Catholic Church Fees 2022

Ostira

Hi all, 
I was christened and received Communion as Roman Catholic, my fiancé has not. I am looking into getting married in the local parish which is RC. I am wondering if the Catholic Church have wedding fees or if it still relies on donation? I did send my local church an email but hadn’t asked about price and don’t want to be given a very large fee estimate that may not fit within our ceremony budget. 

Savvy_Sue

I'm not sure, but it could be worth a wander by the parish office to see if they have 'opening hours' - it's perhaps a thing of the past, but I've known churches have a set time when the priest / vicar / rector / bod who thinks they're in charge is available to discuss arrangements. If there's nothing posted there, might there be a phone call? 

Ostira

Savvy_Sue said:

I'm not sure, but it could be worth a wander by the parish office to see if they have 'opening hours' - it's perhaps a thing of the past, but I've known churches have a set time when the priest / vicar / rector / bod who thinks they're in charge is available to discuss arrangements. If there's nothing posted there, might there be a phone call? 

Thanks for the reply, Sue. In their email reply, they wanted me to call the office to arrange a meeting with the priest there to discuss together what we want for our wedding but would like to know a figure before getting my fiancé to take time off work. I may email again or call to ask prices! 

kirtondm

It was donation when I got married 10 years ago. Not sure it has changed?.
You will probably need to commit time to do a wedding course as well.

Sandtree

kirtondm said:

It was donation when I got married 10 years ago. Not sure it has changed?.
You will probably need to commit time to do a wedding course as well.

It does appear to very by church... most take a fairly strong "the sacrament isn't for sale" though mention there may be some fees for the bits around the side but a few diocese websites mention that some churches do have fees

marycanary

When my son married a couple of years ago the Priest said there was no fee but the church would be grateful for a donation of whatever amount he could afford.

SadieO

We experienced the same as others have said - a donation would of course be gratefully received but the priest made it very clear that nothing was expected. 

Congratulations on your wedding and hope all goes well! 

TBagpuss

I think the official line is that marriage is a sacrament and you don't get charged for it, however, you will be encouraged to make a donation and the church will probably have a suggested amount. 

from what I have seen catholic churches may also require you to attend a pre-marriage course and these may be outsources and attract a fee. 

also, googling sugget that a lot pf parishes explicitly say that you have to make an appointment and they won't start the process without an in-person appointment, so you may have to do that. can you try to arrange an appointment on your partner's day off so they don't have to miss work? Or in an evening?

nyermen

Donation for me last month when we got our marriage "convalidated".  Wife is catholic, I'm CoE.  I had to get a copy of my baptism certificate which the priest took a copy of for records (/send to the bishop if they want to see it).

I believe, at the priests discretion, there is a "marriage course" that may be required.