Wedding Prep Course

ftrmrsw

Our Marriage Prep Course is Next Month.

From what I've heard ours seems to be quite a bit shorter than alot of them. I've heard anywhere from the full weekend, two weekends to 8 weeks (every saturday) long. Ours thankfully is only 1 day long.

I was just wondering if anyone can give a little info on what you did, and what was involved. 

agapecarrie

Covering different topics such as money/budget, communication, conflict resolution, family of originin and history, sex, NFP, faith.

Could be witnesses -- people sharing about their lives and what has worked for them. 

I don't get why one would be thankful that their classes are the shortest amount of time required? I would want extensive and thorough formation for a sacrament. Priests go to school and through formation for 6-8 years for their vocation. 

Resa77

We had the option of doing a full weekend, or one day.  We chose one day for financial reasons (the full weekend involved hotel cost).  I really enjoyed ours, though!  There were different segments on managing finances, parenting, communication, etc.  Mostly it was practical stuff, though there were also more specifically-Catholic topics too, such as NFP, spirituality, Catholic wedding liturgy, etc.  It was a long, info-packed day, but H and I both felt like we got a lot out of it.

professorscience

Carrie, in our case, I feel like we could have covered everything in a day.  We took way too many breaks and wasted a ton of time on nonsense, as far as I was concerned.

Plus I'd known H for 13 years when we did our marriage prep.  There was very little between us that was "news."  I loved the experience, but I see where one day would have been really convenient.

Riss91

They can vary greatly depending on the format and the leaders. Ours was two 9-5 days. I thought it was a great experience. We talked mostly about communication, had a short session on NFP. It wasn't very "Catholic-teaching" oriented, though I wish it would have been. Just go in with an open mind and use it to further your relationship. If you are ready to be annoyed/disappointed you won't get much out of it. I believe a lot of the marriage prep includes private sessions where you and your FI break away to discuss the topics together.

itzMS

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wedding-prep-course?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:a5426d09-0990-4833-a3e6-8146e1868c17Post:afa17d52-a1d2-4509-a690-82bc24950ef5">Re: Wedding Prep Course</a>:
[QUOTE]Covering different topics such as money/budget, communication, conflict resolution, family of originin and history, sex, NFP, faith. Could be witnesses -- people sharing about their lives and what has worked for them.  <strong>I don't get why one would be thankful that their classes are the shortest amount of time required? I would want extensive and thorough formation for a sacrament. </strong>Priests go to school and through formation for 6-8 years for their vocation. 
Posted by agapecarrie[/QUOTE]

She didn't ask to be judged.

Every diocese is different so sometimes there isn't a choice involved.

FWIW, I was happy and thankful that our "general" marriage prep course for our diocese was only one day long, too.

Our one-on-one sessions with our priest were much more enriching than the general course was anyways.
 

erin5286

Ours was a Friday evening and then the following Saturday from about 8am-3pm.  We had some speakers covering marriage topics like finance and communication, as well as some more faith-oriented sessions like an NFP presentation, priest speaker, and a segment of Christopher West's presentation based on "good news about sex and marriage."  I thought it was really well-rounded, but could possibly have been fit into a one-day seminar depending on the scheduling.

agapecarrie

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wedding-prep-course?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:a5426d09-0990-4833-a3e6-8146e1868c17Post:237a3f49-3592-4378-bb1a-8242673752f6">Re: Wedding Prep Course</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Wedding Prep Course : She didn't ask to be judged. 
Posted by itzMS[/QUOTE]<div>
There was no judgement. Not fair of you to accuse me of such a thing. I simply stated I don't understand, and why I thought so. </div>

meltoine

We did ours online because we were geographically separated due to MH's job at the time. We we're assigned some reading and some open-response questions. We'd read on our own and discuss the questions over the phone and one of us would type up and send in the responses. Our teacher would send feedback on our answers and the next set of reading and questions. I think there were 10-12 lessons in all. FWIW, I wish we had had a more involved program. Ours focused almost exclusively on theology and touched on nothing practical. It would have been good to have some advice about finances and parenting and the like. I also think I would have enjoyed meeting other couples who had been married for a while and who were getting married around the same time we were. The couple who taught our NFP class were so great, and have remained friends to this day. I wish we had more friends like them.

agapecarrie

I have many friends who designed their own marriage preparation. They did one of the required items by the diocese to fulfill that, but in addition, they did one or more of the following: sought out a mentor couple, separate spiritual directors, met with a counselor, took the myerrs briggs, did a Christopher West dvd series or read the books together. An acquaintence of mine attended a week long class at the TOB institute with her fiance.

