YOUR WEDDING
Thank you for inquiring about Marriage in the
Catholic Church.
You are about to embark on one of the most important
undertakings of your life. Our role here in the parish of St. Mary’s is to help
make the celebration of your marriage as meaningful and as memorable as
possible. YOU, as individuals and also as a couple, are the central and major
symbols of the marriage liturgy. As you make a promise to one another, you
remind everyone who witnesses this commitment of the importance and value of
committed, lifelong, human love. Initiated, nourished, and fulfilled by God’s
love, may your life-long covenant be a source of
happiness and blessing for you and for everyone you meet.
There are some church and civil law requirements
relating to marriage, but Don’t worry! - the priest will sit down and go through with you all the
legal and church requirements for a wedding and explain the process of
preparation. If there is anything you are unclear about, we are always happy to
answer your questions and assist. Please don’t hesitate to ask, and to keep in
contact in the months leading up to your wedding day.
YOUR WEDDING PREPARATION CHECKLIST
PLEASE CHECK OFF (√) EACH ITEM AS YOU COMPLETE
IT.
(PLEASE PUT ‘N/A’ IN THE BOX IF NOT APPLICABLE, e.g.
question 6)
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1. CONTACT THE CHURCH FOR
THE WEDDING PREPARATIONS TO BEGIN. (NORMALLY SIX MONTHS PRIOR, UNLESS SPECIAL
CIRCUMSTANCES) |
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2. I HAVE BOOKED IN THE DAY,
DATE AND TIME OF MY PROPOSED WEDDING |
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3. I HAVE MET WITH THE
PRIEST TO GO THROUGH THE PREPARATION STEPS |
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4. I HAVE PROVIDED A FULL
COPY OF THE BIRTH CERTIFICATES OF BOTH BRIDE-TO-BE AND GROOM- TO-BE |
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5. I HAVE PROVIDED A COPY OF
MY BAPTISMAL CERTIFICATE (also known as ‘CHRISTENING’ Certificate). IF NOT
ABLE TO FIND CERTIFICATE, I HAVE PROVIDED THE FOLLOWING PIECES OF
INFORMATION. PLACE OF BAPTISM, TOWN/SUBURB, NAME OF CHURCH, DATE, BAPTISM, CHURCH
DENOMINATION: (Please note that
these details are really important, so please help us and provide it as soon
as possible). |
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6. (In some special cases),
I have provided the priest with any additional legal information he needs,
according to our circumstances. Eg. (i) In case of
changed names on birth certificates, a legal document
indicating those changes are official. Or, (ii) In
cases where a widow/widower is marrying again, a copy of the previous wedding
certificate and copy of the death certificate is required by Federal law.
(iii) In cases where one of the parties is divorced, a copy of the court
order declaring the divorce is now absolute, will be
needed. |
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7. I HAVE BOOKED IN TO DO
THE MARRIAGE PREPARATION COURSE WITH CENTACARE. (Centacare
on (07) 4194 0172). |
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8. I HAVE CONTACTED AND
BOOKED THE MUSICIAN FOR MY WEDDING, (EITHER AN ORGANIST OR YOUR OWN MUSICIANS
OR STRINGS ETC). |
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9. I HAVE LOOKED AT THE
WEDDING CEREMONY OPTIONS BOOK PROVIDED BY THE PRIEST, AND I HAVE SELECTED MY
OPTIONS. I UNDERSTAND THAT THE CEREMONY HAS A CERTAIN SET FORM, AND NEEDS TO
FOLLOW THE RITE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH FOR WEDDINGS. (FOR A COPY OF THIS
BOOKLET, CLICK HERE: http://www.parishes.bne.catholic.net.au/maryborough/WEDDINGS.htm
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10. I HAVE SENT A COPY OF MY
CHOICES FOR THESE OPTIONS, (CONTAINED IN THE CEREMONY BOOK), TO THE PRIEST |
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11. I HAVE BOOKED IN A
WEDDING PRACTICE (DATE AND TIME) |
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12. I HAVE SENT A FINAL DRAFT
OF THE WEDDING CEREMONY BOOKLET TO THE PRIEST FOR APPROVAL |
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A person is eligible to marry,
according to the rites of the Catholic Church, if:
·
At least one of the
parties to the proposed marriage is Catholic.
·
Neither has been previously
married (irrespective of religious background or denomination). (If either of
the two people have been previously married, (and the other parties to the
previous marriage(s) are still living), then all previous marriages of
both of the two couples, need to have a declaration of nullity from a Catholic
Church tribunal before the new marriage can be confirmed and conducted. This
sometimes takes a long while and is not a foregone conclusion).
