Is it possible to get married in a catholic church..

Question

My fiance and I are both catholics..we were baptized...but we were never confirmed and we dont belong to a church..well he told me that he used to go to this church when he was younger but he doesn't go there anymore..well I was wondering is its possible to get married to a church even though you are not a member..if so would it cost anything and I hear you have to take marriage classes as well..are all churches like that?

Answer 1

Most Catholic churches do not require that you be confirmed, but almost all of them require pre-marital counseling with the priest ("pre-Cana classes") - I have never heard of a church that did not require them.

Many churches will allow Catholic couples to have a Catholic wedding there, even if they are not members, but the cost is substantially higher. I believe the member/non-member difference at my church is around $700 extra.

For all of the details, you will need to call the church you have in mind and ask. Each parish has the freedom to make some of its own rules.

Answer 2

That completely depends on the priest.  Some make you take classes where as some don't.  Most likely no matter what you will have to meet with the priest at least once and talk to him, he does need to make a few things clear.  As for money.  It always costs money to get married in or out of the church.  You are paying for the priest and the church, sometimes it a donation and sometimes it is a set price.  Good luck I would go and talk to the priest you would like to marry you.

Answer 3

It's going to depend on the church - every priest/congregation has different rules, so you're going to have to ask about that.

Many Catholic churches will charge a fee, and will likely include a confirmation and some pre-marriage classes in that. How much it's going to cost will vary - if it's a big or famous church (cathedral, basilica, etc.) you're looking at over $1000, but a smaller local church will be less costly.

If you become members of a church for a certain amount of time before asking about marriage services, you may be able to get a discount.

Answer 4

My husband and I are both catholic he did not make his confirmation and that was fine we only had to provide our baptism certificate ( you only need 1 other sacrament prior to marriage) . We also were not members of the church we were married in ( we did join however) but it cost more if you were not a member of the church.

our costs were

Church $300 ( for members)  $800 for non members

music $300 ( we had to use the church musician and singer)

Pre Canna Clases $150

"gift" for priest $150

Answer 5

If you don't go to church WHY would you want to get married in a church? Is it just for show?

This is a serious question. Even a priest or deacon would probably ask you that same question. Actually, the question "why do you want to get married in the Catholic church?" was a question in our Pre-Cana work book. If your answer is "because the church is pretty" or "because my parents did" or "because it just seems like the right thing to do", then your heart is not in the right place. I don't want to just give you the answer without you truly thinking about why you want to get married in the church, but the answer should be because a marriage takes 3. It takes you, your future spouse, and it takes GOD. The sacrament of matrimony cannot fully happen without God present.

You should fully understand the church's views on marriage and Canon Law before entering into marriage through the Catholic Church.

Now, to answer your question.

My church only asked for the baptismal certificate.

The packet I received from my church about the ceremony said that contributing members pay no fee and non-members pay a $500 fee to rent the church. There is also a fee for musicians, and a wedding coordinator. The officiant gets a donation, but consider the amount of time required to prepare you for marriage., If you have Mass, there are fees for alter servers, Eucharistic ministers, and Lectors (if needed).

Catholics require some pre-marital counseling before marriage, yes. There are several options. You must talk to a priest or deacon about your personal situation.

There is Engaged Encounter. It's a weekend long retreat that covers various topics for the couple to reflect upon and discuss. Issues that they may not have thought of before, such as communication, finances, values, the possibility of children, family, sexuality, etc. The Pre-Cana is a one day event that covers some of these topics as well. Or there is a sponsor-couple program. An already married couple in the church will be your and your future spouse's sponsor and meet with you over a period of several weeks about the topics. Some dioceses even require couples to attend a Natural Family Planning course. It's about how to plan naturally for a family without using contraceptives.

Money is the #1 cause for divorce. It needs to be highly stressed.

Answer 6

the answer you want is simple. but there are no simple answers.

why not just call the church?

better yet... go to mass and ask the priest afterwards. i bet he would be happy to chat with you.

Answer 7

This all depends on the church and their set of rules....

Since you are both baptized, you are already ahead of the game.  Many RC churches though require all the sacraments in order to get married and if you haven't had them all, you can take RCIA classes to get whatever ones you don't have--they usually run from October and end around Easter time and are an hour a week and really easy.

In addition, RC churches require Pre-Cana.  This is a pre-marriage class (sometimes one day, sometimes spread out through 2 or 3 days) that is usually run by a couple who have been married for a long time that pretty much just goes over things like communication, finances, etc....Some also have you go through a few pre-marriage counseling classes, which are completely painless and I highly recommend to ALL couples regardless of where you are getting married.

As for costs...some churches don't charge anything.  Others though will charge less if you are a member.

I suggest that you go to the rectory and make an appointment to talk to someone first.  This way, they can give you all the information and you can make an informed decision.

Answer 8

Most won't perform a marriage if neither of the couple is registered. Being confirmed is not necessary (but some priests require it anyhow). Pre-Cana is. It's possible that his parents' church or your parents' church might marry you, but I wouldn't give it good odds. The Catholic church generally does not support conferring sacraments on non-Catholics or non-practicing Catholics.

Answer 9

You would have to talk to a priest.  Each one would be different but they may require you to take a class in place of the confirmation.

The cost depends.  Usually the priest is about $200 and the church is can run between $200 and $2000 depending on the size, etc.

Catholics do have to attend marriage training before getting married.  Some churches have alternatives to the traditional Pre-Cana classes but again, you'd have to talk to the priest.

Answer 10

If neither of you attend church then why would you want to get married in a church?  Is it just for show?  Now to answer your question, yes all catholic churches are like that, you can talk to the father and attend classes to get confirmed before you get married, they all require you take classes, and all of them require you become members of their church in order to have the ceremony.  

Answer 11

As I understand it there are pre-Caanaan classes that Catholics take before they marry.

Not all churches are like that, but all Catholic churches are.

I'm wondering why you would want to marry RC if you don't have that belief.  Perhaps you should look into being married by another type of religion.  Or a Judge or Justice of the Peace.

If all you want is the location of a beautiful church, I doubt if they will allow it.