Why celebrate for only a day when you can do it for a whole month? Here's how our non-traditional wedding turned into a 33-year celebration.

The wedding industry is big business. And yet everyone knows that bigger and more expensive does not necessarily correlate with a happier marriage.

Your wedding day is just that: a day. It's what happens afterward that makes a marriage. So why confine the celebration to a mere 24 hours?

Instead, what if you celebrated all month long, including experiencing all the positive, special, feel-good feelings that go along with anniversary celebrations?

We got married 33 years ago in October, but as you can see from our wedding photo, we were never ones to do things in the traditional way.

When we decided to tie the knot, we jumped in and did it three times -- first a private ceremony, then a legal one, and then a gathering hosted by close friends.

This last ceremony was the biggest and most special one of all, and it happened on Halloween. Every year since, we don't just celebrate our wedding anniversary for one day -- but all month long.

Creating New Traditions Is Our Favorite Tradition

It's a way for us to maintain the flow of positive energy high in our marriage, to nurture our relationship, to feel gratitude for our love, and to generate joy and curiosity together.

And as the 31st of October is upon us, we wanted to share with you exactly how we do it and how you can create a relationship you'll want to celebrate each and every day.

People often ask us just what we do every October to celebrate all month long, and our answer is this: We don't do any one set thing. Instead, our tradition is to keep creating new traditions!

Once, we came across research that hugging for 20 seconds releases beneficial chemicals in the body, including oxytocin (the bonding hormone). So one year, we did 20-second hugs in different places all month, including one standing on a mountain top overlooking Machu Picchu in Peru.

Another favorite anniversary activity is dancing together -- just the two of us -- in our living room. Love of dancing is one of the things that brought us together, and it's still one of the best ways we celebrate on a regular basis.

When we first got together, we decided to create a relationship that ran entirely on positive energy. We treated our marriage as a living laboratory -- personally testing out practices and techniques that would keep us on track. Soon, we realized that we couldn't stop there. We needed to share everything we were learning with other singles and couples so they too could enjoy the same kind of love. And we realized that part of celebrating our marriage involves not keeping our love behind closed doors -- this is the kind of joy that ought to be shared!

Feel More In Love Every Day

That's why this year we've held our month-long celebration on our Facebook page and Hearts in Harmony newsletter -- posting tons of inspirational advice and giveaways to help everyone enjoy more love in their lives. We asked our readers to share their own stories of celebration, post wedding pictures, and inspire each other.

Our goal is simple but so important: to raise the level of positive vibration of the entire community and fuel relationships on harmony.

Here's a little secret that's not so secret: Our custom of celebrating our wedding anniversary all month long encapsulates our relationship philosophy -- to celebrate each other every single day.

And the way you celebrate should be as personal as your relationship. That's why we want to invite you to create your own celebration traditions, starting today. What do you and your partner love to do together? What's something special that brought you together in the first place?

Katie and Gay's free relationship e-newsletter, Hearts In Harmony, explores the challenges and glories of lasting love. Based on the tools they've developed throughout their 30+ year marriage and taught to thousands, you'll learn powerful insights and practical techniques you can start using today -- whether you're in a relationship or eager to attract one. www.heartsintrueharmony.com
Read our eBook now

Commit to doing these activities more often. Think about how you normally celebrate your anniversary once a year. Because you want to make that day special, you probably treat each other a little differently -- with more understanding, with more romance. With more appreciation.

Every day you wake up together is a gift. So take your once-a-year-anniversary-approach and apply it to every day you're together. It won't be long before you wake up in a relationship you'll want to celebrate every moment.