Preparing for Marriage

Engaged

Podcasts

• Are We Compatible?

  This podcast explains how your individual personality effects your relationships.

• Emotional Mastery: The Secret to Incredible Relating

  This audio file explains how to become the master of your emotions and how emotional mastery enhances relationships.

Articles

• A Guy’s Guide to the Perfect Wedding Proposal

  Tips for pulling off the perfect proposal.

• Wedding Rings: To Wear or Not to Wear

  For many, a wedding band is a beautiful and important symbol of a couple’s commitment. For others, it seems unnecessary, uncomfortable and even heavy-handed.

• Dating Tips & Etiquette

  • PDA: How Much is Too Much?

    Public displays of affection can be a good way to let your significant other feel loved, but when is it too much?

  Engagement and Preparing for Marriage

  • Making a Home Together

    Tips for how to make your new house a home.

  • Newly Engaged? Get Ready for an Emotional Roller Coaster Ride ...

    You may have been imagining the perfect wedding day since you were young, but what you probably aren’t prepared for is the onslaught of emotions along the way.

  • Preparing for Remarriage

    Learn about improving the health of your future marital relationship by laying the groundwork for a firm foundation.

  • Should You Take Your Fiance’s Last Name?

    The vast majority of women marrying today take their husband’s last name. Still, for many women, the decision to do so is complicated, even painful one.

  • The First Year of Marriage

    Get your marriage off to a great start! Tips for building a strong marriage ... from the beginning.

  Finances

  • Discuss Finances Before Marriage

    Before you begin a new life together, make sure you are on the same page financially.

  Finding The One

  • Relationship Dealbreakers

    Weeding out less desirable dating candidates often involves a wish list. But for some people, that list goes on and on. Here are the real relationship dealbreakers….

  • Ten Important Research Findings on Marriage and Choosing a Marriage Partner: Helpful Facts for Young Adults

    Ten findings that will help in choosing your future mate and having a successful marriage.

  Healthy Relationship Skills

  • 10 Simple Ways to Make a Marriage Last

    The fundamental rules for human interaction—kindness, fairness and respect—are taught to us as children. Unfortunately, many of these lessons are forgotten by the time we reach adulthood.

  • Cutting the Cord: Breaking Unhealthy Dependencies That Impact Your Partner

    We are all bound to our parents in complex ways that can be beautiful, confounding, and infuriating. But the ties that bind us to our parents can be hard on those we marry.

  • Getting Your Marriage off to a Great Start

    Learn wise choices that will help to ensure a successful marriage.

  • How Emotional Intelligence Affects Your Relationships

    If you are looking to improve your relationship, assessing your emotional intelligence could help.

  • Inspiring Couples Share Words to Live—and Love—By

    We all aspire to have a strong, healthy and inspiring marriage. Read quotes from real couples who have lived such marriages ... for years.

  • Love Rules

    Here is what relationships experts think about the tried, but not always true, love sayings.

  • Marriage Education vs. Counseling: How Do We Know Which is Right for Us?

    Learn whether marriage education classes or counseling is a better option for you and your partner.

  • Qualities of a Healthy Relationship

    Learn to recognize the qualities of a healthy relationship.

  Preparing for Marriage

  • 10 Myths About Engagement

    Don't buy into these common misconceptions about getting married.

  • Am I Really Ready for This? Pre-Wedding Jitters

    Many people experience uncertainty about making the commitment to a life-long marriage. Once you are officially engaged, it may seem even more overwhelming.

  • Before You Say I Do

    Learn the right questions to consider and be discussed with your partner before you commit to marriage.

  • Consider Expectations Before Marriage

    Before heading to the altar, be sure you have a clear understanding of each other's expectations.

  • Engaging in Emotional Intimacy – Before and After You Walk Down the Aisle

    Research has shown that a strong emotional connection is critical to a successful relationship. Here are some conversations key to building and maintaining emotional intimacy with your partner.

  • Is a Lengthy Engagement Really Necessary?

    In a rush to get to the altar? Don't be in too much of a hurry...

  • Learn to Forgive … Before You Marry

    Forgiveness is a vital—if learned—skill for surviving any relationship, especially marriage. Learn to forgive before you marry.

  • Plan for the Wedding, Prepare for Your Future

    Working together as a team and being respectful of your partner’s needs will help you effectively deal with any challenges that come your way in the wedding planning process – and throughout your marriage!

  • Too young to get married? See what the experts say….

