Dr. Tinsley Keefe Advises on Attending Pre-Wedding Events as a Transgender Bride or Groom

Weddings can be the most fun you have experienced in a long time – especially if it is your wedding or a close friend’s wedding. If you are transgender, the fun and excitement of pre-wedding events can get lost in the fear of being yourself. This is why Dr. Tinsley Ariana Taylor Keefe uses her experience as a wedding officiant in Oklahoma City to help transgenders that are suffering through wedding events rather than enjoying them. The first thing to remember as a transgender bride or groom at a pre-wedding event is that you are there for a reason. You are about to tie the knot with the person of your dreams. This person knows you – they accept you. What could be better than the acceptance of the person you love most?

Dr. Tinsley Keefe knows from her time at pre-wedding events as a wedding officiant in Oklahoma that the above mentioned reason can be (or should be) strong enough to carry you through the frustrations and fears of wedding events and ceremonies. If you are in a moment of struggle during your pre-wedding events, the first thing you need to do is remind yourself why you are there. Is it worth it? If your answer is not yes, then you should not be getting married in the first place. Of course, it is understandable that regardless of the love you have for your significant other; there are still times where the light at the end of the tunnel is hard to see. This is where the core of Tinsley Ariana Taylor Keefe’s advice comes in.

If you suffer from a mental illness such as depression or anxiety, this process might work for you outside of wedding-related things. Even if you do not suffer from mental illness, you might benefit from this process just as much. Regardless, Tinsley Keefe has seen this process work with other brides and grooms (some transgender and some not) who struggle to keep pace with their happiness during pre-wedding events while she worked as a wedding officiant in Oklahoma City. The first step of the process is finding what triggers you. Is there something specific that makes you want to hide and not face the world? Maybe you have an overbearing family – a prejudice “friend” – or you are triggered by specific thoughts or actions. Find this trigger and put the safety on it.

Once you have identified the trigger, start working on a coping mechanism. Dr. Tinsley Keefe has helped numerous transgender brides and grooms with different coping mechanisms during her time as a wedding officiant in OKC and points out that the trick to finding the perfect coping mechanism is finding out what calms you. Whether you listen to music to relieve the stress or you count to thirty in your head – everybody’s coping mechanism is different. If you find something that you can do anywhere that calms you as much as it intrigues you, your coping mechanism will never fail and you will be able to enjoy your pre-wedding events in peace.