Chuppah at Catholic Church?

It would probably depend on if the church would allow it and if you could find an interfaith rabbi and a priest who would be comfortable with this arrangement. I know my rabbi would never allow a Jewish wedding ceremony (even an interfaith one) to take place inside a church. I've been to a number of lovely interfaith Catholic-Jewish weddings, but never inside a church and they weren't church weddings. Placing a chuppah inside of a church would come across as kind of sacreligious to me. If you want to have both Catholic and Jewish elements to your ceremony, then I would probably not hold it in a church

Catholic churches, specifically, around me need both husband and wife to be Catholic, including classes to convert a non-Catholic before the wedding (happened to my Lutheran brother in law when he married my Catholic sister in law in her church). This may be something you need to look into before deciding further

I understand wanting your wedding to blend your faiths. However, I think a chuppah in a church will ruffle some feathers on both sides. A chuppah is more than a decorative wedding arch. Many (most?) couples use a Tallis, which is a Jewish prayer shawl. I think you have the best intentions, but I’ll be honest, a chuppah in a church seems offensive to me.


Apart from the potential to offend people, I’m not sure you’ll find a religious officiant who’s cool with this. I don’t know much about Catholicism, but I’ve been told that priests don’t perform interfaith ceremonies. Only reform Jewish rabbis will do it, but I’m not reform so I don’t know the rules around that.
There are so many ways to make an interfaith ceremony beautiful and personal, and I’m sure whatever you put together will be lovely! You could choose to have a non religious ceremony, which would give you total freedom to customize the whole thing, to really celebrate you and your future husband. Maybe, at your reception, you could have a traditional hora. Since that’s a cultural but not technically religious ritual, I don’t see anything offensive about it. And it’s really fun! Basically your families get to dance together for like 20 minutes!

Hi there!

So I am catholic and my Fiance is not. Technically you can get married in the Catholic Church as long as one of you is a practicing catholic but there are restrictions and some things you have to do:

First, the Catholic person must obtain (a) permission from the local bishop to marry a baptized Christian of another faith, or (b) a dispensation from the bishop to marry an unbaptized person, including a person of a non-Christian religion. The person guiding your marriage preparation will be able to help you with this process. According to Canon Law 1125, three conditions are need for granting this permission: 1) The Catholic party must declare he or she intends to remain Catholic and promises to baptize and raise all offspring in the Catholic Church; 2) the non-Catholic party is fully informed of the promises made by the Catholic party and the related obligations; and 3) both parties are instructed about the purposes and essential properties of marriage which apply to both parties. Once you receive permission, you can discuss the following options with your pastor or the person presiding at your wedding:

• • You may celebrate the Catholic Order of Celebrating Matrimony without Mass (preferred form).*You may celebrate the Catholic Order of Celebrating Matrimony within Mass, although the person who is not Catholic will not be able to receive communion.
• • You may have your marriage witnessed by a Catholic priest or deacon with or without Mass and invite another Christian minister to participate in the wedding by reading one of the Scriptures or offering prayers and blessings. Your Catholic presider will need to obtain permission from his bishop to extend such an invitation.
• • You may have your marriage witnessed by a Christian minister, with a Catholic minister assisting (for instance, by reading from the Scriptures or offering prayers and blessings). Before doing so, your bishop must provide you with a "dispensation from canonical form" (in other words, your bishop must dispense with the requirement for Catholics to be married through a celebration of the Rite of Marriage).

I do not know anything about having a Chuppa in a Catholic Church but I d be really surprised if the church allowed that. We are actually getting married in my Fiancé's church (Episcopalian ) because they were definitely more welcoming to me then we felt the Catholic Church was to him (neither of us will be converting religions).

Best of luck to you!

I'd be really surprised if a Catholic church let you bring in a Chuppah. Our church is fairly flexible on a lot of things, but even they have pretty tight restrictions on what can or can't be brought in and placed in certain areas. One thing you could consider is asking to have a rabbi come in and do a prayer or a reading. Rosebud laid out the requirements really thoroughly, so maybe review that and see if any of those options appeal to you, then ask your priest if he could advise you on how to go about doing it.

Catholic Churches near me require both parties to be Catholic to get married in the church (my Methodist father got baptized just to do that for my mother). Reach out to the churches around you and see what their protocol is like.

The Roman Catholic Church requires that Catholics be married in a Catholic wedding ceremony by a priest. Rosebud did indeed lay out the requirements quite well, but a Catholic wedding for a Catholic party is a must. Beyond the requirements, the actual ceremony must be discussed with the parish pastor/ priest/officiant. I am a "cradle Catholic" with Jews on our family - my brother's inlaws, and have never seen a Chupah used in any but a Jewish wedding. So do discuss this with the priest. I doubt he'd allow the Chupah, but it's possible that he'd allow a rabbi to participate in some way. Perhaps he'd allow the breaking of the glass by the groom at the end of the ceremony. But, the ceremony must be performed by the priest, otherwise the wedding is not valid in the eyes of the Church. PS: I've been there done that - I was not married to my husband in a Catholic ceremony 38 years ago (hubby is Protestant) because I had been married in the Church previously. The 1st marriage has since been annulled by the Catholic Church and we are having a "convalidation" - a Catholic wedding ceremony, in June 4 days after our anniversary. Best of luck, and God bless you both!

