Being engaged is such a special time during your life, because for a hot second you’re a new fiancé… then you’re a wife! I truly believe it’s so important to carve out  time to prepare for such a big change, even in the midst of wedding planning. One of the best ways to do that is to learn and dive into some incredible books that will challenge you as you walk into a new stage of life. These are books that Michael and I read while we were dating and engaged that helped in different areas so much! Here are three books I highly recommend for anyone, whether you’re single, dating or engaged:

The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God by Timothy Keller. If you’re looking for a book that lays out exactly why marriage was created, what it’s for, and every aspect of what it’s about, this book does exactly that!! It goes really in depth about a lot of different topics. It will feel like an overload of information, but if you take the time to read it, it is so, so good. It is coming from a Christian perspective, but even if you don’t have the same beliefs, I believe there are a lot of really good things you can take away from it. It also gives a lot of advice on how to deal with different areas of your marriage once you’re married. Highly recommend if you’re looking for something that goes deep and covers a lot of aspects of what marriage is.

The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman. I have always known about the 5 love languages, but this book goes more in depth about all of them and how people feel loved.

In case you aren’t familiar with it, the idea is that everyone has a primary “love language”. There are five of them: words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, acts of service, and receiving gifts. Most people have one that makes them feel the MOST loved, so knowing which one is important to your significant other can really help you to love them in the way that makes THEM feel really loved.

It’s more natural for you to do things that you like receiving, but not as natural to love how the other person receives love best. For example, my primary love language is acts of service. So when someone does something for me (runs an errand for me, or goes out of their way to help me), it means the world to me! When Michael (or anyone) is continuously doing things like that, it makes me feel so special. Michael’s primary love language is a mix of quality time and physical touch. He feels the most loved when I am spending time with him, giving him my undivided attention, and giving him lots of hugs and kisses. :)

101 Questions to Ask Before You Get Engaged by H. Norman Wright. This one is definitely geared more towards couples who are dating or engaged, so if you are, then I highly recommend it!! There are a lot of questions you probably already know about each other, but also a LOT you probably haven’t even thought to ask. A lot of the questions are really deep and cover a lot of different issues, and definitely things you should know about each other if your relationship is moving forward. Michael and went through these questions while we were dating as a part of our weekly Bible study. We would also make one of the questions our “topic” for when we would go out on dates.

Comment down below and let me know your favorite marriage/dating books you’ve read! :)