Over Night Marriage Prep Courses/ What to expect?

Re: Over Night Marriage Prep Courses/ What to expect?

• MesmrEwe member

  

  January 2015 edited January 2015

  We had to do this as part of our diocese requirement.  IMO, you're going to find couples in three groups 1) NO WAY NO HOW should these people EVER be getting married to each other let alone anyone else!!!!  2) Oh we've never really discussed that issue before (how many kids, finances, merging households, medical, etc.), I really gained a lot..  or 3) OMGosh WTF do they have us here for - we've already discussed these topics ad nauseum, we're cradle Catholics, we go to church every weekend, we're involved with our parish, we've been through NFP classes, the only thing we gained was being DONE with this requirement!!  

  The presenters at ours pretty much hammered the whole NFP and changes of married life discussions.  The problem is I thought the couples they brought in for ours were rather fake and wouldn't really answer the questions "ask us anything about married life"...  someone asked "How do you keep the chika-wow-wow (or reference point) after years of marriage?" - NOT A PEEP from any of the couples...  It'd have been o.k. to say "it evolves with time and you find your own groove as a couple, communication is key just like any other part of marriage"...  But nope - sorry wouldn't answer it...  That's when the entire room shut down.  That's not the way all of these weekends go, but depending on which category you are for the prep really can impact this. 

  Go in with an open mind obviously - the one thing I wish is I'd have brought something like coffee or snacks along with me because ours was the typical church lady meal which while appreciated, when you've got food sensitivities can make for a challenge when there's not much you can eat and you don't know what's going to be served ahead of time to plan ahead.  As with any type of workshop, bring the fleece just in case they over-air condition or under-heat...

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• vmj23 member

  

  January 2015

  I did my pre-cana in 2 sessions, not the overnight retreat.  It was 2 full Saturdays.  I assume there will be similar discussions/activities at the overnight retreat.  The first half the course was priests talking.  A lot of "couples" activities - we had workbooks and had to fill out questions about our relationship, communication what's important in a marriage etc.   Although encouraged to share with the group, it was never forced - the workbooks were just between us, no one else ever saw them.  We went over the ceremony/vows what they mean.   We had to listen to a lot about natural family planning.   The second day was mainly a married couple talking about themselves, their relationship, again with the family planning.  Parts of it dragged on and were boring but they gave us a lot of breaks which broke up the day a bit.    

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