Do you tip your Catholic Priest?

Wow!! That is A LOT of money. I don't really agree with mandatory "donations". I would not tip the priest as well. I think FIL's said about 500 AT THE MOST total to donate (I am assuming for both church and priest combined).

We gave him a thank you card, a bottle of wine, and cash inside the card because he went through the FOCCUS results with us, spent time to write out the homily for us, and walked us through the rehearsal.

Following- we are kind of in the same boat. We paid $750 to use the church and the first priest we were going to use charged $200 (he was not apart of the church). He had to cancel due to illness, so the church appointed a new priest who is apart of the church, so no fee. FH were just asking each other this the other night..

I think a nice note and a bottle of wine is perfect.

And don't forget; tax write off if it's a 'donation'....

I could be mistaken, but I think if you give your priest a tip in cash, they're required to donate it to the parish/church. I've been told a gift card or something may be nice if you want to actually thank him. We've already paid 700 dollars as a donation to the church, so I think we'll do someting like Celia suggested.

We have fees to use the church/priest and then were told the tip/honorarium is not required. We will be doing something but don't know what yet.

I hate the mandatory "donations". We gave our celebrant and homilist (two different priests) each a couple hundred bucks and a card, but we weren't charged any fees to use the church. I think with a $1250 "donation", a card and small gift like a bottle of wine is perfect.

Don't forget any other helpers you might have though... altar servers, cantors, lectors, etc.

While that is a lot, it is customary to give the priest $100 - $200. I think it would be strange to assume your priest likes wine. Not being prudish, just not everyone likes wine.

Our church fees are $800 and although $500 of that is already donations we still plan to gift something to the priest.

I like what @E&M/ @Celia suggested^^^

Yeah I was shocked to find out how much it cost. The one we originally wanted required a $2500 donation! So that was a big nope! And then $1250 didn't seem so bad after that.

He wasn't a part of our FOCCUS/precanna or anything. We met him once and chatted a bit, then went over paperwork. I'm assuming he will be at the rehearsal (?) Anyway...with that said I think I'll just do the wine and thank you note.

Thanks all

That is a lot of money for a "donation"

No, we're paying the donation fee and will write him a nice thank you and probably get a small personal gift. We're also paying a lot because we're not parishioners (our home parishes are too far from our reception venue)...$1500, plus the obligatory musicians.

Holy donation!! No pun intended... well maybe a little haha.

Our Priest hasn't mentioned the tip yet, he's also been super lax with everything since we are very involved with the church. I hope he doesn't ask for that much, although the can't require it if you can't afford it but still. Phew.

I would probably just give him a personal gift (wine or a restaurant gift card or something). ETA words

Customary tip amounts to the priest is different in each diocese. The fee you pay is for use of the church, musicians, cantors, paper to print programs and staff member who creates program. The priest and usually an assistant do a lot of paperwork for each wedding. You should alway give the priest $$$, not a gift or gift card. Think about your profession...if you were a makeup artist and someone gave you a bottle of wine for your service would you think that was ok?

As far as I know. Catholic priests can’t charge for the sacrament..any sacrement. If he was a big part of your marriage prep and helped you along the way. I would give him a good donation. We are members of the parish we are getting married in, so I don’t know if that makes a difference with us not being charged. Good luvk