1st, my question is, you told her about LC AFTER getting married? --so that means no LC on the honeymoon!!!
Next to your question.
You mention from and from behind lifts, so it sound like you attempots only 2 lifts both requiring upper body/arm strength, which such a small girl probably doesn't have a lot of.
Those lifts, if I am understand you, also require a notable amount of weight shifting sort of balance on her part because you are both standing vertical and she, the smaller object is trying to attach to the larger one (you) and lift vertically, so she has to manage to pull you towards her and lean into her self as she lifts to actually lift and not just end up bending herself towards you, which I think can be challenging for a small girl trying to lift a much bigger guy.
So yes, I can understand her difficulty.
Finally, my recommendations:
I have been lifted quite a bit by girls much much smaller, but here's the key --I'm into leg strength, not upper body arm strength.
So I choose exercises not requiring much arm work.
Does that still work for your pleasure?
If so, here's ideas based on your description of the 2 of you:
These are very easy for the girl, but again, many on this forum may not consider them "high quality enough" lifts.
So I'll call them excercises instead of lifts to be more "politically correct". lol
Exercise #1:
Piggy Back.
THis is very easy for most any girl.
THe key with a small girl is the mount.
If you jump on her, likely she will fall and possibly, no more ride attempts for you.
So you need to experiment with gentle mounts that utilize her leg bon strength and not her muscles, or a jar on her back.
One simple way is for you to stand on something a little bit higher than she is.
Once she is comfortable doing PB's, you can ask her to experiment by doing things like very shallow squat (maybe bending her knees to go down just an inch or two, not a lot at first).
As she finds it easy, you can experiment with her gradually bending deeper.
Same with calf raises.
Why have her practice them on her own when she can do them with you?
Though the weight may be too much for her to do more than 1 or 2 very quick ones. Just need to try...
Do you have stairs at your home?
If so, that's a great "goal" to focus your LC "objectives" around.
Nothing makes a PB ride more fun than climbing a flight of stairs!
It's difficult (maybe she can't do that), but not quite as difficult as it may seem because she can hold on to the hand rail for a) ballance, and b) to help support your weight and pull herself (with you) up where she may feel her legs along aren't strong enough.
I would just set expectations of going up 1 or 2 steps, at least at first.
...another words, take progression into the exercise "one step at a time" !!!
Exercise #2:
Basically a PB variation, except she leans over bending forward with her arms resting on a table or bed (may be too low) for additional front support.
THen, she can shift some weight off her legs and partially onto her arms, allowing her leg muscles to do more, like squats (deeper) or calf raises.
At first, she would just keep her arms locked straight, but later, can try bending them along with her knees so you get a level, even up and down as her leg/arms bend together.
THe only caution here is your concern for her back.
Do not just sit in the middle like you're riding a horse!
Rather, to protect her back and make it easier for her, try to evenly spread your weight across her back, laying almost flat on top of her.
Exercise #3:
Back-to-back bends
THis one may be the easiest for a small girl.
I was 1st introduced to it when I used to take Tae Kwan Do.
I didn't know what we were doing but figured it was something I would enjoy as I was paired with a tiny and pretty girl, and was amazed I had never thought of it before!
Anyway, just stand back to back with her, hooking arms.
Quite simply, she just bends forward, thus lifting you off the ground.
The beauty of this lift is that the smaller she is, the easier it is for her from a leg strength perspective because if you're much taller, she can just keep her legs straight, so it's all leg bone strength and no need to use leg muscles.
Where as a taller girl will need to bend her knees to get sufficiently lower than you, which means she will also need to straighten them with your weight on her. Great for us, but if she thinks she's weak, she may have issues doing it.
So, once your suspended hanging back-to-back on her back, that's when you can expiriment with her leg strength, like with the PB, and she can try to do very slight (or more if she can handle it) squats).
Important Note: on the back-to-back exercise, it makes a world of difference as to who's arms are on top upon hooking them.
The lifter's arms need to be ont he bottom, supporting the lift subject (so your arms are on top).
Exercise #4:
Use legs to push you up against a wall.
In this case, she lays flat on her back, with her legs facing a flat wall.
She is as close as she can be to the wall, so her but is almost touching the wall with her legs going vertically up the wall.
She then bends her knees so her feet are low enough for you to mount, and then you get over her feet, still standing, but with her bent knees and feet under you. She then extends her legs, thus lifting you up off the ground.
The purpose of the wall is to absorb most of the balancing effort.
With out the wall, you would just topple over quickly in this case.
The beauty here is that she is now using her leg strength to lift you with out having to lift most of her weight as well, so this usually makes it possible for her to actually lift you using muscle strength.
Like the back-to-back exercise, it's like nature adjusts for the girl's size.
A smaller (shorter) girl has shorter legs, and thus doesn't have to bend her knees as much to get under you, so it's easier from a physics perspective.
SO I'm certain she will be capable of doing this.
The question is, once you're up, how low can she go down to to a long ride?
Exercise #4:
Airplane ride. (more difficult)
In an AP, she lays on her back in the middle of a room with her arms and feet up, and you basically lay on top of her, face down, being supported by her arms and legs (hands and feet).
The jey is usually the initial mounting ("take off"). Once you're past that, it's "easy flying". There are many ways to "take off", some work better for other people, and I'm not going into all of them here.
While many small girls are strong enough, there's often a balance issue, again, usually take off is unsuccessful.
There can be a "top heavy" effect is her back is small, and you are heavy, so she keeps rolling over once you're up.
To help with this, try to spread your arms and legs as wide as possible to help balance.
Some girls are naturally great at this, and others not, regardless of strength.So you'll just have to experiment.
FYI --here's a clip I recently posted elsewhere what has a pretty good airplane mount where a guy mounts a much smaller girl:
(See 6:44 for the girl giving the guy the AP ride).
Exercise #5:
Leg press.
This involves purchase of a seated or vertical leg press.
Sounds like a steep investment for a LC session.
But since this is not a session, but rather a committed long (hopefully life long) relationship... Maybe worth it if you already have a house to put it in.
But first, you need to establish that you like this kind of lift...
I love it, but most LCers dont' seem to think much of it.
If you get one, I would think about a universal type home gym that you can use for other purposes as well (e.g. getting/staying fit!).
In fact, she can use the gym every day to get stringer!
But mainly, where you come in is to devise a way to replace the metal plates with your own weight, so when she uses her strong leg muscles, she's lifting you instead of metal plates.
Depending on the the machine, you need to figure it out.
Of course, you can choose a model more conducive to this.
An alternative is to obtain a stand along vertical leg press.
That would almost be like exercise #4 where she pushes you up against the wall, except you have the smooth flow of the legpress to guide your movement, and you can just sit comfortably and don't have to touch the wall.
I've never actually tried this on a vertical leg press, but watn to badly and it's on my "bucket list". lol
FYI --here's an example of a fairly inexpensive vertical legpress.
Too bad it doesn't come witht he girl! lol
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Yukon-Fitn...Press/11745938
I've even figured out LC positions while "#%&!*".
But not appropriate to discuss in this thread.
We can take that to the adult forum if you want details.
Good luck... let us know how it turns out!
Exer