Prepare for the marriage, not just the wedding.

 

A strong marriage begins with intentional preparation. Whether you are discerning an engagement or already planning your wedding, pre-engagement and pre-marriage counseling offers space to slow down, ask meaningful questions, and grow in both relationship and faith.

 

Using the SYMBIS (Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts) Assessment as a foundation, couples explore the unique dynamics of their relationship—including communication, conflict, personality, finances, family of origin, intimacy, expectations, and shared vision for marriage. SYMBIS is designed to give couples a personalized roadmap and is used with couples who are pre-engaged, engaged, or already married.

 

But the work doesn't stop with an assessment.

Hill and Holler Formation weaves practical relationship preparation together with spiritual direction, creating a place where couples can consider not only how they want to love one another, but who they are becoming together.

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Six Sessions of Intentional Preparation

Across six sessions, couples will have the opportunity to:

• Know yourselves more deeply — explore personality, strengths, differences, histories, and the experiences that have shaped each of you.

• Understand your relationship — discover patterns in communication and conflict and learn how your differences can become places of growth rather than division.

• Talk about the things that matter — money, family, sex and intimacy, expectations, work, faith, children, and the ordinary decisions that shape a shared life.

• Practice the work of repair — learn how to navigate conflict with honesty, curiosity, grace, and a commitment to reconnect.

• Discern your shared vocation — consider what God may be inviting you to become together and what kind of marriage you hope to cultivate.

• Attend to your spiritual life — make room for prayer, reflection, silence, discernment, and an awareness of God's presence within your relationship.

 

The SYMBIS Assessment itself takes approximately 30–35 minutes for each person to complete individually, and the resulting report provides a personalized framework for conversation.

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A marriage is more than a milestone.

It is a way of becoming.

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Hill and Holler Formation offers couples a place to prepare thoughtfully for that becoming—to look honestly at where you are, listen for where God may be leading, and begin building the habits of love, friendship, communication, prayer, and grace that will sustain you through the seasons ahead.