How to lower your stress on your wedding day!

Ceremony area at wedding venue near Holland Lake, Swan Valley Montana

It's exciting, you've been waiting for it and it's finally here. The day when you and your partner vow to be each other's life time partners. One approach to keeping your anxiety low and your awareness high is to marry in natural beauty. Here at The River House, situated between Missoula and Kalispell, Montana, we have couples who marry here for that very reason. They might not know exactly why it feels right to marry in the mountains by a river but when they come for a tour here they see it, smell it, hear it and most important they feel it. https://www.riverhousemontana.com

View of Swan River at wedding venue near Kalispell, Montana

Walking around The River House you'll notice several things. Depending on the season of course the backdrop changes but nature is always dominant. In the spring the grass, vegetation and trees are neon green. Daisies and other wildflowers are springing out in the most surprising places. The mountains in June still are capped and laced with snow. Often the skies are a combination of vivd colors providing a dramatic yet peaceful background for all mother nature has to show. In the fall the grasses are varying shades of yellow, with trees showing an array of reds, oranges and gold. Skies are very dramatic with snow in the mountains. The smells are earthy, fresh and comforting such as the smell of the river or after a rain, petrichor, the word for the earthy, pleasant smell of rainfall. It is caused by a mix of plant oils and a soil compound called geosmin being released into the air by raindrops. https://perfumesociety.org/petrichor-pluviophiles-why-the-smell-of-rain-is-so-seductive/

Newfie enjoying the Swan River at a wedding venue near Kalispell, Montana

So why does this natural beauty calm everyone?

"The psychology of beauty and its effect on the nervous system is a field known as neuroaesthetics, which reveals that perceiving beauty is not just a preference, but a profound physiological event. Encountering beauty triggers the brain's reward centers, calms physiological stress, and actively releases "feel-good" chemicals like dopamine and oxytocin." We all enjoy feeling happy and content so knowing that natural beauty stimulates a sense of well being, why wouldn't you get married in natural beauty?

As you walk around The River House you hear the water from Glacier Creek and the Swan River sometimes its rushing and other times a peaceful lulling. Whether you're standing in the grassy meadow along the river while the Swan Mountains overlook you or walking down a forested trail along Glacier Creek to the Confluence the water is apart of your experience. Once at The Confluence you see two become one, Glacier Creek and the Swan River flowing together, a symbolic gesture for the ritual of marriage.

So all this talk about water, why do humans tend to gravitate to it?

Studies have found that the sound of water, such as waves or flowing streams, can promote relaxation by synchronizing with the brain’s natural frequency, effectively slowing down brain activity and reducing anxiety.

https://kkjpsych.com/the-mental-health-benefits-of-being-in-water/#:~:text=Studies%20have%20found%20that%20the,brain%20activity%20and%20reducing%20anxiety

Bride & Groom on the Swan River at a wedding venue near Missoula, Montana

Getting married by water such as the Swan River holds all these benefits.

Natural Stress Relief

• The Psychology of Blue: Being in the presence of natural bodies of water triggers a psychological shift toward peace, reducing cortisol levels. 

• Soothing Sounds: The consistent, gentle white noise of lapping waves or flowing rivers acts as a natural relaxer, helping to ease pre-ceremony jitters. 

Deep Symbolic Meaning

• The Flow of Life: Water naturally ebbs and flows, which beautifully mirrors the give-and-take, compromises, and seasons of a lifelong marriage. 

• Unity Rituals: Many couples incorporate Unity Water Ceremonies where two separate vessels of water are poured into a single glass, representing the merging of two distinct lives into one. At The River House, we have the merging of the Swam River and Glacier Creek which works beautiful in photos and symbolism.

✨ Immersive Atmosphere

• Built-In Ambiance: A waterfront setting provides a beautiful and dynamic backdrop that requires very little extra decoration, from the sparkle of sunlight on the water to dramatic sunsets. 

• A sense of experience: Getting married by a lake or on a beach feels like an adventure, often giving the celebration a fun, vacation-like, and celebratory vibe for everyone in attendance. 

  

  

  

  If the beauty of the outdoors resonates with you and your partner finding a venue in the mountains and by a river might be your calling. Not only does your nervous system calm down in nature but there's a feeling a deep connection thats hard to describe, Yugen perhaps. Sometimes nature is so indescribable. The Japanese word yugen refers to the awareness that the universe is so profound that the emotions we feel when we try to contemplate it are too deep and mysterious to convey. So is it not fitting that the emotion we have for our partner also has those same qualities of yugen, a profound connection where words don't do it justice.

• So take a deep breath, shut your eyes, see beautiful mountains, smell water, leaves and grass, hear the water rushing by with sun glowing over you and feel love, love so intense your body is calm and ignited with happiness, that could be your wedding day. Finding your "perfect" place is out there just like finding your "perfect" person.

• If you want to see if The River House is your "perfect" place please contact us for more information or to set up a tour. https://www.riverhousemontana.com/contact-8