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The Roman Catholic (which I am) Church requires that ALL Catholics be married in a Catholic ceremony by a priest. It's not a local church thing.

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The Roman Catholic Church does not require that both parties be Catholic. It does require that a Catholic be married by a priest, and that the other party be a baptized Christian. If one party is not baptized, then the marriage is not considered valid/sacramental by the Church unless a dispensation, known as a "dispensation for disparity of cult" be received from the diocese.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for your reply! I have learned that you do not actually need to be married by a Catholic priest in order for your marriage to be considered “valid” by the church. It will not be considered a sacrament as only Catholic-Catholic marriages done in a Catholic mass can be considered a sacrament.


We are having our marriage done at a neutral site. We are going through pre-Cana through the church and my priest has applied for dispensation from form for our ceremony. After all is completed, the marriage will be filed with the the church and it will still be considered valid in the eyes of the church. All in all, we have had a supportive and accepting priest and a we have had a good experience!

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In the eyes of the law, your marriage will be legal and valid. In the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church, marriage to an unbaptized person will be considered valid only if a dispensation from the diocese is granted, but it is not sacramental. In order for the RC Church to recognize the marriage, it must be performed by a priest in a Catholic ceremony. It does NOT have to be a Nuptial Mass to be recognized by the Catholic Church, nor even in a church, but it MUST be performed by a priest, and in your case, the diocese must grant a dispensation to marry someone who is not baptized. So: if you've taken all the steps required by the priest, receive your dispensation, and are married by a priest, your marriage will be recognized as valid but NOT sacramental by the Roman Catholic Church, because according to Canon Law, an unbaptized person cannot receive a sacrament, and neither can the Catholic spouse in this case. I've had much experience in this field, recently. I am 71 years young. 50 years ago, I was married in a Catholic Nuptial Mass. 8 years later, we were divorced. 38 years ago, I married my husband who is Protestant, in a Protestant church in front of a minister. Because my first marriage had not been annulled, the Church did not recognize my current marriage. (BTW, I have always been a "practicing Catholic" - I attended church, our son was baptized and raised Roman Catholic, however, I could not receive the sacraments. Recently, I was granted a Church annulment of my first marriage. My current marriage is still not considered valid by the Catholic Church until my husband and I go through a "convalidation" ceremony, which will take place in June, on the first Sunday after our 38th wedding anniversary. It will be performed by our parish pastor, in a simple ceremony near the end of our regular Sunday 10AM Mass. Inasmuch as my husband has been baptized, our marriage will then be considered valid in the eyes of the Church, and sacramental. This is all according to Canon Law, Chapter VII, ****, specifically: Section 1086 (referring SS 1025 & 27.

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PS: My closest and dearest friend who is also our church's music/choir director/organist/liturgist, who has been a church musician all of her adult life (she is 76) recalls having played for a wedding at a nearby Catholic church where the bride was Catholic and the groom Jewish. The priest, as was required, officiated, but the rabbi did a reading, said a traditional Jewish marriage prayer, and at the end of the ceremony, the groom broke the glass with his foot.

View Quoted Comment To clarify, we do not need a catholic priest to officiate in order for it to be validated. When we started this process, I was worried the Catholic Church may be too restrictive so I don’t want to deter anyone who may be looking at a similar situation to mine. We are preparing through the church, have been granted dispensation from form, and it will be considered valid in the eyes of God. The church is supportive and accepting, only asks that the Catholic party promise to be a good example of the faith. They approved an neutral site ceremony with our choice of officiant to allow for the spiritual well being of both persons faith and traditions. We will be having a ceremony that contains both Catholic readings as well as Jewish blessings to celebrate each of our upbringings. Congratulations on your upcoming convalidation ceremony and your many years of marriage!

View Quoted Comment You DO need a priest.

View Quoted Comment My priest has reviewed and okayed our officiant so I will trust what he has done and verified that our marriage will be valid, recognized but the church and on file as a legitimately recognized marriage of a Catholic party. He encouraged us to include religious and spiritual elements in our ceremony, but did not require a priest to officiate (also Roman Catholic). This was important to me to have our marriage recognized as valid spiritually, which is why we have gone through the steps.


It is possible to honor both parties and still have the marriage recognized, you must just go through the necessary steps and applications.

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Sorry, but according to Roman Catholic Canon Law, you need a priest. But as always, it's your decision. Good luck.

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Go with what your priest is saying, not some random person on an internet forum.

In truth, God will recognize your marriage in whatever form you choose. That leaves it up to a mortal man (your priest) to decide if he thinks it's valid in the Church. If he says the officiant he okayed will work and still be valid in the church, then he will deem it valid in the church.