Next month my fiancé and I are going to be starting a marriage preparation course (or premarital counseling as some call it) – and I wanted to tell you a little about it, and why we’ll be doing it.
Although most churches these days won’t allow you to get married unless you have done some sort of marriage preparation (or at the very least, strongly advise it), these courses are no longer reserved for only church-going Christians, anyone is welcome to attend should they wish.
Ours is perhaps one of the more substantial courses – running one evening a week for 10 weeks, but there are shorter options – lasting only a weekend or a few sessions.
These are the main points that we’ll cover throughout the course:
- Expressing feelings and learning to listen
- The importance of commitment
- Resolving conflict
- Keeping alive and developing a fulfilling sexual relationship
- Talking about goals and values
- Rules and responsibilities of husband and wife
We’ll also meet with an older married couple for a few of the sessions, to learn what has and hasn’t worked for them over the years, and hopefully pick up a few useful tips!
Luke and I do talk about everything, and feel that there aren’t likely to be any “surprises” that arise during this course, but we want to give our marriage the best possible foundation and start – so we don’t think there’ll be any harm spending a little more time together talking through things that may become potential issues later on.
What do you think about marriage preparation? Do you think that you should know each other well enough by the time the wedding comes, or is there no harm in a little extra input?
Read more from Candice as she plans her wedding in our Bride to Be section.
Photograph courtesy of Candice Le Noury ©
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