Weekend to Remember conference - Is it worth the cost?

[StPauliGirl]

I would love to hear feedback on this conference. Is it really worth hundreds of dollars? Is it best for folks who are having real troubles or is it worth it if things are going pretty well? Did you feel it was necessary to stay at the hotel or did you commute? Thanks for any input.

[robin]

Yes it's worth it.

If it's your first time you may be able to get a scholarship. Try calling their number or speaking to your church coordinator.

We lived 60 miles from the conference site so we drove the first night and got a motel for our "date night".

It was life changing. I hope you get to go!

[lovinmyman]

Yes, it is worth it, but we didn't pay the whole price. We went when pastor's got their registration free. All we had to pay for was the hotel for 2 nights and our meals.

I would gladly pay the whole fee today and go again. We went back before my awakening, and I'd love to go again now that it would actually mean more to me!

[steve42]

I echo the statements above. I think every Christian couple should go once. If you get something substantial out of it, volunteer to help the next year, as the material doesn't get refreshed every year.

Our second time through wasn't as meaningful for me because of that. It has been a couple of years now, so I would lilke to go back.

[SmallTownClown]

Greetings:

If I heard correctly, Dave Ramsey put in a plug on his show for WTR - I think it was even his voice.

sTc

[MapleSyrup]

Wow, just found out this conference is available in Canada!

( http://www.familylifecanada.org/W2R.html )

I also just figured out that hotel rates, plus conference fees, plus meals, plus gas would end up costing us about $800 for 3 DAYS!!

Sheesh. I'd like to go, but that's going to have to wait a few years. Either the price has to come down, or my paycheck has to go up!

[Mr. Rkt]

We went to one in Cleveland about 5 or 6 years ago. The conference was a financial commitment to be sure, but the hotel had a special price for the conference. I'm thinking we had a couple hundred dollars, maybe $250 in the package. We set some money aside and splurged on the date night, too. Cleveland is about a 2 hour drive from here, so the gas wasn't that big a deal.

It was a watershed in our marriage. We had been married around 9 years at the point, and had been reaching for some kind of progress in our emotional and spiritual intimacy for a year or two at that point. I believe that what culminated in our awakening in October 2006 actually started at the WTR conference. So many things unsaid came to the front, so many walls we didn't even know were there started to crumble.

As for going back, it's true that the conference workshops follow pretty much the same material. We used the FamilyLife tape series for an adult Sunday School class the next year, and it was a series of talks by Dennis Rainey back in the 1980's, and was pretty much exactly what was covered at our workshops nearly 20 years later. They found something that works, and they have stuck with it.

[notgod]

We went last Fall. It was good. The best part for us was the time to focus on our marriage. The material is Ok--it could be better. I think the quality of the presenters is the deciding factor. If they are average or below it can end up seeming dry and slow.

I honestly think you could get the book and go spend a weekend on your own and you'd get just as much out of it for less money.

[Mr. Rkt]

We went last Fall. It was good. The best part for us was the time to focus on our marriage. The material is Ok--it could be better. I think the quality of the presenters is the deciding factor. If they are average or below it can end up seeming dry and slow.

I honestly think you could get the book and go spend a weekend on your own and you'd get just as much out of it for less money.

There's a book you can buy? Is it the same title?

DH and I are gg on a second honeymoon soon and I want some good reading material for us to focus on us... I don't want the same ole same ole so I wonder if this would be a good way to go?

I don't know if there is a book you can buy. The entire series is on a video series produced by FamilyLife, and was taped about 20 years ago. The companion book is an outline of the course material, and some assignments. We kept our material (which is full of notes) and get it out now and then to review some of our answers as they have evolved.

[GrantUsGrace]

DW and I went last year. Frankly, I was disappointed. While the presentation was very well done, the actual content was nothing more than a rehash of all the teaching on Christian marriage that we've received over the last 25+ years.

As a weekend away, it was great. As a chance to talk over some things, it was good. As a time to learn something new, it was a bust.

If I had to pick a conference to attend, I'd opt for either Love and Respect (I've seen it on DVD, but have not attended) or possibly a Couple's Enrichment Weekend from the Passionate Marriage people. (Warning: Couple's Enrichment Weekend is "open to married and unmarried couples of all sexual orientations" so if that will bother you, then don't go. Also, I haven't been myself, but have read the Passionate Marriage book 3 times and listened to the CDs more times than I can count. I'm a big fan of the approach, but be a little careful about the Weekend.)

[tennisnut]

We just went two weekends ago and it was money WELL spent. There are just some things you can't put aprice on and your marriage is one of them. I don't think we would have gotten nearly as much out of reading the book ourselves. I also believe that spouses respond better to advice, even when it's something they know to be true in their hearts, hearing it from someone who's unbiased. Good luck, I hope you go and enjoy yourselves as much as we did.

[Sthlakehubby]

We went over Valentine's Day weekend, and I was highly disappointed with their discussion on physical intimacy. Due to the lack of discussion, it seemed to reinforce my wife's view that this part of the marriage is not that important. Looking back, it would have been more productive for us to just get away by ourselves for a weekend.

[Ojb21]

We just got back from this conference and we were extremely disappointed. Not only is it extremely expensive (hotel, date, parking, registration, tickets, etc) I was expecting some emotional, life changing advice. It was all the typical things we’ve heard forever. I learned nothing new. I wish they would have given great advice about about how to deal with real life conflicts, kids, etc. instead they followed the workbook completely and suggested for us to buy the books they were talking about to go into depth. I could’ve gotten the workbook they gave out and went through everything and realized they weren’t going to give out good information.

Want to know what it was about?
Basically you have to deal with every problem, argument, thought, etc in the most perfect way possible to have your marriage work.

We kept going to the sessions (that seemed extremely long and boring in extremely uncomfortable chairs, not to mention you aren’t able to interact with your spouse??? How are you supposed to connect with them if you can’t even talk to them LOL) and we decided not to go to the last session on the last day because we realized there was nothing to get out of it. I feel like if they made it more interactive, applied real life situations, etc that it would have been a lot easier to get through and it would have been worth it.

I feel like a kid free weekend alone with your spouse would have done much more work than what this conference did. It actually created more conflict between my spouse and I.