My heart for my business is not to “just” make beautiful weddings all the time with custom signage and stationery, but to help encourage the building of a beautiful marriage too. Which is why I wanted to help provide my engaged friends with resources to do just that.
Donovan and I took marriage prep very seriously. We read in one of our first books on marriage that, “Most people spend far more time in preparation for their vocation than they do in preparation for marriage,” No wonder the divorce rate hovers around fifty percent.
That hit us HARD – especially while we were studying for way less useful anatomy tests, music theory, etc. and yet we hadn’t read one page on marriage yet.. After just reading that intro sentence, we thought, “You’re right. This is important. We should make this a priority.”
So we did. While we were engaged, we read a chapter of a book every week together and discussed it. I swear to you – I cannot imagine how the last 4 years of our marriage would have went if we didn’t START by being focused on growing together and investing in our marriage like that.
I will star the books we personally have read, but I’m also including a few we didn’t but heard good things about. Because we are Christian, a lot of them are religious with Christian values, but some are not. I also will note that below with R for religious and NR for non-religious.
Either way, I can’t wait to hear how these books change your relationship with your partner for the better. You thought things were good now? Just wait and see how much better they can get. xo
Before You Say “I Do”®: A Marriage Preparation Guide for Couples (NR)
Things I Wish I’d Known Before We Got Married (R/NR) ***
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts (R/NR) ***
Communication Miracles for Couples: Easy and Effective Tools to Create More Love and Less Conflict (NR)
Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs *** (R)
The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God (R)
The Power of a Praying® Wife (R)
The Power of a Praying® Husband (R)
Personality Tests can be extremely helpful in understanding the psychology behind your fiancé/spouse. Below are some personality tests that are my personal favs.
https://www.truity.com/test/enneagram-personality-test
https://tests.enneagraminstitute.com/ ***