We welcome couples of different faiths seeking to prepare for a deeper, more meaningful life together in a marriage recognized by the Catholic Church and in accordance with the Church’s teachings.
Have more questions, here are more details about finding unity in a mixed-marriage.
We encourage you to attend a retreat early in your engagement. This allows you time to discuss important issues and focus on your future marriage without the distractions of last minute wedding details. Attending six months before your wedding is a good goal.
Weekends cost $150 per couple. This covers the cost of food, materials and the use of the facility.
The weekend is a time for couples to focus on their future marriage. Presentations are given by married couples and a priest throughout the weekend, followed by personal reflection time. Then couples are given time to reflect privately.
The 5 major themes are:
- The Family We Grew Up In
- Sacramental Marriage
- Communication
- Intimacy
- Values
- Bring a snack.
- Beverages for your own personal consumption. Water and coffee will be provided.
Registration check-in is at 7:45 am.
Saturday ends by 9:30 p.m.
Sunday ends by 2:00pm.
Lodging is not provided on the weekend. Many couples from out of town stay with family or friends. Couples are expected to arrange for their own lodging in accordance with the Church’s teaching on cohabitation.
Each couple will receive two workbooks that provide an outline of the retreat and topics covered. These are yours to keep.
Due to varying factors, such as meal times and slight differences in presenter’s length on topics, we are unable to provide exact timing of each presentation. Most presentations, individual reflection and couple reflection time total about 60 minutes.
YES, it is very important that you stay for the entire retreat. If you arrive late or leave early, you will miss important parts of the retreat experience, and we will not be able to give you your certificate of completion of the retreat.
Dress for the entire weekend is casual. Please dress comfortably. We will attend Mass during the weekend, however casual attire is acceptable.
Planning a wedding can be a fun and exciting time. It can also be stressful. Catholic Engaged Encounter offers a weekend-long retreat away from the hustle and bustle of life, where you can focus on each other, your relationship, and what it means to become a sacrament. While couples spend the majority of the retreat together – there is not much free time. Couples should plan to start their day a little earlier and work a little later than they typically would on an average weekend at home.
Catholic Engaged Encounter offers a weekend-long retreat away from the hustle and bustle of life, where you can focus on each other, your relationship, and what it means to become a sacrament. As such we ask that couples refrain from using electronic devices as much as possible – including cell phones.
No, the purpose of the Catholic Engaged Encounter weekend is to interact with and talk with your fiance about issues you may not have already discussed. If your fiance is not present, you will be unable to complete the program.
Retreats have limited capacity based on the facilities. Weekends are filled on a first-come/first-serve basis and we do not maintain a waiting list.
Refer to our external resources.
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Reserve a spot for you and your fiance at a Catholic Engaged Encounter weekend near you.