Church Weddings in Michigan

Is there a particular reason why you can’t become a member of a church and then book your wedding with them? You’re still far enough away from your wedding to do so.

No I just haven't really thought about doing that honestly lol. I feel lost. Would I just pick a random church and start going to it?

First, I would choose a denomination. If you already have one, I would do some research on the churches in your area that are classified under that denomination. A lot of parishes/congregations have social media pages or websites now so you can look into their service schedule and their mission statement and see if it aligns with your beliefs. After that you can choose one or a couple to attend services at to see if one resonates with you.

Generally, if a couple is choosing to marry in a church it is because one or both of them practice the faith of that church and feel a connection to the parish organization.

Churches, in general, frown upon the idea that the only reason a couple wants to be married there is that their building is nice. Reserving a church is not like reserving a banquet hall.

If you already found your reception venue then you will need to focus on finding a church within a 30 minute radius from the reception venue. Any more than that is too far for guests to drive from one to the other. In my experience, most churches will allow non-members to get married there but for a higher fee than for their members. The church may also require you do pre-marital classes at the church. My DH and I don't attend church yet we chose to get married in a church. We paid $1500 which included a pianist too and then we had to take a pre-marital class with the pastor.

Hey fellow MI bride!! Typically if you want to get married at a church that you do not belong to they may have a higher fee but they should still marry you. If you are looking at chapels there is “The Little Weddinf Chapel” in Fraser and “Heritage Park Wedding Chapel” in Taylor!

I agree with PP that a number of churches don't love it when people only want to get married there and not attend, esp. if the couple does not practice in that denomination. My husband and I are active Methodists, but we did not get married where we live. So we found another church in the town where we got married. Some denominations are more open to it than others (generally). From my knowledge, Catholic churches rarely let people get married in the church w/o being members. United Methodist Churches tend to allow weddings but require premarital counseling. Unitarian Universalist churches tend to be more liberal and likely allow more weddings. As previously mentioned, fees tend to be higher for non-members. If you're not already going to a church, but want to get married in one, then it seems to me like faith is an important aspect of your life, and this could be an opportunity to find a church that you enjoy attending and want to get married in. If either you or your future spouse grew up in a certain denomination, you could start there. You have 1.5 years, which is plenty of time. Most churches don't book up that quickly for weddings.