We are very grateful to couples if they follow up on
the steps that we have advised. We will
do everything we can to make this preparation time easy, and ultimately, this
is your special wedding day. So, we do need the couple to take
responsibility to ensure that they have fulfilled the requirements that we have
explained and that they keep in contact.
The first thing that one needs to do when
considering marriage is to contact the church (as soon as possible after the
announcement of engagement) and book in a day, date and time. Contacting the
church and meeting with the Priest to begin your preparations should be one of
the first steps done, (with the same urgency that one might be seeking to book
in other things, such as reception locations). It is preferable that the
preparations for your wedding are done well in advance of the wedding
date, and not merely a month or two before.
Normally, the church requires at least SIX MONTHS
prior notice before a wedding. The longer the notice, the better. This gives the couple
time to prepare for their marriage (and not just prepare for the wedding day)
and it gives them time to undertake the various important steps of
preparation. Surprisingly, we have
sometimes come across situations where people have been engaged for a year (or
more) but have not actually booked the church or started any marriage
preparation or signed any legal papers yet, and it is only a mere few months
(or less) before the proposed date of the wedding. That approach is around the
wrong way and is confusing one’s priorities. There is a process for preparing
for weddings that requires time. It is not onerous or demanding, but it should
not be rushed or ‘short-circuited’.
In addition, the Federal Government requires a
“notice of intended marriage” to be signed by the couple no later than a
month-and-a-day before the wedding date (but anywhere up to eighteen months
before is ideal). The celebrant provides this form.
If your plans for your wedding change, please inform
the Parish office by phone as soon as possible and then please confirm
this advice in writing. This assists us in ensuring our records are as
up-to-date as possible.
The priest provides the necessary legal forms you
will require for a wedding. In addition, the priest will need from you certain
absolutely vital legal documents for your wedding. SOME LEGAL DOCUMENTS ARE A REQUIREMENT OF THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND IF THE CELEBRANT DOES NOT HAVE THEM PRIOR TO THE WEDDING
HE IS LEGALLY UNABLE TO DO THE WEDDING. SOME DOCUMENTS MUST BE SIGNED BY A
CERTAIN (LEGALLY MANDATED) TIME PRIOR TO THE WEDDING AND IF THEY ARE NOT SIGNED
AND LODGED WITH THE CELEBRANT, AGAIN THE WEDDING CANNOT PROCEED. Although it
can take a little while to find and obtain some of these documents if you don’t
have them already (eg Full Birth Certificates,
Baptismal or Christening certificates), we need these documents as soon as
possible (and as far in advance of the wedding date as possible). (The priest
needs to send away certain
forms which includes information contained in these documents you
provide, and the priest cannot send them away until these documents are
provided).
Some important things you need to do:
If you have been
married previously, please contact the priest to discuss the details, as this
could be significant in the preparation of a marriage. (In the catholic church, a person is only allowed to marry if they
are “free
to marry.” This ‘freedom to marry’ means that any previous marriage
– where the other parties are still living – have been declared annulled by the
Church tribunal).
After reading
this brochure, Please contact the parish as soon as
possible and make an appointment with the parish priest. Please complete the
enclosed family details form, available at the parish office, prior to the
initial meeting with the Priest. Please note the date and time is not
confirmed until meeting with the priest and fulfilling the legal
requirements prior to marriage.
A marriage is
both a civil and church celebration. As such we need some important documentation.
Firstly, you will need to present a full
birth certificate (not an extract) at the first meeting with the Priest.
This is needed for completion of the civil forms. Secondly, you will need to
present a recent copy of your baptismal
certificate (if baptised -
if one of the parties is not baptised, that’s okay, just write ‘not
baptised’ in the question about baptism. At least one of the parties to the
marriage must be Catholic in order to be married in a catholic ceremony). That
copy of the baptismal form cannot be dated older than six months. If you were
baptised in St. Mary’s parish, we simply need the date of your baptism. If
baptised outside the parish, you will need to contact that parish and ask them
to send you a copy.
If you reside
outside of Maryborough, and after making contact with our parish, the parish
priest where you live can complete the marriage papers. Marriage preparation
courses can also be arranged closer to your home.
After the
initial meeting, further contact with the priest should be made not later than
three months before the wedding. If you live outside of Maryborough, phone or
email contact is sufficient. This will ensure that all the preparations run
smoothly.
Times for
weddings are 1 p.m. or 3 p.m.
on Saturday afternoons. Any other time needs to be negotiated at the first
meeting with the parish priest. Changes to wedding date or time are not
confirmed until discussed with the Parish Priest.
