Nashville Marriage Studio

Are you getting married within the next year? Want to do something now that will help prepare you for your future?

Then join us for a Bound Together Workshop at Wedding 101 at The Factory in Franklin!

Nashville Marriage Studio and Wedding 101 would like to invite you to spend a Saturday learning about what it takes to have a successful marriage and feel even more confident with your decision to get married.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

What kind of attitude do you need for a great marriage?

Can we really feel closer after a fight?

If you’re looking for comprehensive education on all things married life then sign up for this workshop today!
And don’t forget that in Tennessee getting premarital education
will save you $60 on your marriage license.

Details:
Location – Wedding 101 in  The Factory in Franklin, TN
Date – Saturday, July 17th
Time – 10am – 3pm
Fee – $100
Space is limited, so email Marie McKinney Oates as soon as possible to register (marie.mckinney@gmail.com)

Are you a married couple in the Nashville area? Looking for a way to reignite the passion and sense of partnership that existed on the day you said “I do”?

Then Spark just might be for you.

Love, Milk & Honey is debuting a new marriage retreat that encourages you to treasure your marriage in new and unique ways. For example, you’ll be given an interior design consultation, a photography session with Ulmer Studios,  and a tailored date night (that you both just get to show up at!) and various advice and talks regarding marriage.

How stinkin’ cool and “out of the box” thinking is this? I love it.

The retreat will be happening on August 20-22nd at Aloft Hotel in Franklin.

If you’re into creative ways to strengthen your marriage then I’d seriously check it out – Registration Info.

I’m so excited to announce that the Young Adult Community at Tusculum Cumberland Presbyterian Church is sponsoring a

FREE

Relationship Enrichment Weekend for the community on May 21-22.

We’ll spend the Friday evening (May 21; 7-9 pm) talking about how personality differences impact your relationship and learning to love one another better by identifying each other’s love languages.

Saturday morning (May 22; 9-11:30 am)we’ll get back together to learn skills that will lessen the destruction in future conflicts. We’ll end the morning with an important talk for all couples about the role that sex and intimacy plays in your marriage.

This is a great weekend for couples at all stages: married, engaged (counts as pre-marital education for your TN marriage license discount!), or thinking about getting married. The variety of topics will give you both a great starting point for talking about what areas of your relationship could use improvement.

Tusculum Cumberland Presbyterian Church
477 McMurray Dr
Nashville, TN 37211

To register: Contact Nathan Wheeler  – call (615) 833-0742 or email nathantyac@gmail.com

It all started with a tweet. A tweet from Joy Wilson about boudoir photography.

I became intrigued. I am a huge advocate of boudoir photography for ladies in committed and loving relationships with men that have earned the right to see your, um, goodies. There are so many ways boudoir photography can enrich your relationship, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

First, back to tweets and Joy. Our Twitter conversation led to email which led to a lunch date to talk about all things love, relationships and boudoir. Joy was an absolute delight. An ABSOLUTE delight. I immediately felt like we were old friends and it wasn’t long before we were planning a full-fledged Boudoir as Marriage Enrichment event.

We are now teaming up to present Beloved Boudoir Photography…

As you can see, Joy Wilson is a wonderful photographer whose gift is not simply her ability to capture beautiful photos that will allow you and your man to enjoy your unique sexiness. No, she also has the gift of a personality that allows you to feel comfortable and beautiful enough to truly enjoy something that many of us think we’d never have the guts to do. That, my friends, is talent.

Like I said earlier, I believe that boudoir photography can enrich your relationship in so many ways. Let me explain:

• Men experience sexuality through what they can see. Porn is not a billion-dollar industry for nothing, people. There is so much lost for a man’s sexual experience when we rush to cover our bodies or insist that the lights be turned off. Boudoir photography is a wonderfully creative way to let him see you in all your crazy sexy glory.
• This allows you to see yourself as a sexual being. Too often us women limit our definition of sexual attractiveness to Giselle Bundchen. It’s difficult to believe that our men enjoy the sight of our bodies because we’re so hung up on a roll here or some cellulite there. Boudoir is a wonderful way to fall in love with your body and see yourself in a whole new light.
• Vulnerability is what seals the bond between a couple. We can’t truly understand intimacy until we’ve taken a risk to share a part of ourselves that is typically hidden from others. This type of gift can be a wonderful way to symbolize the trust you have in your man, trusting that he will treasure and love, not only these photos, but you.
• I’m offering a discount on premarital counseling or education for anyone who partakes in this event. You can get $25 off of the Bound Together Workshop or 10% off of premarital counseling.

