Money Matters.
Money can be a sensitive issue, and we all need to figure out how to handle our savings, debts, investments and incomes. For some a joint account works fine, but for others, keeping your money separate or having a joint and separate account can be the key to staying together. Ideally we should figure out what system would be best before getting married. Another key to financial happiness is full disclosure. That means you can’t hide your massive credit card debt and he needs to own up to any spending sprees as well. Because even if your money is in separate accounts, you’re still a team and one person’s actions affect the other.

Your First Fight.
It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as your first dance or first kiss, but the first major fight is bound to happen and is just as, if not more, important to your marriage, because it will set the tone for how you handle future conflicts.

“The problem that most married couples run into is that they say [what’s bothering them] when they’re angry. Never discuss serious issues in the heat of the moment, wait until later when everything’s fine and say ‘this is how I felt when that happened,’” Judge Toler says. “If it gets so heated that everybody’s yelling, you have to make an agreement that the argument will stop because it’s just not doing anything for you.”

Nobody ever said marriage was easy, but we can all make the transition go much smoother if we’re willing to compromise. And to give us all a little perspective, these married women offer their advice for newlyweds:

“Be patient. Try to remember why you got married and the feelings you felt when you first got married,” Kimberley, married 25 years, says.