A new series called Then Comes Marriage will send three couples off on a luxury retreat under the watchful eye of relationship expert Dr Ray O’Neill and psychologist Allison Keating.

The series is billed as a pre-marriage course without the priests, although it is open to couples of all types, including long-term couples considering marriage – as well as divorcees, widows and widowers.

The producers say they have been inundated with hundreds of applications from couples in their early 20s, but want a spread of ages.

“We’d love more people a little older,” producer Stuart Smith told TheJournal.ie.

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Maybe people who have been together longer, maybe people taking the plunge a second or third time around, widows or widowers.

“The reason this show came about is people spend all this time planning for their wedding day,” Smith adds.

The women will have the dress planned, the wedding planned – sometimes even before they’ve met their man.

They haven’t discussed their finances properly, discussed whether they wanted kids, how many kids, and how to communicate and resolve problems – and this goes even for really chatty couples sometimes.

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Six episodes, featuring 18 couples, will air in mid-October.

“We’re looking for couples of all ages people at home can relate to and, with our relationships experts, give them the tools to have a long and happy life together,” Smith adds.

People are doing things the untraditional way these days, sometimes having the kids first, and maybe having a wedding further down the line.

Couples looking to part can apply at www.rte.ie/audiences or send an email to the producers at thencomesmarriage@indiepics.ie.

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