Anyone know a Catholic priest who will do an outdoor wedding?

What's your location? I'm in MA and the catholic churches in my area are very strict and won't do outdoor weddings. Has to be in the church. My advice is to talk to your church and ask. If they say no, then start calling other churches in your area. Good luck.

Nope-- no marriage will be recognized by the Catholic church unless it is actually performed in the church. You could look into having an outdoor ceremony performed by someone else, and then having it convalidated by the church. I think that is probably your best option.

There are "retired" priests (i.e., generally priests who left the priesthood for marriage) who will do a Catholic ceremony outside, but it won't be recognized by the church. . . I don't think that's what you're looking for, but if it is, you can go to www.citiministries.org to search for a "priest" in your area.

It is my understanding that you can occasionally petition your local bishop to allow you to get married by a priest outside, but very few will allow it. I believe the petition has to be submitted by your priest.

Ali Ess-- there usually needs to be a reason for the petition beyond just wanting an outdoor ceremony-- like, the spouse to be is of another faith, and for some reason the couple needs to be married at their church. . . The way the church sees it, if it is important enough for your marriage to be recognized by the church or as a sacrament, then it should be important enough for you to have your ceremony in the church performed by a priest. . . they have no reason to go out of their way for one couple. . . :/

My cousin got married in GA this spring by a Catholic priest at a historical home. However, from my understanding, they got married in the church the day before and then the priest agreed to do another Catholic ceremony the day of their reception. This may be an option for you too- the best of both worlds.

You will have to get married legally in the church the day before then have like a "re-do" for everyone else. My FH's family is Catholic and most of his friends are as well. One of them had to have two ceremonies in order for it to be recognized. My family is Anglican (Episcopal church) and our priests will do an outdoor service.

GrayCatVintage, I'm in the same boat, I'm Catholic and my FH is Episcopalian. What are you doing for your ceremony? I wonder if it's weird/allowed to get married in the Catholic church the day before then ask an Episcopal priest to do the outdoor ceremony the next day?

I am not religious but I doubt any priest/minister will do a fake ceremony for you if you're already legally married, so I wouldn't count on that option.

In my area Catholic churches don't perform outside. It's against the religion. It has to be in the church. I asked before and the priest said that.

In extreme exceptional circumstances it as allowed in SOME dioceses. My sister and her now husband were married (legally) in her ffil hospital room by a priest. His father was dying (passed 1 week before wedding/reception) but wanted to be of mind and spirit to witness his son's marriage. My sister applied to the diocese and was given approval.

Honestly, I think you're going to have a really hard time getting two priests to agree to your current plan to have pre-marital counseling done in the city and then the ceremony performed by a priest in another parrish. When a priest marries someone, they are essentially vouching for the couple's relationship-- most priests won't agree to marry a couple unless they themselves have been a part of pre-marital discussions. Are you currently attending church now? If not, you need to start and establish a relationship with a church. And then I would talk to them about convalidation, which i really think will be your best bet. . .

Convalidation is going to be the way to go for you if you want your ceremony to be outside. As for a priest from a parish you don't attend, I'm getting married in a church that I don't attend anymore (it's the church I grew up in) and by a priest who is neither the pastor at the church I attend now or the pastor of the church I'm getting married at anymore (he retired several years ago). Both he and the current pastor are fine with the wedding being held there as long as I bring the certificate saying FH and I completed our Pre Cana.

Barbara is right

I know of no priest who would go with your idea really. Even if you were to have it convalidated (which is what we are doing) you need to have permission from the bishop because you are marrying outside the cult (yours would be easier than mine if you are marrying a baptised Christian of another denomination) but it isn't a take 2 or another wedding at all, and the church would very much be frowned upon. It would be a solemn religious thing that is a sacrament.

If you want the marriage to be recognised by the catholic church then you have two options you either have a nonreligious wedding outside (as in no minister of the cloth conducting it) and then have a convalidation in a church after or you get married in a Catholic church.

But all of that is immaterial if you don't go to a church or at least have strong links to one. The catholic church takes it all very very seriously

What Barbara said and what everyone else said! Contact CITI Ministries and/or the International Council of Community Churches.

I've called 2 churches in the beginning. I always swore I would get married in a Catholic Church. I even got my adult confirmation several years ago (even though I wasn't yet engaged at that time, but wanted to do it for my religion and just in case I ever did get married). My FH went to Catholic school for 12 years, me for 7 years, but we don't go to church. When I called the church they want you to be a member of their parish, so I signed up. Then the church said they would expect to see us in attendance every Sunday (not Saturday afternoon, not on weekday mornings, only on Sundays) - well my FH works 60 hours a week and sleeps in on Sundays. He flat out refused to go to church on Sundays. He is a good person but he just isn't into the Catholic religion anymore. I wasn't going to force it on him. So, the next best thing, if I wanted some religious element incorporated into our ceremony was to hire an "independent priest" - these independent priests are from CITI ministries, many of them retired priests, some, like our officiant priest left the church due to rigid beliefs that he no longer believed in. When we met with him he told us we can have prayers and blessings (we are having our ceremony at our venue/outside weather permitting, inside if weather not good) - he told us that once a priest is ordained they are always a priest even if they aren't in the church, he gave us a booklet of prayers to choose from. It is the same booklet if we were to get married in a church except we have to follow prayers for 2 baptized individuals marrying outside of the church. We realize that our marriage will not be recognized the Catholic Church by doing this but we are happy and satisfied that there will prayers and blessings.

Simply put, as others have stated, the church only allows marriages to be recognized if you are married in the church, except under very rare instances where you have to get permission of the higher ups in the diocese. We are (so far) very pleased with our independent priest!

I encourage you to discuss all options with the pastor of your parish. Each parish and diocese has different rules.

Both dispensations and convalidations CAN be denied or cost more money than just not getting married outside of the church. If havingvyour marriage recognized by the church is so important talk to your priest about your concerns... He and the bishop are the only ones that can answer your questions

Thank you very much everyone, this is all very helpful! I attend a church now but I haven't registered to be a parishioner. My parents have been parishioners in a parish in NJ and know the priest, however, my FH and I live in NYC and would prefer to have our pre-marriage requirements done by a parish here for the sake of convenience and because we plan to live here in the long term. We both work 60+ hour weeks too, which contributes to the need for short distances. The church in which we plan to marry allows non-parishioners to get married there so long as the priest that shepherds you through pre-marriage classes, etc. signs a form saying he is doing so, etc. so hopefully that won't be an issue. It seems based on what everyone has said that 1) my best bet for my marriage to be recognized by the Catholic church is to get married in the physical church and 2) I need to get on marriage preparation ASAP with a priest that will do all the necessary dispensations and pre-marriage counseling for us and who may or may not be the priest of the parish to which my parents belong OR I join a parish here in NYC ASAP.

OP, Catholic churches will also tell you to NOT set a wedding date until you have initially met with a priest. I know of some churches that require you to be a parishioner for 6 moths prior to starting the marriage prep. I don't know what the rules are at your church; I just want you to be aware that things might not be as easy as you'd like if you're not a parishioner somewhere yet.

Also, PLEASE don't do two ceremonies. That is just overkill.