Getting Ready for Marriage: A Practical Road Map for Your Journey Together

Top Highlights

“Premarital expert Dr. Roger Tirabassi describes counseling engaged couples: ‘It’s like working with people on drugs.’ He further explains, ‘Natural chemicals such as dopamine, endorphins, serotonin, and oxytocin can cause the same reaction as an illicit drug. Dating and engaged couples often find themselves in a chemically-induced condition. They have the uncanny ability to focus on their partner’s positive strengths and traits, rarely noticing the reality of their partner’s weaknesses.’² A loving feeling does release those chemicals to the brain, but that won’t help your marriage.” (source)

“Before you say ‘I do,’ you must be willing to make sure you do whatever it takes to make the marriage last for keeps. Your level of commitment is the most vital factor in determining the success or failure of your relationship.” (source)

“‘Couples will either do the essential premarital preparation or the painful postmarital repair.’” (source)

“The results found that ‘if an unhappy couple does stick with their marriage, the vast majority are happy within five years’ and ‘almost eight out of ten who avoided divorce were happily married five years later.’⁵ Sticking it out, being committed, and persevering is what is required of you. Are you both ready for that?” (source)

“In other words, happily married couples don’t necessarily have fewer problems; they have simply learned how to share their feelings and opinions within a disagreement and still feel valued by their spouse.” (source)