Dear Dr. Buckingham, I am a 30 year old single female who is very interested in getting married, but I am afraid. Most of my friends have been married and divorced at least once or twice. I believe in marriage and know that God created the marriage institution so that man and woman could live in harmony under his commandants. I have heard different reasons why marriage does … [Read more...]
What Are the Benefits of Professional Premarital Counseling?
Hello Dr. Buckingham, I have been dating my fiancé for a few years now, and we are preparing for our marriage. I read a lot of your articles about relationships, and most of them have a common theme. You often recommend people seek professional counseling. I want my marriage to start off on the right foot, but I do not get the counseling thing. My fiancé has some fear and … [Read more...]
5 Tips for Starting Your Marriage Off On the Right Foot
You know that feeling you get when something gets off to a bad start? You feel annoyed and start to question whether or not you can make things right. I know that feeling and it sucks. Improving the direction of a day, situation, or relationship gone wrong can feel like so much work. It’s not impossible to change the direction of things, but wouldn’t life be so much sweeter if … [Read more...]
10 Things Planning a Wedding Will Teach You
I am officially less than 6 weeks away from jumping the broom. I'll never be able to understand how folks have engagements that last over a year, because these last 8 months have been TRY-ING, to say the least. They say planning a wedding can be an extremely draining process. They ain't never lied. Here are 10 things planning a wedding will teach you: 1. Your date is too far … [Read more...]
25 Ways Other than Dating to Prepare for Marriage
After about 6 months of being married, I realized something that I pray every unmarried person will take very serious. Every second I spent before I said I do, was preparation for marriage. All the things I accomplished and all the things I failed to do contributed to my present day marriage. Before I married, I was a huge proponent for preparing for marriage. But now that I … [Read more...]
Trip to the Altar: I Want a Marriage More Beautiful than My Wedding
I have a confession: before I got engaged I pretty much had my entire wedding planned on Pinterest. Another confession: before I even MET my fiancé, I had an idea of what my wedding would look like. I Dreamed of My Prince I know I'm not the only one. Girls dream about being a beautiful bride all the time. Once we become women, we realize we're one step closer to having our … [Read more...]
8 Reasons Why Singles Rush to the Altar and 3 Ways to Make It Last
I have known of many singles over the years who rushed to get married. For some, it worked out well and they have been together for many years, but for many, rushing to marry was a disaster waiting to happen. Here are a few reasons why many singles rush to marry. They want to make things right. The couple may be living together or may have indulged in premarital sexual … [Read more...]
A 4-Step Plan that Every Marriage Needs
You're probably no stranger to pre-marital counseling. Even if you didn't participate in it before you got married, you've heard about it and possibly considered it. So many couples spend a lot of time planning their wedding, but not enough couples spend time planning their marriage. Every marriage needs a plan. Do you realize that if you take your vows seriously and your … [Read more...]
Clean Up What’s Inside of You, Before You Mess Up Your Marriage
"The things we buy to cover up what's inside." - Kanye West" When Tee and I first got engaged she set out on a mission to clean up her credit. I was like "who cares about your credit?!?!" Now, years later I can understand why she was doing it, but at that time, the LAST thing on my mind was her credit. But her thing was, she didn't want to come into this marriage with her … [Read more...]
Questions to Ask Before Saying “I Do”
by George Brown Picking a marriage partner has more to do than just finding a great person. A couple needs to be able to communicate about all aspects of the relationship – from commitment and intimacy to money and politics. Before saying "I do," make sure to discuss the details – "I believe, you expect, we want" – with your fiance. Work We spend the majority of our waking … [Read more...]