Marriage "prep" does not have to stop when the class is over, or when a couple gets married, There are always things to learn about how to love. 

ftrmrsw

What is NFP?

I'm sorry if I offended you agapecarrie. Even my Priest was under the impression any course overly long was unnecessary. In his words, it shouldn't take more than a day or two.

Its not that I'm thankful its short and I that I don't charish the sacrament. Its that, life is busy as it is, so I'm glad I don't have to find 8 weeks to do a MPC. I can schedule it and get it done in one weekend.

That being said, I am looking forward to it. For some reason, this is one of the preparations that I feel makes it real. 

professorscience

NFP stands for natural family planning, which is a method of either avoiding or achieving conception without the use of artificial aides.  It is the only method of "birth control" that is approved by the church and actually really easy to learn and way more effective than some in health care would have you believe.

Most marriage preparation courses only touch on NFP, sadly.  You can buy the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility to learn more about it or take a class -- most dioceses will offer courses every now and then.

ftrmrsw

Oh gotcha. Thanks!

agapecarrie

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wedding-prep-course?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:a5426d09-0990-4833-a3e6-8146e1868c17Post:3dee1ab5-f59f-4355-a0b8-d07c23b69b56">Re: Wedding Prep Course</a>:
[QUOTE]What is NFP? I'm sorry if I offended you  agapecarrie . Even my Priest was under the impression any course overly long was unnecessary. In his words, it shouldn't take more than a day or two. Its not that I'm thankful its short and I that I don't charish the sacrament. Its that, life is busy as it is, so I'm glad I don't have to find 8 weeks to do a MPC. I can schedule it and get it done in one weekend. That being said, I am looking forward to it. For some reason, this is one of the preparations that I feel makes it real. 
Posted by ftrmrsw[/QUOTE]

<div>I didn't say you offended me. I said I didn't understand.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div>

newlyseliski

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wedding-prep-course?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:a5426d09-0990-4833-a3e6-8146e1868c17Post:ec5c7e8b-4709-42f0-b868-7691a975914f">Re: Wedding Prep Course</a>:
[QUOTE]Ours was a Friday evening and then the following Saturday from about 8am-3pm.  We had some speakers covering marriage topics like finance and communication, as well as some more faith-oriented sessions like an NFP presentation, priest speaker, and a segment of Christopher West's presentation based on "good news about sex and marriage."  I thought it was really well-rounded, but could possibly have been fit into a one-day seminar depending on the scheduling.
Posted by erin5286[/QUOTE]

<div>This was the same structure and length of ours!  I also agree that it would have fit into one day... we concluded on the Saturday with confession and Mass.  I believe content would definitely vary depending on your diocese... we also had topics including communication, finances, faith, NFP and time for individual couples' discussion.  There was a panel of married couples that talked about different topics as well and answered questions.</div>

FutureMrsKacer

Wow - I wish our marriage prep was more like PPs. It seems like my FH's diocese is among the strictest... We have to do four classes put on by the church that are two hours long each (Catholic theology, two NFP sessions, and a liturgy session), either Engaged Encounter or another approved weekend retreat (minimum cost of $140), six hours of meetings with a mentor couple, the FOCCUS inventory, multiple meetings with the priest/deacon, and at least one meeting with the church's director of music. Oh and side rant, we are required to get special dispensations from the archdiocese if anyone from my side of the family wants to be a reader during the ceremony since they aren't Catholic (I'm Methodist).