Help Plan for a Wedding and Prepare for a Marriage

In 1996, the U.S. Congress found that marriage is the foundation of a successful society. The financial impact of divorce on families and society in general is so profound, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 included provisions for funding $150 million each year to promote healthy marriages and fatherhood. With the societal costs of divorce estimated to be over $112 billion annually, governmental efforts amount to an ounce of prevention that will not lead to a cure without considerable help.

According to the Administration for Children & Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a healthy marriage is a mutually satisfying relationship that is beneficial to the husband, wife, and children (if present). There must be deep respect for each other and a commitment to ongoing growth, the use of effective communication skills, and the use of successful conflict management skills.

Wedding planning can be costly and stressful, but the Certified Wedding Planner can turn the planning process into an opportunity for a couple to gain the knowledge and skills they will need to have a healthy marriage. Not all clients will look to you for this advice. You will, however, serve them well by having relationship education resources available for brides and grooms looking for help with more than vendors and venues.

Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce, and more than one-third of those occur when one or both spouses are between the ages of twenty and twenty four years old. According to the Journal of Family Psychology, premarital relationship education is associated with higher levels of marital satisfaction, lower levels of destructive conflicts, and higher levels of interpersonal commitment to spouses. A study in the March 2006 issue suggests that couples who receive premarital education have a 31% lower chance of divorce.

The Certified Wedding Planner is uniquely positioned to lead newlyweds into a better understanding of what it takes to maintain a healthy relationship. If you focus your clients on planning their wedding as well as preparing for their marriage, you will do your part to help continue to lower the divorce rate and strengthen the institution of marriage as well as our society in general.