elopement and how they had a really special celebration now , and plan on a bigger party down the track.
  

THE LOVE CLUB

Kate created The Love Club off the back of coming through a tough time in her own relationship and the journey her and her husband navigated to reach a better place. Seeing the heartbreaking reality of many couples breaking up and that it didn’t necessarily have to reach that place, really inspired her to help others. Relationships are hard and ever-changing through many different life stages. Kate recognised the important of intentionally building a strong relationship foundation. She is passionate about helping other couples do this too.

We chatted about:

• The Love Club, a podcast and membership.
• When you look back at your life, your relationships will be the most important, not your career or how much money you made. Do you prioritize and invest in your relationships, especially the one with your partner which will probably be your longest ever relationship?
• TLC is not a replacement for therapy but it can be a great way to begin the process in a non-threatening way. Marriage counselling/couples therapy is so valuable and important. TLC might also be an easier approach from the comfort of your own home.
• It’s not just for people in crisis. Everyone’s relationship is always growing and changing. The membership provides fresh and new content every month.
  
  

THE FREE TLC WORKSHOP

Kate has a free 30 minute online workshop which goes into a bit more detail about what they did to save their relationship. It also goes into more about what the membership is and the TLC method- Clarity, Connect, Communicate and Grow. The membership has a simple format and will help build foundations for a strong and long-lasting relationship. Kate brings in experts and focuses on a specific topic each month.

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I hope you enjoyed this marriage chat with Kate, I loved having her on LIVE, make sure you go and watch the video here if you haven’t already.

You can follow Kate on Instagram here and The Love Club here.
Listen to The Love Club podcast here.
Check out the free workshop and join The Love Club Membership here.