Steps to Getting Married in a Catholic Church
Marriage is a holy sacrament for the Catholic Church, and the Church sees the vow of marriage as sacred and lasting. The Catholic Church has specific requirements that engaged couples must meet before entering into this vow. These requirements include premarital counseling, designed to help a couple understand the significance and expectations of their marriage.
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Arrangement for Marriage
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An engaged couple should schedule a meeting with the priest or deacon of a local parish, between six and 12 months prior to the expected wedding date. At this meeting, the couple schedules the prewedding events. These include premarriage counseling, sponsor couple program and sometimes marriage preparation retreats. If a member of the couple is not a Catholic and wishes to join the Church, the priest can schedule RCIA classes at this meeting, but this can delay your wedding date. The RCIA is the Right of Christian Initiation for Adults, and can take as long as a year to finish. Additionally, the priest will ask the couple to fill out premarital questionnaires, helping the priest determine any issues he needs to discuss with the couple during premarriage counseling.
Premarriage Counseling
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Premarriage counseling includes a sponsorship ministry, where an active married couple in the church volunteers to meet with the engaged couple, discuss marital issues, talk about being married in the Catholic Church and suggest ways to manage family finances. The engaged couple meets with their sponsor couple between six and 10 times during the year preceding their wedding. Additionally, the Church hosts marriage retreats, where a priest discusses other marriage issues, such as parenthood and marriage values. Alternately, a priest can schedule private meetings with an engaged couple to discuss these same issues, if a retreat is unavailable or if the couple is not able to take time away from work.
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Final Meeting
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A priest schedules a final meeting between between himself and the engaged couple. At this meeting, the priest reviews the couple's documents, such as baptism certificates from Catholic members, birth certificates and the certificate of graduation from RCIA classes, if one of the members of the couple is joining the Church. Additionally, he will discuss what you learned from your time in premarriage counseling and finalize your wedding date. He will also discuss the specifics of your wedding and help with any additional planning.
Requirements for Marriage
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At least one member of an engaged couple must be an active member of the Catholic Church in order to be married in the Church. Active Catholics must have a baptism certificate on file with the Church in order to marry. Also, engaged couples must comply with all of the state requirements for marriage, such as age and being unrelated.
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References
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