Beyond the Wedding Day
Take a day out from wedding prep – and enjoy the marriage you’re building.
There’s a lot to think about when you’re planning a wedding.
Beyond the Wedding Day is a relaxed, Christ-centred day for Christian engaged couples to step away from wedding planning and give some real attention to you as a couple – what is already good between you, the marriage you’re building, and some simple habits that can help you keep building it for years to come.
We’ll spend time in Scripture, meet other couples preparing for marriage, explore practical relationship tools, and give you plenty of space for Knee-to-Knee Conversations that are just between the two of you.
Saturday
21 November 2026
11 AM – 4.30 PM
G+PP Church Gorgie, Edinburgh,
EH11 2NX
£98 per couple
Lunch included
There is already plenty there.
Things you love about each other. Ways you make each other laugh, support one another and enjoy being together. Shared experiences. Things you’ve learned about each other. Hopes for the future. Little traditions that are already becoming part of you.
We want to start there.
Whatever is true,
whatever is noble,
whatever is right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable
– if anything is excellent or praiseworthy –
think about such things.
Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
Bella & Roman 2008
In 2025, 17 years later
We’ve created the day we would have liked to attend.
We’ve been married for 18 years, and we were blessed to have a really good start. Before we got married, a couple from our church spent time with us preparing for marriage. We still remember those conversations, and we’re grateful for how well they prepared us for so many aspects of sharing a life together.
Eighteen years later, there are also things we know now that we would have loved to talk about then.
Some of them come from our own experience of marriage. Some from around 10 years in Christian ministry. And some from what we’ve learned through our work with couples and relationship research.
So when we began thinking about Beyond the Wedding Day, we asked ourselves: What kind of day would we have loved to add to the marriage preparation we had?
That’s the day we’ve created.
A day grounded in Scripture, with plenty of time to actually talk. A day to notice and enjoy what is already good between you, look ahead to the marriage you’re building, and explore some practical ways of caring for it along the way.
We’re Bella & Roman. Through RelationWise, we support Christian couples from preparing for marriage, through strengthening their relationship, to coaching when something needs attention. Bella is also a trained relationship counsellor.
“Watching how you two communicate and
work together as a couple was inspiring.”
Margaret & David
RelationWise workshop participants
What are you building together?
Your wedding is one day. Your marriage will be made up of thousands of ordinary days.
So we’ll look beyond the wedding and give you space to talk about the life you want to build together.
- What do you hope will characterise your marriage?
- How do you want following Jesus to shape the way you love each other?
- What matters to you as you think about home, work, money, family, intimacy, friendship, rest, church and everything else that becomes part of sharing a life?
You don’t need to arrive with all the answers. We simply want to help you have some really good conversations.
Some conversations together.
Some just between you.
We don’t want you sitting and listening to us for five hours. We’ll move between Scripture, relationship insights, practical tools and conversation. You’ll meet other Christian couples preparing for marriage and have some relaxed conversations together. And then there will be Knee-to-Knee Conversations. We’ll invite you to turn towards each other, give you a few carefully chosen questions, and then will out of the way. Those conversations are yours.
We talk together about marriage.
We talk with our partner about our marriage.
You won’t be expected to share personal things about your relationship with the group.
“We really appreciated taking time to think about how our marriage can grow and how we can speak with kindness to one another in a biblical and God-honouring way. It also made us think more intentionally about how we initiate conversations with each other.”
Peter & Alicia
RelationWise workshop participants
We’ll practise STAR together.
During the day, we’ll introduce you to STAR – a simple weekly conversation for couples. It’s one of the most helpful tools we’ve learned in our own marriage. Rather than just telling you about it, we’ll practise it together. It’s something you can begin while you’re engaged and carry into married life – making regular space to turn towards each other, stay connected and keep talking as life changes.
You don’t have to wait until something is wrong to give attention to your relationship.
And yes, we’ll talk about the difficult stuff too.
Looking for the good doesn’t mean pretending everything is always easy.
You’re two different people building one life together. There will be differences, misunderstandings, pressure and moments when you don’t quite understand each other. We’ll explore what can happen between us when things get difficult, how we can stay curious rather than becoming opponents, and what can help us reconnect. The personal conversation stays where it belongs – between the two of you.
“The most significant difference for us was learning a framework for having more respectful and healthy discussions when raising difficult issues. The idea of using code words when conversations start to go off track was new to us and really helpful.”
Rebekah & Tim
RelationWise workshop participants
Take home a practical grab-and-go resource.
A Month for Us: Wedding Edition
30 short conversations about life together.
For one month, we invite you to engage around 10 minutes a day with Scripture, a conversation starter and, on some days, a practical relationship tool. No big preparation. Just pick it up and keep the conversation going.
30 days.
10 minutes a day.
One month for the two of you.
Practicalities
Saturday 21 November 2026
11am–4.30pm
G+PP Church Gorgie,
Edinburgh,
EH11 2NX
£98 per couple
Light lunch and 30 Day challenge included
Maximum
12 couples.
A few things you might be wondering.
Not with the group. We’ll talk together about marriage, but conversations about your relationship stay between the two of you.
No. This is a positive, practical day for couples preparing for marriage. We’re not going to analyse your relationship or ask you to talk about it in front of other people.
Absolutely. We’re not trying to replace the marriage preparation your church may already have given you.
Think of this as a chance to look at your relationship from a different angle, take a day out from wedding preparations and have conversations you may not have had before.
No. The day is for Christian couples preparing for marriage, whatever church you’re part of.
The event will take place in the Small Hall of G+PP Church, 190-192 Gorgie Road, Edinburgh, EH11 2NX.