Premarital Counseling through Wedding Planning

Group Program

The group version of the DVD is for religious settings and other places that offer premarital education. (It has no specifically religious content, but such material could be added by local educators if they wish.)

The program takes two hours with a group of 3-7 engaged couples, presenting principles, advice, and stories on the couple and family dynamics in wedding planning. The DVD is a presentation by Bill Doherty, a nationally recognized marriage therapist, award winning teacher, and co-founder of The First Dance. The presentation begins with the couple relationship. It shows how couples can work together as a team, regardless of who handles more of the responsibility for wedding planning, and emphasizes the importance of values in making difficult decisions. This section ends with a presentation on how parents can work as a team with the couple, including challenges such negotiating financial arrangements and guests lists.

The presentation then focuses on the family dynamics of wedding planning, with principles for dealing with family members and the wedding party. Featuring real stories that couples will relate to, some from engaged couples and parents in the live audience, the presentation is wise and practical, sometimes moving and sometimes humorous. We have found that no matter where couples are in the planning wedding process—a newly announced engagement or the month of the wedding--this program opens doors of understanding and communication for the bride and groom.

The group version comes with couple and group exercises to help participants connect with one another and absorb the lessons of the program. Once you have the DVD, you can download the facilitator guide from our website www.TheFirstDance.com. It will walk you through the simple process for facilitating discussion and leading the exercises. Couples love these groups, and we think you will enjoy them and feel good about what you are offering couples at this exciting and vulnerable season of their life.

What the First Dance Offers You

A new way to help couples learn about themselves and their families
A supplement to your current premarital program
A group version that you can easily facilitate or ask a staff member or volunteer to facilitate
Access to continually updated handouts and supplementary material on The First Dance website
An individual version that you can ask couples to purchase, watch, and discuss with you (sold seperately)
A way to stimulate couples’ interest in other forms of premarital and marriage education

Read testimonials from our book (which covers the same concepts as the class) and download two chapters for free. You may also wish to buy our book in bulk as an add-on to the class or instead of the class.