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Engaged encounter weekend

Jessica41381Jessica41381 member
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What should my fiancé and I expect during the engaged encounter weekend? I've heard it's just my fiancé and I discussing certain topics, are they the same topics from the focus? When we met with the priest to go over our "results" he said we scored so well that we didn't have to come back until after the engaged encounter weekend because we matched on every question. Thanks in advance!
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Re: Engaged encounter weekend

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    erin5286erin5286
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    Our Engaged Encounter (wasn't called that, but was a marriage prep weekend going Friday evening and then all day Saturday) involved several different presentations: a few different priests spoke about religious topics and marriage as a vocation, there was an NFP presentation, we watched a portion of Christopher West's seminar on Good News About Sex and Marriage; as well as some more practical topics like finance and communication.  Some of the sessions involved some one-on-one interaction between the couples, a lot of them were just listening and taking in the info.  There was also a time for (optional) confession.

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    Jessica41381Jessica41381 member
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    Thanks for the info! Our weekend lasts from 8pm Friday thru 4pm Sunday. According to the website there is no interaction between other couples except for the one same sex person who I will share a hotel room with. I'm glad to see that some of the topics are some of the topics we discussed during the focus
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    agapecarrieagapecarrie member
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    Engaged encounter is actually a formatted "retreat" type weekend. Other marriage prep weekends/days  may contain similar things, but its not the same thing. Even then, EE has been modified depending on who the leadership is. There may be times when you can chat with other people, also, small group time. It depends on how its run. 

    Just be open, pray hard, and enjoy. 

    What I use to tell my teens when I was a youth minister-- a cheesy line: Don't anticipate, particapte. 
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    Jessica41381Jessica41381 member
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    !
    agapecarrie said:
    Engaged encounter is actually a formatted "retreat" type weekend. Other marriage prep weekends/days  may contain similar things, but its not the same thing. Even then, EE has been modified depending on who the leadership is. There may be times when you can chat with other people, also, small group time. It depends on how its run. 

    Just be open, pray hard, and enjoy. 

    What I use to tell my teens when I was a youth minister-- a cheesy line: Don't anticipate, particapte. 

    Thanks a bunch!
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    professorscienceprofessorscience member
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    We had a workbook that accompanied most of what we learned.  It was basically presentations by instructors, and then breakaway time to reflect individually on certain topics and then discuss our answers.  The only real interaction we had with other couples was during breaks and meals.
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    Jessica41381Jessica41381 member
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    professorscience said:
    We had a workbook that accompanied most of what we learned.  It was basically presentations by instructors, and then breakaway time to reflect individually on certain topics and then discuss our answers.  The only real interaction we had with other couples was during breaks and meals.

    Thank you!
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
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    Ditto prof. It was definitely an eye opening experience for H and I. I will admit I wasn't looking forward to it at all, but was glad we did it in the end (our priest required it in order to marry us). I don't know if it was just me, but it was also a bit emotional at times. The only thing I didn't like was sharing the room with a complete stranger, but I got past that and it was a good experience for me to have to open up and talk to someone that wasn't in my comfort zone.
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    Jessica41381Jessica41381 member
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    MissySue20 said:

    Ditto prof. It was definitely an eye opening experience for H and I. I will admit I wasn't looking forward to it at all, but was glad we did it in the end (our priest required it in order to marry us). I don't know if it was just me, but it was also a bit emotional at times. The only thing I didn't like was sharing the room with a complete stranger, but I got past that and it was a good experience for me to have to open up and talk to someone that wasn't in my comfort zone.

    The roomate situation is the one thing I'm not thrilled about. I wouldn't mind as much if it were a suite but since its a one room 2 bed hotel room I'm a little iffy. But it's the only requirement so I can put my big girl panties on and do it :-)

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    shawna127shawna127 member
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    Ours actually took place in an old convent, which was pretty neat.  There were two twin beds in each room and a community bathroom, it was a lot like a dorm.  And like others have said it was mostly laid out like this: We would be given a subject (i.e. family, NFP, etc.)  someone would give a talk on it.  girls and guys would break off into separate rooms and we would all answer questions or write whatever we wanted about the subject in our given books (it was quiet during this time).  Guys and girls came back together.  You met up with your FI and you were given more time to discuss your answers.  There was also mass, (optional) confession and that's what I remember.  I absolutely loved it and got a lot out of it though.  It was nice to be able to talk about things where there were no distractions.  Good luck and have fun!

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    mommapizanomommapizano member
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    Our engaged encounter was a weekend at a Catholic retreat center. Like many of the others said, there were presentations and then time to breakout from the group and discuss the topic with your fiance. The presenters in our case were three different married couples who really just shared personal experiences. Usually when you break out you have time to write and then time to share with your fiance. We had a great time even though we really have discussed pretty much all of the things they bring up. I think it's really important to go in with an open mind.

    Don't worry about the roommate thing. Since you are doing the retreat most of the day, everyone pretty much went to sleep pretty quickly since you have to wake up early on Saturday and Sunday. Good luck and have fun...I am sure it will go great!
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    Jessica41381Jessica41381 member
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    I survived the weekend! Wile it was long and tiresome, I believe it's good for couples who might not talk very much or who don't see each other often. For my fiancé and I this weekend was a lot of what we already had discussed. A lot of the couples who were older (28+) believed that at our ages we knew that we were making the right decision and have chosen the right person to marry. And have already discussed things that the weekend entailed. I'm not going to lie, the weekend is extremely exhausting but it was an over all good experience, for me and my fiancé it just continued to prove that we are making the right choice. I would recommend the weekend to other couples just be aware that its a non stop weekend. We arrived on a Friday night, started at 8pm ended at almost 12am, wake up at 7 on Saturday to being at 8am and we under at about 8pm that night, to turn around and wake up and do it again Sunday but we ended at 2pm. All in all I would recommend it!
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    bibliophile2010bibliophile2010 member
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    Glad to hear it was a great experience!
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    ChloeaghChloeagh member
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    I had mine this weekend, too, and it was so amazing. After 4 years, FI and I have talked about everything, or so we thought. Many of the topics were things we talked about, but not in depth. For example, we talked about family values, but it wasn't until this weekend that we talked about how they manifested in our families - it turns out we have experienced the same values in very different ways! I would definitely recommend it to everyone.
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