Sermon Illustrations
This Bride Wears Her Wedding Dress Every Year
As a mental health counselor and dating consultant, Samantha Burns knows a thing or two about successful relationships. And this self-proclaimed "millennial love expert" stands by her advice to wear your wedding dress wherever and whenever you want. (Seriously!) "I've always been passionate about love and relationships," Burns told TODAY. "They are what bring us so much joy in this world." And for her, wearing that most-special dress every anniversary is what will keep the romance alive.
It all started on the night of her wedding when Burns said she couldn't accept the idea of wearing her favorite gown only once in her life. That's when she turned to her husband and declared she'd be donning her most-beloved article of clothing every year on their Aug. 10 anniversary.
"He thought I was joking when I first told him," she said. "When he surprised me with a trip for our first anniversary, I told him to make sure I'd be able to wear my dress to whatever we were doing. He laughed, but I brought the dress along with me." So on her first anniversary she word her wedding dress while hitting balls on the driving range. On her third anniversary she wore it on a sunset cruise on Boston Harbor. "It was a Wednesday night," she said, "so we had the dance floor to ourselves with live music—it felt like a mini-wedding all over again!"
Like most brides (and most grooms too!), Burns may discover she can't fit into her wedding clothes year after year. But Burns maintains that this isn't just about her wedding "dress-capades"; it's about couples cultivating their own traditions that make for a happy, everlasting union.
Possible preaching angles: 1) Love; Marriage; Romance; Valentine's Day - This illustration will encourage married couples to devise creative ways to remind themselves of their own love story. 2) Christ, love of; Church, bride of Christ;-Believers should also celebrate the memory of our affection for our Savior and how we entered a love relationship with Him.