If you would like more details about Beloved Boudoir Portraits email Joy at joy@joywilsonphotography.com and be sure to check out all of her amazing work at Joy Wilson Photography.

The Bound Together workshop is perfect for:

• Couples who listen to Single Ladies and wonder “Why isn’t he putting a ring on it?” or “Should I put a ring on it?”. If you’re thinking about marriage this workshop helps you look at your relationship and see if you’re ready for the next step.
• Couples who are already engaged and haven’t been able to find a premarital counseling option because they don’t have a pastor or someone else to do their counseling.
• Couples getting married in the next couple of months and don’t have time to get traditional premarital counseling.
• Couples looking to have fun learning about their relationship and the ways to make it better.
• Couples who want to not only get premarital education but also want the opportunity to meet some of Nashville’s finest wedding vendors…

Yep, there’s a new feature being added to the Bound Together Workshop. Since joining StudioWed Nashville I’ve fallen into a wonderful family of wedding vendors that are eager to share what they know about marriage and wedding planning. After you get done learning about making your marriage a success you’ll have the opportunity to meet with a panel of wedding vendors that will help you do the same for your wedding day.

(Wedding panel for the next Bound Together workshop includes: A Delightful Day, Simply Stunning Events, Kristyn Hogan, Jonathan Campbell Photography, Phindy Studios, Photo Booth Nashville, Cosmo Creations)

Email me at marie.mckinney@gmail.com to register or to get more information!

Bound Together is a premarital education workshop that I offer for couples who are engaged or thinking about getting engaged.

I believe with all of my heart that if you have the time and finances to invest in premarital counseling you really should (considering the avg. wedding in Nashville costs $20,000 and 8 sessions of counseling ends up being $210 I’d like to think finances isn’t an issue for most). There are so many things to consider and talk about before you get married  and premarital counseling is a great way to have those conversations.

That said, I know and respect that some couples want to invest in their marriage, yet don’t have the time or money to do so right now. And that’s where the Bound Together Workshops come in.

Bound Together is a premarital education workshop where you’ll look at and learn to work with your personality and love language differences. You’ll learn how to avoid typical newlywed problems regarding sex and finances. We’ll also practice communication and conflict resolution skills that will help you feel closer and more in love (as if that’s possible, right?).

Now that you’re all kinds of psyched about going to the Bound Together workshop (or premarital counseling!) here are the details about the event -

Dates for 2010

March 12 & 13
June 11 &12
September 17 & 18
November 19 & 20

Location

StudioWed Nashville at 1200 Villa Place, Apt. 402, Nashville, TN 37212

Time

Each event starts on Friday night from 6pm to 8pm. We’ll wrap it up on Saturday from 9am to  12pm.

Fee

$100/couple

Who can attend

Any couple that is engaged or thinking about getting engaged. This is also great for newlyweds who wish they’d gotten premarital prep, but didn’t.

Participation will satisfy requirements for you Certificate of Completion of Premarital Education for you TN marriage license. And what I mean is that you get a $60 discount on your marriage license. Yes, saving your marriage AND your budget.

So I’m just getting back in town from a lovely visit with the in-laws. Driving to Mexico was a beast, but we survived. Yay.

Anyways, there’s is tons to catch you lovely readers up on, however the most pressing issue right now is Unabridged Bride. Sign up for it now!

Oh. I bet you want to know what this Unabridged Bride event is exactly. Of course you do.

Unabridged Bride is an event where all of you lovely brides will learn about everything to make that walk down the aisle as complete as possible. We’ll talk about:

• Planning a wedding
• Working with wedding vendors
• Staying fit
• Being a concious during the wedding planning process
• Financial management
• Planning for the future
• and Developing your relationship skills (you’ll need that in marriage, ya know)

We’ll be at Weddings the Bridal Show on January 17th, so please come by and say hi. And sign up. For a discount. Everybody loves a discount.

