FOCCUS vs Prepare Enrich for Catholic marriage prep, cost and fit for parishes

FOCCUS and Prepare/Enrich do the same job in Catholic marriage prep: each is a premarital inventory that shows an engaged couple where they agree and where they need to talk. Prepare/Enrich lists $35 per couple. FOCCUS fees in the diocesan and campus listings we checked run from $25 to $50 per couple. Neither one is a course, so a parish still needs teaching content next to it.

This comparison is written for the person who has to decide: a pastor, a deacon, or the coordinator who inherited the marriage prep binder and a spreadsheet of sponsor couples. You probably have weddings on the calendar already and a diocesan policy that says "a premarital inventory" without telling you which. Below are the differences that matter in a parish office, the real costs we could find, and the gap both tools leave.

What FOCCUS and Prepare/Enrich have in common

Both are questionnaires each partner fills in alone. Both produce a report that a trained facilitator, often a married couple from the parish, goes through with the engaged couple over two or more meetings. Neither has a passing score. A couple cannot fail, and a priest does not use the result to decide whether to marry them.

That matches what the Church asks of preparation. The Catechism calls it of prime importance, so that the yes of the spouses is a free and responsible act (CCC 1632). An inventory serves the "responsible" half of that sentence. It puts the topics a couple has been avoiding on the table while there is still time to talk.

FOCCUS vs Prepare Enrich at a glance

Prices change, and the FOCCUS figures above are what individual dioceses and parishes charge couples, which can include a local markup. Confirm with the provider before you budget.

What each one costs a parish in practice

The per couple fee is the small number. The real cost is people.

For Prepare/Enrich, the $35 assessment fee comes straight from the company's FAQ, which adds that many facilitators pay it and fold it into what they charge. Facilitator certification is a one time cost per person or couple. The Diocese of Saginaw lists its workshop at $125 per person or married couple, with lunch and materials. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee lists a June 2026 session at $150 per facilitator.

For FOCCUS, we could not find a published national price, so the best evidence is what Catholic institutions charge. Creighton University's campus ministry lists $25 for the inventory plus a $100 stipend for the facilitator. One Florida diocese lists a one time $35 fee. Training listings from US dioceses range from $50 for materials in Charleston to $80 per couple in Green Bay and $100 to $150 in an older Scranton listing.

Put together, a parish with fifteen weddings a year spends roughly $400 to $750 a year on inventories with either tool, plus a few hundred dollars once to train two or three facilitator couples. The two are close enough on price that cost should not decide it.

Where FOCCUS fits better

Choose FOCCUS when you want the questionnaire itself to speak Catholic. Its statements ask directly about the sacrament, about raising children in the faith and about openness to life, which is where a priest's own questions go. The consent the couple will exchange is what makes the marriage (CCC 1626), and FOCCUS is built to surface whether both of them understand what they are consenting to.

It also fits a parish with varied couples. There is a separate inventory for convalidation, which matters if you regularly prepare couples who married civilly. Our page on Catholic marriage prep for convalidation covers what those couples need beyond the inventory. And FOCCUS is familiar: many diocesan family life offices have run its training for decades, so you can usually find a workshop within driving distance and a neighboring parish to ask.

Where Prepare/Enrich fits better

Choose Prepare/Enrich when your facilitators want more structure after the report. It comes with couple exercises on communication, conflict and finances that a volunteer can follow session by session, which is a relief for a new sponsor couple who would otherwise stare at a printout. Online certification in an afternoon also makes it easier to replace facilitators when a couple moves away.

It suits parishes with many interfaith weddings as well, because the non Catholic partner often finds a general assessment less foreign. If that is your situation, see how we handle Pre Cana for non Catholic partners. The trade off is that Catholic teaching on sexuality and fertility is not the tool's home ground, so the facilitator or the priest has to bring it.

What neither inventory does

Here is the part that surprises new coordinators. An inventory tells a couple that they disagree about children, or that neither of them can explain why the Church teaches what it does about contraception. It does not then teach them. The report is a map of conversations to have, and somebody still has to supply the content of those conversations.

Two areas are thin in almost every parish program built around an inventory alone.

