of the Roman Catholic Church

All marriage preparation begins with your pastor. All couples preparing for marriage in the Diocese of Salt Lake City will first need to contact their local parish and schedule a meeting with the Pastor or his designate. This person will help you with gathering the necessary papers. This is standard for all couples including those getting married outside the diocese. 

Please plan 6-12 months in advance to provide time to complete your marriage preparation requirements and paperwork.

Marriage Prep Requirements

Marriage preparation requirements in the Diocese of Salt Lake include first and foremost, meeting with your pastor. When your pastor (or designate) informs you to begin registering for your marriage preparation classes, you will need to register for the classes below. 
All couples getting married in the Diocese of Salt Lake City are required to complete the following (this includes convalidations):

1. Marriage Preparation (Pre-Cana) classes/retreat
2. Natural Family Planning (NFP) Intro Session

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Marriage preparation (pre-cana) Classes/Retreat

Catholic Engaged Encounter is the primary marriage prep program of the diocese. This is a weekend retreat (Saturday & Sunday) and is a commuter weekend, meaning couples do not stay overnight. The couples commute to the retreat on Saturday, go home Saturday evening, and return on Sunday. The CEE weekend retreat takes place in the Salt Lake area. 

There are typically 5 weekend retreats per year, and they fill up quickly. Couples should register early!

Language Available: English only

Learn more, see their schedule and register here: https://saltlakecity.engagedencounter.com/

Alternative to Catholic Engaged Encounter
Some engaged couples are separated by distance, in the military, or need marriage prep in Spanish. Catholic Marriage Prep Online is a one-on-one, self-paced, mentor-led program that also meets the requirements for marriage preparation in the diocese. Completion of 9 assignments is required over the course of 4-6 weeks.

This option does cost more than a Catholic Engaged Encounter retreat.

NOTE: There is an Urgent Care option available (additional fee) which can be completed in 2-4 weeks. 

Languages Available: English, Spanish and French

Pastor approval is required for this alternative program. Upon approval, a diocesan-specific link is provided to the couple.

Convalidations
There is also an alternative option for those couples already civilly married seeking a Church wedding. Some of these couples may still benefit from a Catholic Engaged Encounter Weekend Retreat, while other civilly married couples may benefit more from the Convalidation course through Catholic Marriage Prep Online.
Pastors who approve of the online, one-on-one, self-paced, mentor-led convalidation program, should email the Marriage & Family Life Office. Upon approval, a diocesan-specific link is provided to the couple.

Premarital Couple Inventory
It is not required; however, highly recommended that couples also complete a premarital couple inventory/assessment with the pastor, deacon or other trained facilitator.

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natural family planning (NFP) Intro Session

A Natural Family Planning intro session is required for all couples getting married in the diocese. Couples must register for a class to attend and registration is required!

If you cannot attend an in-person NFP Intro Session, please contact your Pastor for authorization to take an online Intro Session.

*If you have Spanish only couples, contact the Family Life Office at [email protected]

All Diocesan NFP Program practitioners have been trained through a certified, and approved program. 

To register, couples should go to:  https://www.dioslc.org/nfp

The Vocation of Marriage

Marriage is a vocation, inasmuch as it is a response to a specific call to experience conjugal love as an imperfect sign of the love between Christ and the Church. Consequently, the decision to marry and to have a family ought to be the fruit of a process of vocational discernment (no. 72).  -Pope Francis (Amoris Laetitia)

Information and Resources

Are you discerning your vocation? Would you like to learn about the Church’s teaching on marriage?

Here you will find a host of resources to help in your discernment and formation on God's plan for marriage.

For Your Marriage by the USCCB

The Vocation of Marriage
Catholic Marriage FAQs
Church Teachings on issues related to marriage
Vatican: Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis To Married Couples for the "Amoris Laetitia Family" Year 2021-2022
Vatican: Amoris Laetitia: Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Vatican: Familiaris Consortio: Apostolic Exhortation Pope John Paul II on the role of the Christian family in the modern world.
Catechism of the Catholic Church: The Sacrament of Matrimony
USCCB: Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan: A Pastoral Letter

"God calls you to make definitive choices, and he has a plan for each of you: to discover that plan and to respond to your vocation is to move toward personal fulfillment. God calls each of us to be holy, to live his life, but he has a particular path for each one of us. Some are called to holiness through family life in the sacrament of Marriage."  -Pope Francis