Wedding Counseling & Coaching

Getting married is a rite of passage that effects every area of your life and being. It is completely normal to feel stressed and even get a little crazed; it is expected that you will have many questions, fears and concerns. Perhaps you have an urgent sense of wanting to be completely ready -- emotionally, spiritually, physically, psychically and in all your relationships --  for your wedding day.

I get calls for assistance -- help! -- from around the world, and have helped guide hundreds of brides, and couples, through their wedding experience to the threshold of marriage, and beyond, as an officiant, spiritual counselor, bridal coach and group facilitator.

I now offer additional wedding support services to couples, as well as to brides and grooms separately, through individual sessions, as well specially tailored rituals, blessings and guided visualizations.

Available Services Include:

Spiritual Counseling for Couples: Every couple is unique, and so are the feelings, issues, worries, and special situations they face as they plan a wedding. In my spiritual counseling and coaching sessions, we look at each stressful situation, and discuss issues that need healing, and work toward greater balance and harmony as you plan your wedding. The common goals is to be truly aligned with one another as you journey toward the altar and to feel your marriage is getting the best, most blessed, start.

Spiritual Support for Families: While weddings can stimulate and bring out the darker side of families and friends, they can also be healing and heart-opening - for you, your beloved, the whole family and extended family. Sometimes it helps, especially with interfaith families and blended families, to have a meeting or share a special blessing ceremony with relatives at the start of the wedding journey so that people relax and start of on the right foot together.

Bridal Coaching - Getting Ready for Marriage:  As you pour great amounts of energy and love into preparation for your wedding day you might find yourself faced with certain surprising feelings - fear, grief, sadness, confusion, disappointment - that seem out of character for a bride-to-be. Some of these feelings are completely normal, yet some signal a call to look more deeply within. In bridal coaching, we deal with both the practical and the deeper emotional and spiritual issues in a safe space where you can share the things you do not feel comfortable sharing with others. With structured guidance we can together look at the issues, and the opportunities, and begin to bridge the world between engagement and married life. Your awareness of things that do not feel quite right, and willingness to explore the issues that impede joy and fulfillment, will make you ever-more-ready to meet your wedding day with true happiness and to be able to stay present for this extraordinary moment in your life.

Rite of Passage Ceremonies: Specially created blessing ceremonies for engagement parties and bridal showers. Wedding Goddess blessing ceremony for women at the beginning of the engagement and in the days or weeks before the wedding.

House Blessings and Feng Shui Consultations: Feng Shui house blessings help raise the vibration of your home and bring healing during stressful wedding preparations. They are designed to help you ease wedding stress, family tension and issues between couples. They give your marriage and life together a great start!

Here are just a few of the topics I am often ask to explore:

*Issues related to interfaith, inter-cultural and interracial marriage and family life

* Ceremony etiquette and how to include/or not include loved ones or mention/not mention faith or God

* Dealing with family dynamics of all kinds and formulating good boundaries

* Issues with non-supportive bridesmaids and friends

* Disappointment, overwhelm, worries, tensions and too-much stress in the planning process

* Feeling isolated, afraid to let others know this doesn't feel like the happiest time of your life

* Trying to please everyone syndrome

* Tension with your groom and relationship shut down during wedding planning

* Dealing with heartache - loss of a loved one, refusal of a loved one to attend wedding, feeling very let down by friends or family.

* Fears about getting married, making the commitment, losing freedom

* Feeling blocked, stuck, issues with being loved

* Sadness and grief as you leave behind single life

* Completion/divorce ritual from former loves

Please call 212-631-3520 or e-mail me for more information.

Blessings, Rev. Laurie Sue