Fees: The cost for the wedding here is $200, which
consists of a donation towards the use of the church, the legal documents and a
donation to the priest. A deposit of $50 is required to confirm your booking. A
wedding date “pencilled in” lapses if the deposit is not paid within a month of
filling out this form. The balance of $150 is due a week prior to the
wedding day. Please note the church is not “rented” in the way one rents a
hall, so usage of the church must conform to standards consistent with a place
of prayer and worship.
Marriage
Preparation: ‘FOCCUS’ is an
important and compulsory part of your preparation and should be organised at
least six months before your wedding, or as far in advance of the wedding as
possible. One of our trained facilitators will conduct two or three interviews
with you, usually over a two or three week period. Phone Centacare on (07)
4194 0172, to arrange appointment. FOCCUS stands for
“Facilitating Open Couple Communication Understanding and Study” and is used by
the Uniting, Anglican and Catholic churches, as well as community agencies, in
marriage preparation and education. It is primarily an education tool which
enables couples to talk to one another about their relationship. It is not a
‘religious’ or ‘faith’ based programme.
The
Wedding Liturgy: In order to prepare
well for your marriage liturgy, you will be provided with an easy-to-follow
ceremony guide when you first meet with the priest. Please disregard copies of wedding service
booklets that you may have collected from other weddings you have attended. People
add bits and pieces to the ceremony that are not always consistent. We will
provide you with the official ceremony guide to allow you to plan your
ceremony.
Music is an important part of the wedding
liturgy. Without good music and singing, weddings celebrations can be dry and
lifeless. We have a wonderful pipe organ in the church, as well as the option
of an electric keyboard. Our church organists are:
Mrs Rita Lynch (ph 4122 1030)
Mrs Denise Elmer (ph 4121 6994)
The fee for an organist is $50 who will
assist you with your choice of music and advise what music is acceptable and
appropriate for a church wedding. If a vocalist is required, please consult
with the organist. The fee for a vocalist is also $50. If you have your own
musicians, please consult with the parish priest. Taped music or CD’s are not encouraged. As another priest once put it: “You wouldn’t wear a plastic dress to the
wedding so don’t use plastic music !” It is the
couple’s responsibility to book an organist a few months prior to the wedding
date and arrange payment of them separately.
Flowers:
Our CWL ladies carry out all floral arrangements in St. Mary’s church. The
wedding couple, at their own expense, supply any flowers. Ordering and delivery
are the responsibility of the couple. The flowers must be at the church by 8
a.m. on the Saturday morning. Should there be another wedding on your chosen
day, you will be advised so that the cost could be shared.
Confetti,
rice or other substances makes a
mess of our lovely church so please ensure that your guests are aware that we
ask that these items are not to
be used.
May
the days leading up to your special day be happy and free from anxiety and may
the days after be filled with an ever-growing love of each other in this
Sacrament of covenantal love.
WEDDING FLOWERS AT SAINT MARY’S CATHOLIC CHURCH. MARYBOROUGH
Wedding
flowers for the church:
Flowers
for the church to decorate the church are provided by the wedding couple. These
flowers stay in the church after the wedding.
Gladiolis, Lilliums,
Carnations, Chrysanthemums, etc are very good for the flower arrangements in
the church.
White for the bride with other colours to
blend in with the attire of the bridal party. Naturally colour choices and type of
flowers is your own choice.
Three
to five bunches of flowers with greenery can make the church look lovely for
your special day.
If
flowers are bought fresh at the Maryborough Thursday morning markets, they can
be a much better price range than other venues.
The
parish flower arranging ladies would like the flowers to be at the church by
8am on the day of your wedding as it does take a fair amount of time to arrange
them.
Ideally,
the flowers can be brought in at the time of the practice and left in the work
sacristy for the ladies to start working on when they arrive early the next
day.
Please
note that the church and the parish office/ presbytery is not attended at all
hours so if you need to deliver anything to the church it has to be
pre-arranged or you may find that no one is around to let you in.
