Today, in order to have a church wedding, most denominations require that couples attend a series of lectures on marriage preparation. The goal is to curtail the high divorce rate by confronting couples with the realities of marriage.

Since most marriages occur between May and August, let’s see what resources the Internet offers for preparing couples of marriage.

An excellent place to start is Marriage Preparation - Weddings at the Mining Company. The site features link after link to marriage preparation websites, including compatibility quizzes, tools for building a strong marriage, and resources for couples online.

Being able to communicate is crucial to any marriage, and the Bride and Groom Communication Online-Marriage Preparation website offers an online solution. Couples can join an e-mail discussion group to discuss potential problem areas. Access a listing of articles for engaged and married couples, such as Beginning Your Marriage, and Instruction before Marriage.

The 1995 Chinook Marriage Preparation page is a no-nonsense website loaded with helpful information. As it says at the website: "What counts is a couple's ability to communicate: To work through conflicts, express feelings, and make decisions wisely and respectfully. And what counts is that these skills can be taught."

At the Marriage Builders website, you'll find an article on Preparing for Marriage by Dr. William Harley. The entire Marriage Builders website is impressive, with resources for both engaged and married couples.

Besides being prepared for the realties of marriage, engaged couples must plan the wedding ceremony itself. One of the best wedding preparation websites is The Knot. The site offers ideas and advice for every aspect of a wedding, including etiquette and even makeover tips and tricks. You can preview 8,000 different wedding dresses online!

At the Wedding Channel, you can provide information about yourself and your wedding, such as how much you're willing to spend and how many people you want to invite, and the budget planner will calculate the approximate cost of your wedding. Read Invitations 101 to learn how to choose the perfect wedding invitation.

An interesting twist to planning a traditional wedding can be found at the Medieval and Renaissance Wedding Information Page. Learn of traditions and ceremonies that can be implemented, or get ideas for attire, flowers, the reception, or the wedding feast.

Finally, visit the Ceremony Music Resource Page to choose music for your wedding, or listen to sound clips over the Internet.

Robin Nobles is a freelance writer who can be reached at robinnobles@robinsnest.com.

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