If you’re still not sold on the idea check out these write ups from Ashley of Ashley’s Bride Guide fame and other Nashville brides who have participated in previous Unabridged Bride events:

Ashley at Ashley’s Bride Guide -
You’re Engaged! Now what? Series
What You Missed at The Inaugural Unabridged Bride Workshop

Krista at Becoming Mrs. Dial -
My 10-day Wedding Planning Recap, part 1

Cassandra at Sassy Bride on a Mission -
Unabridged Bride

Little Spoon at Big Spoon + Little Spoon -
Planning Tools via The Unabridged Bride Workshop
Thank You Unabridged Bride!

Sarah at Planning Sarah Elizabeth -
Emilie Friday (with a ps shoutout to Unabridged Bride)

So sign up and get your Unabridged Bride goodness on!

There are two types of couples in the world.

The ones who argue. And the ones who don’t.

I’ve never been part of a relationship that doesn’t argue, so I don’t have tons to say about them. I meet them all the time, though. They’re usually smiling and they look at each other and say things like, “Oh, we never argue.”

Sometimes I want to cry out “Bull poopie!” I mean, I can’t watch reality tv without getting emotional about something, so I wonder how on earth two people could be in a relationship where things were always smooth sailing. Honestly, though? I believe them. Some couples are made up of two easy-going people who aren’t necessarily inclined to fight or argue about much of anything.

Then there’s the rest of us. The rest of us argue. Some of us have small arguments all the time. Others of us have huge blow outs occasionally. Either way, many of us on this side of the fence wish we could be more like the other couples. I know I have wished that wish many times.

And then I read The Marry Blogger’s recent post about the I Promise Marriage Conference with the Smalleys and one of the nuggets of wisdom he gathered was this:

Disagreement is the doorway to better relationships. – Gary Smalley

Many of us arguing couples spend way too much time trying to find ways to stop fighting (i.e. hold it  in, focus on being more thankful, ignore your spouse) rather than trying to figure out how to use our disagreements in a productive way.
Disagreements are going to happen. Fights that end in The Ugly Cry are going happen. The question is do you know how to turn those moments in your relationship into the doorways that Gary Smalley is talking about? (Thank you so much for sharing what you learned, The Marry Blogger!)

If you’re one of the arguing couples that wants to turn your arguments into healing moments that cause your relationship to grow then check out the Bound Together Workshop. It’s geared towards couples who are about to get married, but it’s truly designed for any couple that wants to begin building a stronger relationship. The only additional perk for the engaged couple is that they get $60 off their TN marriage license.

The workshop is $99 and some change/couple if you register at the Eventbrite site. Use the discount code Blog to get 50% off.

Or just email me at marie.mckinney@gmail.com and let me know you guys are going to show up. Mention you read the Nashville Marriage Studio blog and I’ll sign you up for a flat $50/couple.

The last Bound Together Workshop of 2009 is on October 23rd & 24th at 241 Wilson Pike Circle, Brentwood, Tennessee.

What’s stopping you from turning that disagreement into a doorway?

Well, the last Bound Together Premarital Workshop of 2009 is upon us.

Exciting, right?

You can find out how the whole thing goes down on this page.

And you can go ahead and register by going here.

And you can find out if this workshop will fit your needs by, well, reading a little bit further…

Most premarital workshops give you tons of basic information that is helpful to any two people in a committed relationship. Premarital education, like Bound Together, invites you to discover your personality, your fiance’s personality, your love languages, and how to handle “hot button” issues like sex and finances.

Bound Together sets itself apart from the crowd, though. Bound Together has been re-designed to help couples who have already experienced difficult times in their relationship. Maybe there is a fight that you keep having. Or something in your relationship’s past that causes you to worry about your future. Maybe one or both of you have never seen a healthy relationship up close and you want to learn those skills before committing to forever.

Bound Together will do more than help a couple talk about a budget. This workshop will help you understand why those fights hurt so bad. This workshop will teach you the skills to have fights where you feel closer and more bonded to one another.

This workshop could be the first step towards the relationship of your dreams.

Go here to register for the workshop and use the discount code “BLOG” for a 50% discount.