The first is intimacy. The Church teaches that the acts by which spouses unite are noble and honorable and that they foster the self giving by which the two enrich each other in joy and gratitude (CCC 2362). Engaged couples have specific questions about that, and very few will raise them with a sponsor couple they met last month.

The second is fertility. The Church supports spacing children for just reasons through natural methods (CCC 2368), and an inventory can only record whether the couple has discussed it. Learning what the methods are takes real teaching time.

Some parishes fill the gap with a weekend retreat, some with a diocesan day, and some write their own handouts or even build a short intake questionnaire of their own to see what couples already know before the first meeting. The most common pattern in US dioceses is three parts: meetings with the priest or deacon, an inventory with a facilitator, and a formation program.

How we fit beside an inventory

We do not sell an inventory, and we will not pretend our program replaces FOCCUS or Prepare/Enrich. What the Catholic marriage preparation program for parishes gives you is the third part: the content.

On the Parish plan a coordinator enrolls up to 25 engaged couples a month by email. Each couple works through the 8 week Engaged program at home, with a short reading from Church documents, a video lesson, an exercise and conversation cards every week, including full weeks on fertility and on intimacy and the wedding night. The coordinator dashboard shows each couple's progress and quiz results, and when a couple finishes you download a PDF certificate for the marriage file. Questions a couple types into the assistant stay private to them.

The plan is $149 a month, or $74 a month billed yearly ($888). It is self serve: you create an account on the pricing page, pay by card and invite the first couple the same day. For a parish with fifteen weddings a year, that is about $59 per couple on the yearly plan, on top of whichever inventory you choose. A parish that only prepares two or three couples a year may do better pointing them to the Couples Program at $49 a month and keeping the inventory in house.

An honest limit: each diocese decides which programs it accepts, and we do not claim an approval we do not have. Ask your family life office before you rely on any outside program, ours included.

How to decide this month

1. Read the diocesan policy first. Some dioceses name one inventory. If yours does, the decision is made.
2. Count your facilitators. If you have experienced sponsor couples who are comfortable with Catholic teaching, FOCCUS plays to their strength. If you are recruiting new volunteers, the built in exercises in Prepare/Enrich lower the bar.
3. Look at who you marry. Many convalidations point toward FOCCUS. Many interfaith couples point toward Prepare/Enrich.
4. Decide what teaches the content. Whichever inventory you choose, write down what covers the sacrament, intimacy and fertility. Our guide to Catholic marriage preparation lists what a complete preparation should include, and the comparison of Catholic marriage prep programs by price and format covers the course options couples can take on their own.

Frequently asked questions

Is FOCCUS only for Catholics?

No. FOCCUS was developed in a Catholic setting and is most used in Catholic parishes, but couples of any background can take it, and it is used when one partner is not Catholic. The statements about faith simply show where the two partners stand.

How much does the FOCCUS inventory cost?

There is no single public price that we found. Catholic institutions that publish a fee charge couples between $25 and $50, and some include it in the wedding or preparation fee. Ask your parish what it charges and what that covers.

How much does Prepare/Enrich cost?

The company lists the assessment at $35 per couple. Facilitators often pay it and bundle it into their own fee, so what a couple actually pays depends on the parish or counselor. Facilitator certification is a separate one time cost.

Can you fail FOCCUS or Prepare/Enrich?

No. Neither is a test and neither has a passing score. The report shows areas of agreement and areas to discuss. A facilitator uses it to guide conversations, and the priest or deacon does not use a score to decide whether the wedding goes ahead.

Does a premarital inventory count as Pre Cana?

Usually it is one part of it. Most US dioceses ask for meetings with the priest or deacon, an inventory, and a formation program such as a retreat, a class or an approved course, and many add an introduction to Natural Family Planning. Your parish tells you the full list.

Do we need a course if the couple already took an inventory?

In most dioceses, yes. An inventory identifies what a couple needs to talk about, and a course or retreat teaches the content. Policies differ, so check what your diocese requires before you drop either part.

Whichever tool you choose, the aim is the same. The grace of the sacrament is meant to perfect the couple's love and strengthen their unity for life (CCC 1641), and good preparation helps them say yes knowing what they are saying. That is what Catholic intimacy and marriage, with honest answers is here to support.