For Weddings in Ireland.

The Roman Catholic Church is probably the strictest of the Christian churches, particularly so concerning the remarrying of divorcees which it does not allow. If you are a non practising Catholic, the church will normally marry you if you agree to abide by the principles listed below.

1. That you have chosen to marry of your own free will.
2. That it is your intention to remain together for the rest of your natural life.
3. That you intend to remain faithful to each other.
4. That you intend to have at least one child.

Roman Catholics wishing to marry Christians of other denominations must approach their priest for a dispensation for marriage outside Catholic churches. Usually the priest will grant this. If one or other of the partners are not baptised or belong to a non Christian religion or are atheist, a dispensation of (disparity of cult) is needed. A priest cannot grant this as it has to be referred to a bishop. It is normally just a matter of form, but apply early as it may take some time.

If one or other of the are divorcee's they will not be allowed a Church wedding, one exception being if the previous wedding was not recognised by the Catholic church. If you wish to marry in a parish other than your own you will need the written consent of your local parish priest.

If you have a friend or relation who is a priest and you wish them to perform your service, this is not normally a problem even though you are marrying in a church which your chosen priest does not normally operates.
Most priests are qualified to act as registrars, if your chosen priest isn't you will have to have a qualified priest present at the church or have previously married in a registry office. You can choose to be married with or without a Mass.

Many Roman Catholic weddings take place during a Mass, and the bride and groom receive Holy Communion. Marriage is a sacrament (important religious ceremony) in the Roman Catholic as it is in Eastern Orthodox churches.

You are recommended to visit your priest at least six months before you intend to marry. He will want to talk to you about the Catholic teaching and the duties of marriage.
You may be asked to attend a few meetings. And will have to fill in forms about yourself and your family and produce a baptism certificate, as well as a certificate of confirmation.

It is your duty to inform the local registry office in order to comply with the civil requirements.

Setting The Date.

The period of Lent is a busy and special time for the church, some churches may not be too keen to perform a wedding service in the immediate run up to Easter Sunday. Some priests especially of the old school may not allow you to have music during the service or flowers in the church if you get married during the period of Lent.

The priest will arrange for the publishing of the banns.

See another page on setting your wedding date.

Type of Service.

The type of service which you choose depends on the faith's of the couple, if both are practising Catholics then a Nuptial Mass would be the obvious choice, in this both receive Communion. If the couple are of mixed faith then the ceremony would exclude the Mass, it would have prayers and readings but have no Communion. The vows would be exactly the same, except that the bride does not promise to obey.

The Order of Service.

• The bride is escorted to the altar by her father, or whoever is giving her away. This can be accompanied by the music of your choice or by a hymn..
• The priest introduces the service and says a short prayer.
• There is a Bible reading. This can be chosen by the couple themselves and is usually read by someone of their choosing.
• A psalm is read or sung.
• The priest reads a Gospel reading again this is usually chosen by the couple.
• The priest gives a short sermon.
• The couple exchange vows, using the religious form, followed by the civil version.
• The priest blesses the rings and the couple place them on each other’s finger, saying, "Take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
• The service continues with the celebration of the Nuptial Mass if there is one.
• The priest reads a Nuptial Blessing over the couple.
• If there’s a Mass, the couple receive Communion.
• The priest gives a final blessing.
• The couple and their witnesses sign the register.
• Bride and groom process out.

Order of Service cards.

Planning Your Service.

It is possible for you to have a great deal of control of form and content of your wedding ceremony. The priest will inform you of the possibilities and supply you with sample text and hymn lists

The musical aspect of the ceremony is an opportunity for you to ???????????/ Most churches will have a resident organist if you require them to play they will have to be booked in advance and will expect to be paid. If you wish to employ her musicians such as Harpists or Soloists first of all you must ask the church for permission, usually there isn't a problem with this as long as the music played is deemed to be in keeping with the sacred character of the occasion

Don't forget when you are compiling your guest list to consider the seating capacity of your church, regarding who sits where we have a page with a diagram of the generally accepted seating plan. We would recommend that you have your stationer produce an order of service sheet which the ushers would hand out as the guests arrive for the service, you should compile this with the assistance of your priest, this can simply list each step in the service. Or it could be expanded to include the text of the Psalms, Prayers and Hymns etc in which case it would have evolved into a booklet and of course the cost would have increased proportionately

Miscellaneous Matters.

Normally there isn't a problem with a photographer or videographer at the service, the priest should be consulted on this and he may wish to impose certain minor restrictions.

Generally you can have your florist arrange the decoration of the church to your specification however it is essential to consult the priest first. It is considered a good idea to leave some of the flowers in the church after your wedding as a little gift to the priest and the parishioners.

Confetti.

Regarding confetti again consult the priest as the attitude varies from parish to parish. Quite often paper confetti is frowned upon but freeze dried flower petals are acceptable. Whatever the case it may be be wise to state on the invitations that paper confetti is not acceptable.

It is customary to invite the priest to the reception, and to give him a token sum for his efforts this is usually somewhere between £50 and £100, and would be given to him by the groom, best man or father of the bride