‘It’s time for you to get married’.
‘You are old enough now to be married’.
‘I was already married at this age ’.
These are some typical statements you might hear from parents when they feel their children are old enough to get married. They might even have talked about a few prospective grooms/brides with you by now. But you have that special someone in your life. So,how do you introduce him/her to your family? Introducing one’s love interest to the family can be quite daunting; especially in our Indian culture where love marriages are not the norm.
We have a few recommendations to make things easy for you.
- Make sure you and your partner are both ready
It is crucial that both of you are ready to take this step. Usually parents would expect an immediate engagement or even a wedding date. It is best that you both talk about meeting your parents.
- Prepare your parents
Let your parents know how important the person is in your life. Tell them a little about this important person, things like family background, education, employer, etc. Keep this information limited; else there will be nothing left for them to talk about.
- Meeting time
This is quite important. Pick a time suitable to all involved in the meeting. Keep the meeting casual. This will take the pressure off of everyone.
- Keep some topics ready
If you know of any common interests of your family and partner, make an effort to bring them up. It can lead to some interesting conversations. It will also get everyone to gel. But you have to make sure it doesn’t look like you are forcing everyone to talk about it.
- Try to avoid playing the mediator
You’ll often find yourself answering some very serious questions for someone else as an attempt to make everyone comfortable. We suggest you refrain from doing that. If a question about future plans comes up, let your partner/parents answer and do not interrupt.
- Do not leave with your partner immediately after the meeting
Let your partner know about this in advance. You can collect his/her thoughts about your family later. You already like each other and probably have known each other for some years now. It is best that you to be with your parents following this meeting as it will show them that you respect their opinion.
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