Office of Family & Respect Life

Engaged Couples

Congratulations on your engagement! The Diocese of Sacramento is excited to prepare and walk with you toward your weddding day! Below, you'll find an overview of the marriage preparation process, designed to help you grow together and prepare joyfully for the Sacrament of Marriage.

 

Initial Contact

Every couple preparing to marry in the Diocese of Sacramento—whether for a first marriage, convalidation, or remarriage—is asked to complete a diocesan-approved marriage preparation program within the first four months.
We encourage couples to contact their parish priest, deacon, or pastoral minister at least six months before their wedding date, and as early as possible. An assigned mentor couple or pastoral minister will accompany you throughout the preparation process.
If you don’t yet belong to a parish, click here to find one.
 

Assessment Process

Couples are asked to participate in an assessment process with the priest, deacon, or pastoral minister, designed to assess the engaged couple’s readiness for marriage. As part of the process, each engaged person is to complete a questionnaire or inventory tool. 

Inventory tools approved by the Diocese of Sacramento:

 A decision to proceed with, or delay, the wedding is made by the facilitator and the couple following the assessment process. The wedding date will be finalized only at this time.

Required Documents

As you begin the marriage preparation process you will need to gather and submit some documents. 

Find the list of required documents “HERE" 

All documents are to be kept on file at the parish where the wedding takes place.

Formal Marriage Preparation Programs 

(1) Parish-based marriage preparation class. Parish-based marriage preparation class. This option is recommended by the Diocese. Classes consist of four to six short sessions (one to two hours) usually spaced a week apart, held in small group settings at a host parish

Resources: 

(2) Engaged Encounter Weekend. If a parish-based option isn’t feasible, couples may attend an Engaged Encounter Weekend led by married Catholic couples and a priest. The retreat offers time for reflection, communication, and deeper preparation for marriage. One in-person session will take place to review the weekend, facilitated by the person or couple who is accompanying them through the process. More information can be found at SacEE.org. 
 

(3) Online Marriage Preparation. Online course option is allowed at the discretion of the pastor. One in-person session will have to take place to review the material. Session is facilitated by the person or couple who is accompanying them through the process.

Natural Family Planning Overview Session

Natural Family Planning (NFP) helps couples understand and responsibly work with their God-given fertility to achieve or postpone pregnancy while honoring the unitive and life-giving meanings of marriage. As part of marriage preparation, couples receive at least one hour of NFP information and discussion from a trained NFP instructor or couple. A certificate of attendance is provided and submitted to the pastor or his delegate.

List of NFP instructors in the Sacramento area 

https://www.scd.org/family-and-faith-formation/local-nfp-teachers. 

If an instructor is not available from this list, the couple may receive this introductory class from a certified instructor outside of the Diocese in either a live class setting or on-line.  

Diocesan approved online NFP courses can be done either through the

Creighton Model (CrMS) Intro Session.  This is a one-hour Introductory Session offered via Zoom with a Certified FertilityCare Practitioner.  Virtual meetings are held the first Monday of the month.  Session are in English. For Spanish, please email aarevalo@scd.org to learn about options. Certificate of completion is emailed after the course.

Couple to Couple League (CCL).  This introductory course is a self-paced, video module program led by certified instructors. Natural Plan covers the what and why of NFP and offers an overview of all NFP methods, giving participants the knowledge if they choose to further explore a specific method. Completing this course gives you access to Natural Plan Couple's Guide and Downloadable, a 60 Day Trial PeakDay App for new users, and $25 discount toward CCL's full-method class. Courses offered are in English and Spanish. 

Additional Parish Requirements

In addition to the above requirements, there may be additional requirements of the particular parish.

For additional details, guidance, resources, and pastoral forms for a variety of marriage preparation circumstances please see the Marriage Preparation Policy.