Premarital Weekend

So you’re ready to get married, but… there are a few lingering issues you haven’t quite worked out.

It might be about how you and your partner will share finances or how close you’ll live to your future inlaws. It might be about how many kids you’ll have and who will be responsible for changing diapers and doing the laundry. Or it might be about how often you’ll have sex and whether your partner’s friends are a good influence on your marriage. The list goes on.

The reality is we never enter marriage with the “perfect” person.

And no marriage is smooth sailing each day. However, we can set ourselves up for success in marriage by having the tough – and too often avoided – conversations ahead of time. As the saying goes, what doesn’t get discussed before marriage, gets dealt with during marriage.

This is your opportunity to tackle the hard stuff early on.

Schedule a Premarital Weekend

A Premarital Weekend is an opportunity to tackle the hard stuff early on. Couples who take this opportunity experience fewer surprises down the road and are better equipped to resolve their differences when they arise.

So what will we do?

You and your partner will meet with Dr. Guttman for one to two full days (plus an evening session the week prior, and a follow-up session scheduled at your choosing). Together we’ll discuss the issues that most commonly impact young marriages, including those concerns you and your partner have already identified to Dr. Guttman - through preparatory consultation - as particularly sticky.

During a Premarital Weekend you’ll accomplish what otherwise takes 10-12 sessions (or more) of couples therapy after marriage.

What will you walk away with?

You’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of your partner’s “relationship DNA.” This means you’ll understand how your partner’s relational style will impact the decisions you make, whether about having kids or who washes the dirty laundry.

You’ll develop a roadmap for the tricky stuff, like how to manage finances, negotiate inlaw boundaries, and approach parenting. You will not have an answer for every disagreement that may arise in your future, but you will have a strategy for resolving those disagreements.

You will know how to have arguments that result in your coming together rather than growing farther apart.

Where does this take place?

Premarital Weekends are treated like a retreat.

All Premarital Weekends are held at Dr. Guttman’s office in historic Old Greenwich Village, home to Tod’s Point Beach and Park (pictured), boutique shopping, local bakeries and dining.

Couples coming from Manhattan take Metro North Railroad to Old Greenwich train station.