Looking at all of this wedding stuff and watching all these wedding shows I’ve found one common theme among most brides: they want to feel like a princess.

Now, this may sound a little cynical and grumpy, but I hate that phrase. I hate hearing a bride say she wants to feel like a queen or a princess.

Reason #1: The wedding day is not about you. It’s about a sacred union between you and your husband. Yes, we brides probably spend countless hours pouring over dresses, centerpieces, venues, bands, food etc. But the truth is, that stuff will last about four hours. Shouldn’t we spend more time pouring over making our marriage last?

Reason #2: Maybe we aren’t thinking about the word “princess” as it should be thought of. Most people probably think “princess” is synonymous with selfish, spoiled, waited-on-hand-and-foot etc etc. When I think of “princess”, I think of being highly prized. God highly prizes his princesses. His daughters.

He doesn’t spoil us or wait on our every need. He prizes us as we are and longs for us to fall at His feet and give up our preconceived ideas of what we think a princess should be and take on His.

When Shel and I were little, we played the board game “Pretty Pretty Princess” a lot… A lot. You know what the grand prize was? A crown. A plastic crown painted silver. But in our four and five year old eyes it was beautiful. It was a silver crown encrusted with jewels. We both highly prized that fake crown.

God sees us that way. We see ourselves as worthless pieces of plastic. The world tells us we should change everything about our body so more people will like us and prize us. Should we really trust ourselves to change what God has made, in His eyes, perfect? (Notice the media never encourages us to change our insides for the better. Only our outsides. Because if we changed the insides we might actually see ourselves as worth something!) Though no matter how we choose to view our wonderfully made bodies, God still sees us as precious in His sight. He crafted us in our mothers’ wombs. He knew exactly what we were going to look like and He made us that way. On purpose. God does not make mistakes, ladies. Humans, yes. God, no.

So, for you soon-to-be brides out there, try and take a step back from your wedding plans for a bit and study your place in the wedding itself. You’re a beautiful bride. You are committing to a sacred union with your husband. No dress, centerpiece, band or meal could ever surmount that.

🙂