Anyone in Seattle area done an Engaged Encounter weekend?

Mapper71

My fiance and I just met with the priest today for the first time to go over what needs to be done before our wedding. We can't do the one night a week for 6 weeks of the pre marriage classes due to his work schedule so we need to sign up for the one weekend retreat. Has anyone done one of these? What did you think of it and what was involved? From what I've read on other sites, you and your fiance are not allowed to sleep in the same room. Are you given a random roommate of the same sex or do you get a room to yourself? We will either do the retreat in Bellevue at Camp Sambica or in Mt. Vernon at Camp Brotherhood.

melissa82

We didn't do Engaged Encounter, one of the dioceses near us in CA had a one-day class so we did that. But I'm pretty sure with EE they bunk you with another female. EE is more expensive (because of food and accommodations) so the one-day thing was better. In either session, you talk about different marriage issues--communication, finances, families, etc. Usually it's led by another married couple. There's an hour on natural family planning but they don't ask you about your personal sex life or anything. I think it normally concludes with a Mass.I thought it was good. I would say at least 90% of the issues were things we had talked about before, but for that 10% I found it valuable. We also did this exercise where we took time alone and wrote letters to each other, which was nice for us because we're not normally the types to be mushy like that. So especially after all this heavy talk, it's nice to read something sweet and remember what you're doing it for.If you want, you can look at other dioceses' Web sites and see if they have a one-day class if you decide not to do EE. All the certificates are the same, you just have to do some form of pre-cana.P.S.  I don't think there are a lot of Catholic brides on this board? I'm not sure, but I think I posted a question or two in the past and not gotten much of a response.

Mapper71

We didn't get the opportunity to do just a one day thing. It was either a 6 week class or one weekend. The weekend one seems like it would be nice though since they have it out on a secluded farm area.

Kaye Smith

We're going to be doing the engaged encounter sometime next year, and i think we're actually going to do the weekend one.  I was dreading it, but one of my friends who just got married this summer said it was actually helpful - and topics such as finances and other non-religious items were discussed.  She did mention that women were in one room (it sounded like bunk beds!) and men in another.....

irshis20

We're getting married in a Presbyterian church, but are thinking of doing Engaged Encounter because of our work schedules. Our church permits us to do basically any form of premarital counseling. Has anyone here done EE who is not Catholic?

picksthemusic

I went to one with FI at Camp Hamilton in May. It was actually really nice, but that comes with a big "but". We had to sleep in separate cabins, with the other women, and the showers were awful (pull cord to get the water to come out, really cold to very hot, no pressure, tarps for privacy, cement floors). Bring bug spray, flashlights, comfortable clothes, and be prepared to sit and talk for 2 days. Camp food, and barely any electricity or flushing toilets. I say barely because there were a few flushing toilets in the main building of the camp, but nowhere else. The person running it was nice, and she knew what she was talking about. We learned a lot about our own personalities, and how we're different, and how we're compatible, and we learned a lot of tools we can use later in our marriage. And it's true, you can't be in the same sleeping quarters, but you'll spend the rest of the time with him, mostly. But a lot of the other couples were really nice, and very cool to talk to and socialize with. OH, and I cannot stress this enough, if you have a twin-sized air mattress, bring it. No kidding, the bunks were SO HARD. Ugh. No sleep. But if you have a mattress, take it so you can sleep comfortably. Hope that helps, and good luck!!

picksthemusic

PS, there's a Catholic Weddings board under Cultural Weddings.