Catholic brides? Input please!

I don't think the Catholic Church will permit a Priest to marry a couple outside of the Church.

Yeah, I think you have to get permission from the bishop and have a really good reason for why you would want to have a priest perform a ceremony outside the church. I’ve never personally heard of anyone getting it granted. My cousin’s now-wife wanted an outside wedding ceremony and the priest (who is also a family friend) flat out told her no.

I don’t think that’s a thing. You can always do a symbolic ceremony in front of your guests and a real catholic ceremony later if you choose. But I doubt you’ll be able to get a catholic priest to agree to that plan. Is there a reason you want to have separate ceremonies? If you don’t want your guests to go to the church, you can always do something small in the morning and then a simple ceremony outside later at your venue. That would get you married legally and religiously the same day. Good luck!

Our Diocese (in California) told us the Priest could only conduct the ceremony in the Church for it to be a valid sacrament. However, our religious ceremony was planned for out of the country (in Mexico) at an outdoor venue. We called different local churches until we found a Priest who performs ceremonies outside of the church and was available for/agreed to our date (BTW, our local diocese is known to pick the wedding date, not the couple). Because the outdoor ceremony is not considered a valid sacrament, we are having a private ceremony the day before at the church.

We got married in a church so I didn't have the same experience but I would imagine you might have a difficult time getting a priest to marry you outside of the church without the bishop's permission. If anything, you would need to do the church ceremony BEFORE your other one so it is more of a vow renewal. Your priest should be the best guidance on this sort of stuff. Good luck!

View Quoted Comment Yeah, we're thinking of doing it that way. We just want to keep the catholic church ceremony of getting this sacrament to just our immediate family since not all of our guests are catholic.

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Totally understandable and sounds like a good compromise!

I will say that despite none of my husband's family or any of our friends being Catholic, they all commented on how much they enjoyed the ceremony. Depending on what your priest is like, some of them are really good at bridging those differences and creating a ceremony that is inclusive to all.

My husband was a groomsmen in a catholic wedding in 2015, they had it outside. They said it was near impossible to find a catholic priest to do an outdoor ceremony and when they found one, they only did it with signed papers the couple would do an indoor ceremony in a church within 6 months and the church didn't recognize their outdoor ceremony at all.

View Quoted Comment That's what I'm thinking too. We're really open to that l, just the ones I have been to. I didn't like that people that didn't care for it as much kept on walking in and out. I don't think I'll notice it when I'm up there but it's just something I was eh on.

My best friend is a Jesuit priest, and while he is doing our “wedding ceremony” it’s really just a blessing, as he cannot legally marry us outside of the church. We are having a second friend who is an online ordained minister do the actual legal portion of the ceremony.

We are getting married in a Catholic Church. It's not possible for a Catholic priest to do a marriage ceremony outside the church (unless you are super ill then they would come to the hospital- but that's about it). It's against the "rules" of their job. You can do a Catholic wedding first and that would be your official wedding. Your outdoor ceremony later is basically a vow renewal since you're already married. We debated on that but ultimately decided we wanted our guests to see us get married for real- not in a replica ceremony.

View Quoted Comment Hopefully I can find a situation like this. Because it's not like we are not planning to have a church wedding but I just really want our first look and all of that to be at the place where spending thousands on lol

This is a great question as I had the same one. Unfortunately a priest will not conduct a ceremony outside of the church. Sucks because I'm Catholic but my fiance isn't as long as it's a religious ceremony thats all that matters for me.

View Quoted Comment Yeah so far it seems like we're gonna have to do 2 separate ceremonies. But we'll see!

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That may be costly. Maybe get married in the church and have the reception in a lovely outdoor area.

View Quoted Comment It is but we've already booked our venue for the ceremony and the reception. We just wanted to do a small/intimate ceremony with our immediate families for the catholic church ceremony.

View Quoted Comment We're both Catholic but I'm a practicing Catholic while my fiancee is not (ex: he was baptized, went through first communion but is not confirmed). It's pretty much our compromise. It's just been hard to figure this all out.