by Can Tran

Created on: September 17, 2009

Being married for the first time makes it a bit tedious to plan out holidays and celebrations. There are a ton of factors that one needs to consider for the most part. This is in regards to your first marriage. However, it should be fine for the most part. But, one has to think about this: what about a blended family? Chances are that your spouse is dead or is no longer married to you. It is either one of the two things. Overall, planning celebrations and holidays is trickier for blended families. What about twice or thrice blended families?

Planning celebrations and holidays should not be hectic and tedious. Unfortunately, they are tedious to plan for the most part. Your children may want to spend holiday celebrations with their other parent. At the same time you have to weigh in your stepchildren and your new in-laws. They are going to watch to see the family members on their side. Your children are going to want to celebrate with their own family members. Overall, this can be extremely tedious for the most part.

What do you do in the first place?

You will have to talk it out with your spouse, your children, and your stepchildren. That is pretty much the first thing you have to do. In front of your children and stepchildren, there has to be compromises. As soon as you and your spouse get married, you have to quickly plan downright on how to and where to spend the celebrations and holidays. That is pretty much the first thing you need to do for the most part.

While this can be difficult, it is not impossible. You also have to think about the ages of your children and stepchildren. Here are some ideas:

You can plan things on a case by case basis. You can plan Easter with one family this year and Easter with the other family next year. The same goes for St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. Thanksgiving and Christmas tend to be the major holidays for the most part. You are going to have to get with your former spouse's family, your family, and your new spouse's family. Your new spouse will have to do the same thing.

If you have enough space and the means, you could have a holiday party at your place. You can invite your family members and your friends. To make things easier, you can ask them to bring food and other treats. That way, it reduces the stress on having to make dinner.

For Christmas, you can have brunch with one family and then have dinner with the other family. There are times in which this has worked. With proper planning and talking, this could work. Remember that it takes a lot of work, effort, and commitment to plan celebrations and holiday gatherings with a blended family.

However, there are other factors you may have to deal with. What if your spouse and his/her children are a different ethnicity? They may have different ethnic holidays. What if they are of a different religious faith? Overall, this is not impossible. Everything takes careful planning.

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