Premarital Assessment For Couples:  A Research-Based Starting Point for a Strong, Lasting Marriage

At Enrich Your Relationship, we believe couples benefit most when their relationship begins with clarity. For any couple wanting to strengthen their relationship or for those starting couples counseling before marriage or pre-engagement counseling, we offer a Premarital Assessment using the PREPARE/ENRICH method.

This assessment gives structure and direction from the very beginning, helping us focus on what truly matters in your relationship rather than taking a generic approach.

What Is the PREPARE/ENRICH Assessment?

PREPARE/ENRICH is one of the most trusted and widely used premarital assessment tools in the world. It is designed to adapt to each couple, tailoring questions to your specific relationship, backgrounds, and experiences.

Research shows that simply completing the assessment can increase relationship awareness and satisfaction. Thoughtful insight is often the first step toward lasting change, making this an ideal foundation for marriage-readiness counseling.

How the Assessment Works

Each partner will:

• Receive a unique access code via email
• Complete the assessment individually
• Spend approximately 30 uninterrupted minutes answering questions honestly

No studying or preparation is required. We encourage you to answer based on your real experience, not what you think the “right” answer might be. Once both partners have completed the assessment, the results are delivered immediately to your premarital counselor.

Reviewing Your Results Together

This is where the real value of PREPARE/ENRICH begins. We will review your results together and identify:

• Existing strengths in your relationship
• Patterns that may create tension or misunderstandings
• Areas that would benefit most from intentional growth

Using objective data combined with personalized feedback allows us to create a focused counseling plan. This approach supports healthier communication, effective conflict resolution for couples, and a reduced risk of future relationship distress.

What You Will Learn

Through the assessment and follow-up sessions (if you decide to continue with couples counseling), you will gain:

• Insight into how your partner thinks, feels, and processes
• Clarity around where you are already succeeding as a couple
• Understanding of how family background and upbringing influence your relationship
• Direction for building practical skills that support long-term connection

These insights allow us to customize your counseling experience, whether you are seeking pre-engagement counseling, couples counseling before marriage, or ongoing relationship support.

The Relationship Dynamics PREPARE/ENRICH Measures

Most couples describe their relationship in broad terms like "we communicate well" or "money is a little tense." PREPARE/ENRICH breaks those impressions into specific, measurable relationship dynamics so you can see exactly where you agree, where you differ, and where a small gap could grow into a recurring argument. Here is what the inventory actually measures:

• Communication. How openly and comfortably you share feelings, and how well each partner feels heard.
• Conflict Resolution. How you handle disagreements, whether issues get resolved or repeat, and how safe conflict feels.
• Financial Management. Spending and saving styles, money worries, and how you make financial decisions together.
• Affection and Sexual Expectations. Comfort discussing intimacy and how closely your expectations around affection line up.
• Values and Beliefs. Shared and differing views on faith, spirituality, and the principles you want to build a life around.
• Marriage Expectations. Whether your hopes for what marriage will be like are realistic and aligned.
• Relationship Roles. Assumptions about who does what, from household tasks to decision making.
• Leisure Activities and Friends and Family. How you spend free time, and how in-laws, friends, and family fit into your relationship.
• Couple and Family Maps. A structured look at your personalities, your closeness and flexibility as a couple, and the family patterns each of you carries in.

"The categories couples assume they are strong in are not always the ones the report confirms. Naming a difference early, before it becomes a fight, is the whole point."

With more than 1,200 published research studies behind it, PREPARE/ENRICH is one of the most thoroughly researched premarital counseling tools available today. That research base is also why the results are worth taking seriously: the categories were not chosen at random, they are the areas most closely tied to long-term marital satisfaction. Questions or want to talk through which package fits? Call (612) 205-6762.

What Your Results Report Looks Like

The assessment produces a customized couple report, and reading it together is where the insight lands. Rather than a single score, the report shows how you and your partner answered across each dynamic, side by side. During your feedback session, you will walk through:

• Strength and growth areas. Categories where your answers already line up well, and categories where a focused conversation would help most.
• Agreement items. The specific statements you both answered the same way, which show the shared ground you can build on.
• Discussion items. Statements where your answers differed, surfaced gently as talking points rather than problems to be graded.
• Personality and relationship scales. A read on each partner's style and on your closeness and flexibility as a couple.
• Family background. Patterns from the family each of you grew up in and how they may show up in your marriage.

The report itself is the starting point, not the finish line. In the PREPARE/ENRICH Full package we spend up to six sessions turning those results into practical skills, so the insight becomes something you can actually use.

Is PREPARE/ENRICH Christian or Faith-Based?

This is one of the most common questions we hear, and the short answer is no: PREPARE/ENRICH is not a religious program. The core assessment is secular and research-based, which is why it works well for couples of any faith, mixed-faith couples, and couples with no religious affiliation at all.

Either way, the Values and Beliefs category always gives space to talk about what you believe and how much it matters to each of you. Faith is part of the conversation when it is important to you, and it never gets forced on couples for whom it is not. That flexibility is a big reason the tool has held up across so many different kinds of couples.

Assessment Cost, Time, and Package Options

The assessment itself takes each partner about 30 minutes online, and results are ready as soon as you both finish. We include the assessment inside a package rather than selling it on its own, because the report is only as useful as the conversation you have about it. Package options include:

• PREPARE/ENRICH Full ($950). The online assessment, customized couple report, workbook, Love Languages quiz, and up to six 50-minute feedback sessions. Recommended for engaged, dating, and newlywed couples.
• Marriage license discount. Engaged couples in Minnesota who complete the program qualify for $75 off their marriage license fee.
• Additional sessions. Available at $175 for 50 minutes if you want to keep building skills after the package.

You can compare everything side by side on the packages page, or see the full inclusions on the PREPARE/ENRICH Full page. Not sure which one fits? A free 20-minute intro session is the easiest way to decide, and you can book it below or call (612) 205-6762.

Couple Counseling Options and Availability in Minnesota

Premarital and relationship counseling is provided by Sarah Kenville, LMFT, MA, JD. Sarah works with dating, engaged, newlywed, and same-sex couples throughout Minnesota and offers virtual premarital counseling for couples who prefer or need remote sessions.

She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and holds a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Sarah is passionate about helping couples enrich their relationships by identifying strengths, addressing growth areas, and building skills using the PREPARE/ENRICH assessment.

Contact Us Today to Schedule Your Premarital Assessment for Couples

If you are looking for a thoughtful, structured way to prepare for marriage, strengthen communication, and develop healthier patterns together, the PREPARE/ENRICH premarital assessment offers a proven and meaningful place to begin. Contact us today to begin your journey to a strong and lasting relationship.