What to prepare for a catholic church wedding? How to secure your wedding date? What are the things that you have to know for your church wedding?

Church wedding planning can sometimes be overwhelming especially if you don’t want to pay a huge amount of money for a wedding planner. My husband and I refused to get a planner but we were still able to have an amazing wedding even if we did everything by ourselves.

When my husband proposed to have a church wedding, I thought planning for it will be easy since wedding checklists and apps are all available and easy to find. I read blogs about planning without hiring a wedding planner and downloaded every useful checklist that I could find, but it wasn’t enough. I learned so much from planning our own wedding and I want to share these important things for you to be mindful when you’re planning for a church wedding in New York.

We got married in a Catholic church in Queens, New York and had our reception in Long Island, NY. Our wedding shopping remained in those two boroughs but I believe the idea is the same in other cities.

Since we were doing a church wedding, our first priority was to find a church and secure a date that we like before we started shopping for venues and vendors. After all, you obviously need a date to get rates and negotiate if you have to. Some catholic churches will allow you to get married in their church even if you do not live in the area, some churches have a non-resident rate, others will require you to get a letter from your own parish and there are also a few that will not even consider this.

Some Catholic churches do weddings on weekdays and Saturdays but there are also churches that only do weddings on Sundays. It’s best to have a list of your date options and call the parish first. Most of the Catholic churches that I’ve called for our wedding and my sister in law’s wedding told us that we have to book our date 6 months in advance.

Here are the things that you have to do to secure your church wedding date:

Meet with your priest or deacon so he can fill up the Prenuptial Examination Form.

Some churches will require the Statements of Freedom to Marry. You can get this form at your local parish office and this should be filled out by a parent, sibling or close relative of the bride or groom, who can attest to his or her freedom to marry. One is needed for each the bride and groom.

A recently issued baptismal certificate dated within six months of the wedding.

A confirmation certificate. If you are not yet confirmed, inform your priest right away so you can attend a class and be confirmed.

A certificate of completion of Pre-Cana. If you are from New York, click here to check the dates and register. Please note that the dates fill up quickly.

In cases of inter-faith marriages, a Mixed Religion Dispensation or Disparity of Cult Dispensation is needed. This is done by the priest who is handling your paperwork.

A valid Marriage License. For couples who already had a civil wedding, a new license is still needed plus a copy of the marriage certificate should be provided.

Now that you have a date, you should also think about the following things:

Take note of the bible readings that you want to use for your ceremony.

Check with your parish if they have a singer and musician in their church for your ceremony.

Inform your priest if you have some traditions that you may want to include in your ceremony.

Ask your parish if they allow flowers to be thrown by your flower girls.

Ask your parish if they allow an aisle runner.

Ask the do’s and don’ts for your church exit.

Ask if there is a mass before and after your wedding.

Limit the number of your entourage if there is a mass after the wedding.

Limit the church group pictures if there is a mass after the wedding.

Ask how much is the wedding fee for the church and the church musician and singer.

It’s also very important to remember that a church wedding should be a solemn ceremony. It is not just merely signing a paper but it also a place for believers to seal their union as a couple in front of the Lord and their community. There will be a lot of things that the church will not allow a couple to do especially if it is not in line with the Catholic’s faith.

If you have any questions, leave us a comment, maybe we can help your planning.

Check out our Coral and Grey Wedding.