Happy Monday, everyone! 🙂 If you’ve been around here and following our journey for long, you know that although Luke and I have a career in the wedding industry, ultimately, we believe that marriage is far more beautiful than any wedding ever could be, and that’s the foundation we’ve built our business on over the years! Of course, we’re all about not only providing pretty photos that launch of your legacy of love, but also about pouring into our couples as they prepare for marriage and start that journey together!!
With all that in mind, today on the blog, we’re sharing our top marriage books & resources with you guys!! These are some resources that have shaped our marriage so far (we aren’t too far behind our sweet couples- we said I do just 2 years ago!), and we’ve seen firsthand how investing in your marriage changes EVERYTHING for the better. Here is a quick recap of our very fave resources so far, as well as links for where to grab them for yourself!
Sacred Marriage
This book caused us to realize how powerful our marriage can be! It talks about how a good marriage is WORTH fighting for, and shows you how to practically fight for your marriage every day.
The Meaning of Marriage
This one is a must-read. It dives into God’s vision for marriage, and it’s one we highly recommend no matter if you’re single, dating, engaged, newly married, or have been married for a while!
Love & Respect
We read this book right before we got married, and it is amazing. We still talk about things we learned from it, and it’s a great one to chat through after you each read a chapter! The study guides online are wonderful, too.
The 5 Love Languages
Have you ever taken the time to figure out your love language with your fiancé or husband? This book will CHANGE THE GAME for you! 😉 Who knew it was possible to love your person in a way that seems meaningful to you, but could mean way less to them- just because of how they’re wired?! Life changing stuff, friends!
Marriage on the Rock
Disclaimer: We haven’t read this book, but our small group went through this study and the study guides together, and it is INCREDIBLE. Highly recommended!
31 Creative Ways to Love & Encourage Him/Her
These are SUCH fun little devotionals- they challenge you with a pre-thought-up way to tangibly love your spouse each day, and they’re phenomenal! The authors also came out with another marriage book recently, which is on our reading list!
The Navigator’s Council Marriage Journal
This marriage journal provides weekly questions that help you “check in” together and make sure you’re continuing to pursue one another! It’s an awesome thing to do each weekend (we love doing it on Sunday afternoon’s!) that only takes a few minutes, but keeps you accountable for the next week and helps you evaluate the past week, too! Beating 50 Percent’s blog also CHANGED our marriage- their posts and resources are beyond amazing!!
Learning About our Enneagram Types
We cannot share enough about how learning about our Enneagram types has helped our marriage, friends! WOW! We highly recommend diving into the Enneagram as a way to grow more in all areas of your life, but especially your marriage. This book, as well as this website, can help you figure out your type!
Marriage Sermons from The Porch
We LOVE listening to The Porch, a young adult ministry based in Texas! Their marriage sermons are UNREAL and very convicting. Go ahead and subscribe to their podcast, and you will not regret it!
Andy Stanley’s Sermon Series, “What Happy Couples Know”
This series is a must-listen!! We’re all about the practical stuff, both in life and in marriage, and this is just that. Andy dives into truths that we now use daily in our own marriage- please don’t miss this one!
Premarital Counseling Through Our Church
We recommend that all couples go through premarital counseling! For us, this looked like meeting with a wonderful couple our church matched us up with, and we learned so much from them! This can provide the foundation for an awesome mentor-relationship after your wedding, too!
TIP: If you aren’t a reader, there are audiobook versions of most if not all of these resources! Throw on a book or podcast while you’re driving, working out, cleaning, or traveling- that’s how we’ve consumed a lot of these resources!
That’s it, friends!! We hope these resources help you THRIVE in your marriage, whether you’re planning your wedding or have fond memories of your own! Have a favorite we haven’t read? Leave it in the comments below- we’re always searching for new ones!! ⬇️
Xoxo!
Caitlin and Luke