    Exactly what age is the right age to get married? There's not a hard-and-fast rule, but there are some interesting statistics...

  • Why Premarital Education/Counseling Matters

    Divorce rates hover around 50%. But marriage and relationship education (MRE) or premarital counseling can help protect your marriage.

  Relationship Stages and Commitment

  • First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage ... Right? How Do We Know if We're Ready?

    Although no one can tell you if you’re ready to get married, there are three important things to think about that can help you make this important decision.

  Top 10 Lists

  • Top 10 Challenges Couples Face in Forming and Sustaining Healthy Relationships and Marriages

    Here are 10 obstacles couples encounter in developing and maintaining healthy long-term relationships.

  • Top 10 Myths About Marriage

    The way marriages are portrayed through media and popular culture can cloud our expectations of marriage and set the stage for disappointment during marriage. Do your own reality check by reading this top 10 list of myths.

  Wedding Planning

  • Can’t We All Just Get Along: Keeping the Peace on Your Wedding Day

    Even though the wedding day should be one of the happiest day, it can be incredibly stressful. Here are some tips to relieve some of this stress.

  • Creative Alternatives to a Big Wedding

    A wedding doesn't have to be big or expensive to be spectacular.

  • How to Survive the Wedding

    Planning---and surviving---a wedding may be the first in a long line of tests a couple faces in their relationship.

  • Planning Your Destination Wedding

    Engaged couples used to have only two options: a wedding or an elopement. Destination weddings provide a welcome third alternative, combining the best aspects of each.

  • The ‘Disengaged’ Fiance: Getting Your Fiance Involved in the Wedding

    It’s a common scenario: You can’t wait for your wedding day. Your fiance can’t wait for it to be over.

  • To Elope or Not to Elope

    Is an elopement the right choice for you and your fiance?

  • Your Dream Wedding … On a Realistic Budget

    Everyone is on a budget these days, including brides-to-be. So how do you ensure the wedding of your dreams, without breaking your budget?

Videos

• Actor Hill Harper Starts ‘The Conversation’

  In this video, award-winning actor and best-selling author Hill Harper (CSI: NY) tackles misconceptions about marriage, men and family … and how to strengthen relationships between black men and women.

• Are there bad reasons for people to get married?

  In this video, relationship expert Kelly Simpson talks about if there are any bad reasons for getting married.

• Do religious people have better marriages?

  Relationship expert Dr. Tim Gardner talks about if religious people have better marriages or not.

• Does preparing for marriage help lower the likelihood of divorce?

  Relationship expert Dr. Bill Doherty talks about preparing for marriage and how it can help lower the likelihood of divorce.

• How can a mentor couple help us strengthen our relationship? Part 2

  Dr. Ed Gray discusses the benefits of having a mentor couple to help you in your relationship.

• How can I tell if my partner is really committed to me?

  In this video, Dr. Scott Stanley talks about how you can tell if your partner is really committed to you.

• How can we start our own traditions as a couple?

  In this video, Dr. Rozario Slack discusses how you can begin your own traditions as a couple.

• How can we, as a couple, prepare for marriage? Part 1

  Relationship expert Dr. Rozario Slack talks about how you can prepare for marriage as a couple.

• How can we, as a couple, prepare for marriage? Part 2

  Relationship experts David Carder talks about how you can prepare for marriage as a couple.

• If we live together, why complicate things with marriage? Part 1

  In this video, Galena Rhoades discusses living together and the benefits of marriage.

• Isn't living together a normal step on the path to marriage? Part 1

  In this video, Dr. John Curtis talks about where living together fits in the path toward marriage.

• Should we go to premarital preparation?

  In this video, relationship expert Dr. Bill Doherty talks about preparing for marriage.

• What are some things we should talk about before we get married?

  In this video, relationship expert Morgan Van Epp outlines what things you should definitely talk about before you get married.

• What do we need to know if we're engaged?

  In this video, Hedy Schleifer talks about what engaged couples need to know.

• What is a healthy marrige?

  In this video, Dr. Sue Johnson addresses what constitutes a healthy marriage.

• When are we ready to take the next step toward marriage?

  In this video, Dr. Galena Rhoades gives advice on recognizing when you're ready to take the next step toward marriage.

Quizes

• Compatibility Quiz

  Take this quiz to let you know how your personalities may complement each other, or clash.

• Love Quiz and Relationship Test

  Answering the quiz questions helps to determine the characteristics of your relationship.