Since a wedding lasts for around thirty minutes, and the marriage is intended to last a lifetime, I seek to be of genuine assistance to a couple by offering 3 or 4 sessions of premarital enrichment.  These sessions are positive in nature, and are not judgmental, but rather are intended to help the couple make sure they have discussed and made preparations for all of the adjustments that marriage brings.  Since the sessions need to be scheduled over a period of several weeks, I need at least 6 weeks notice to ensure that I will be able to schedule them before the wedding.  Ideally it would be better to start them several months before, since the weeks before a wedding tend to be somewhat frantic.

I make no charge (and accept no compensation) for these sessions for any member of this congregation, nor do I charge for participating in the ceremony.  Any-out-of-the ordinary expenses, however (such as the rental of a tuxedo, out of town travel, etc), are the responsibility of the couple.

As part of the premarital preparation sessions I use an inventory called PREPARE.  This is the best researched, and most widely used, premarital tool available.  It has been used by more than half a million couples to guide them in their preparation for married life and can identify relationship strengths and potential areas for improvement with 80-85% accuracy. The couple's answers on the inventory are mailed back to the company for a computer analysis in order to provide a personalized workbook for the couple, and that company charges $30 for the inventory.

Couples who plan to use our facilities for a wedding need to contact Gail in the church office as soon as possible to reserve our facilities.  There is no charge for church members to use our Auditorium or Annex, but they are responsible for cleaning up after the wedding and putting everything back in place. 

In addition, our sound system must be operated by one of the workers who are trained to use it, so the couple will need to contact our Audio-Visual Ministry and make appropriate arrangements.  Couples have the option of arranging for live music, providing their own taped music, or choosing from a selection offered by our library.