The Utah Marriage Handbook - Stronger Marriage

Congratulations!
You’ve made a commitment to join in marriage with a very special
someone. Marriages happen in different ways and at different
times for different people. You may be young, middle-aged, or a
senior. This may be your first marriage or your second or third.
You may have children, or you may be gaining a stepchild. You
may get married in a home, a church, a synagogue, a temple, or
a courthouse. While no two marriages look exactly
alike, all people enter marriage with similar hopes.
You want your marriage to be successful, happy, and long-lasting.
You want to be friends, lovers, and partners for life. You have a
vision of taking care of each other as you grow older and being
there for each other through life’s ups and downs.
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Something you may realize already is that strong, healthy, long-lasting marriages
don’t just happen on their own. They happen when two people are intentional
about their marriage. That means each person makes
an effort to build strong bonds with his or her spouse
and work together so that each feels valued, supported,
and connected. A healthy, happy marriage and family life
are great for you and for your children. As you enter into
this new phase of your life, there are things you can do to
help create the kind of marriage and family life everyone
hopes for.
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Did you know there’s information available that can help you build a healthy
marriage? Although some people have seen wonderful examples of healthy
marriages and have learned a lot from watching other couples, others may
not have seen great relationships or may not fully realize what it is that builds
strong marriages even if they have seen them.
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Did you know there’s been a lot of research about
the kinds of things that people do that lead to
strong, long-lasting marriages? This handbook is designed
to share some of that information with you. Some of this might
confirm what you’re doing already; some of this might be new,
helpful information.