Your wedding day is the beginning of your life together and from that point on, you will be sharing your hopes and dreams, failures and disappointments, with the one you love. Pre-wedding counseling is an important step that helps you recognize and deal with small issues so that they don’t become big problems.

You meet that special person that fills your heart and your head, and so the fairytale begins. For several months (or even years) you both seem to be living in a cloud of bliss. You both have never been more in love, and eventually there is talk of an engagement and a wedding. Unfortunately, when you are so caught up in a fairytale romance, life issues don’t usually get discussed. Many enamored couples tend not to put much effort into discussions regarding religion, children, personal values, sex and money. The next thing you know, you have been married for months or even years and you wake up one day wondering who this person is that you married.

Pre-wedding counseling is designed to aid in open honest discussion around such topics and thereby providing a firm foundation onto which you can build your relationship and marriage. Counselors understand that love overshadows everything else early in your relationship and it is their job to make you aware of common issues prior entering into a lifelong commitment.

Choosing A Counselor

Counseling is usually done by a minister or priest since most people marry in a church, and it is often policy for the couple to first engage in counseling before they are allowed to walk down the aisle. If you opt for a non-traditional wedding, you may want to consult a a licensed family therapist who is experienced in pre-marital counseling.

The Counseling Sessions

Counseling sessions vary and may range from one or two visits to an entire course. It is up to the counselor and the couple to decide what is appropriate. The couple and the counselor meet to discuss issues that are important to a marriage and it is necessary for couples to sort out their individual thoughts on these and other issues to ensure that they are compatible at deeper relationship levels.

The Outcome

The goal of pre-marital counseling is to build a firm foundation on which to build a solid and long lasting marriage. The time to discuss whether or not to have children is not after three years of marriage, and discussions about finances can’t wait until the money’s all gone.

It is not the intention of your pre-marital counselor to cause relationship disturbances or to break couples up, rather it is their intention to help you to see the big picture of your life as a family unit. Consider it another important part of wedding planning and use the advice to help make a strong foundation for your future together.