Wedding Bells

Written by: Matt, Director of Care and Counseling

Planning a Wedding? Let's Start with the Marriage.

The faint sound of wedding bells is beginning to fill the air. If you or someone you know is planning a wedding within the next year, congratulations! At Gateway Church, we love celebrating weddings—but we care even more about helping couples build marriages that honor Christ for a lifetime. Every couple preparing for marriage at Gateway is paired with a mature, married couple from our church who will walk with you through biblical premarital counseling, encouragement, and prayer.

At Gateway, we believe your wedding day is important, but your marriage is even more important. Our desire is to help couples build Christ-centered marriages that will flourish for decades to come. That's why every couple married through Gateway participates in biblical premarital counseling. Together we'll explore God's design for marriage, strengthen communication, address potential areas of conflict, and establish a strong spiritual foundation before you say, "I do."

Because meaningful preparation takes time, we encourage couples to begin the process at least six months before the wedding, with four months serving as the minimum time required to complete the process. Starting early allows you to grow together without the added pressure of wedding planning and ensures plenty of time to complete your premarital counseling before your ceremony. We are even happy to begin premarital counseling before you become officially engaged.

The first step is to complete our Wedding Request Form, which officially begins the process. Once we receive your request, we'll contact you to learn more about you and your plans, answer any questions you may have, and begin preparing for both your ceremony and your marriage. We'll also review Gateway's wedding policies and expectations, which reflect our desire to honor Christ and care well for the couples we serve. Our goal is not simply to help you plan a beautiful wedding, but to equip you for a lifetime of faithfulness in marriage.

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