PLEASE CLICK
HERE FOR THE WEDDING APPLICATION FORM
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THE WEDDING CEREMONY
BOOKLET FOR CHOICES OF READINGS ETC, IS FOUND BY CLICKING THIS LINK
HERE: http://www.parishes.bne.catholic.net.au/maryborough/WEDDINGS.htm
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Extra information:
MARRIAGE PREPARATION COURSE
“Marriage preparation” has not always been an attractive option for
couples. Marriage preparation does not presume that the couple’s communication
and knowledge of each other is poor. Rather, marriage preparation is intended to
help and encourage the couple to make a careful evaluation of themselves, of
each other and their relationship. This may include the imparting of knowledge
but is primarily a valuable resource for the couple as they look at the reality
of themselves and their relationship. It begins with their relationship; and
seeks to help them discern (in a systematic way) their strengths and weaknesses
and the skills they already have, or may need to acquire to continue to foster
an ever-deepening relationship. Please, even if the couple have known each
other for a very long time, and even if a couple has been living together for a
long time, this does not mean that marriage preparation course is not
valuable. In fact, it could be quite the
contrary: With statistics available, it has been shown that with couples who
live together prior to marriage divorce rates are twice that of others,
so there is no statistical evidence that couples who live together know each
other better or have less interpersonal issues than others.
The Marriage Preparation Programmes available in this parish are:
a) Centacare in Maryborough,
b) F.O.C.C.U.S. (Facilitating of Couple-centred Communication.) Also run by Centacare
in Maryborough,
(Depending on time and other considerations, some couples choose to
do both. However, one is sufficient for the requirements of the Church).
Preparing the Church
Wedding Ceremony
Before
beginning to prepare your ceremony, you must decide whether you wish to have
a “Wedding Liturgy” or a “Wedding Liturgy including
Here
is the comparative structure of both options:
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WEDDING LITURGY Entrance Rite Entrance Opening Prayer Liturgy of the Word Scripture
Homily Rite of Marriage Giving of Consent (Vows) Blessing and Exchange of Rings General
Intercessions Nuptial Blessing Conclusion Lord’s
Prayer Blessing Signing of Register |
WEDDING LITURGY INCLUDING MASS Entrance Rite Entrance Opening Prayer Liturgy of the Word Scripture Homily Rite of Marriage Giving of Consent
(Vows) Blessing and Exchange of
Rings General Intercessions
Liturgy of the Eucharist Preparation of the Gifts (bringing
forward of the bread and the wine) Eucharistic Prayer Lord’s Prayer Nuptial Blessing Communion Prayer after Communion Conclusion Blessing Signing of
Register |
The choice of service must take into consideration the people
attending. If the marriage is between a Catholic and Non-catholic, then at the
Communion, members of one family may not be able to receive communion. This
could introduce a negative aspect into the celebration.
If you are not sure of the implications of the two choices, then
please seek the advice of the priest.
Once you have made your choice, then contact the priest
who will give you the information which will enable you to plan your service.
THE
WEDDING CEREMONY BOOKLET FOR CHOICES OF READINGS ETC, IS FOUND BY CLICKING THIS
LINK HERE: http://www.parishes.bne.catholic.net.au/maryborough/WEDDINGS.htm
Preparing for your Wedding
For general information on the process of weddings please scroll
down through the process of organising your wedding in St Mary's Parish.
If you have any questions, please contact the parish office.
INITIAL PHONE CONTACT
Catholic Priests have only a
limited licence from the Federal Government and the Catholic Bishops to
celebrate weddings.
First, you need to meet with your priest so that you can
together ascertain if this can be a Catholic Wedding.
IF COUPLE LIVE OVERSEAS, INTERSTATE OR
IN ANOTHER REGION, WE HELP YOU TO MAKE CONTACT WITH YOUR LOCAL PRIEST TO
ARRANGE CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.
If you live a distance from the parish, we will help you to find
the local priest of the area where you live. This priest can complete the
preliminary inquiry on our behalf. This is an important step, since we are not
permitted to perform a Catholic Marriage until permission is granted from the
priest of the area where you live.
Once this is done, we are able to record the time and place for
your wedding
WHAT YOU
REQUIRE FOR YOUR CATHOLIC WEDDING
THERE ARE GOVERNMENT AND
CHURCH REGULATIONS WHICH REQUIRE CERTAIN THINGS TO BE DONE BEFORE A WEDDING CAN
PROCEED.
TIME REQUIRED FOR NOTIFICATION
TO THE PRIEST OF INTENDED MARRIAGE
·
REQUIRED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: Can be signed
any time within 18 months prior to the wedding and it is absolutely necessary
that is has been signed by both parties at least ONE MONTH AND A DAY prior to
the wedding date.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED
YOU WILL NOT NEED TO HAVE ALL THIS INFORMATION BEFORE YOUR FIRST APPOINTMENT, BUT IF YOU HAVE AS MANY OF THESE
DOCUMENTS AS POSSIBLE THAT WILL BE VERY HELPFUL.
WEDDING BOOKING.
This arrangement is secure (but not confirmed) until the couple
pays a fifty dollar deposit and completes an approved Marriage Preparation
program, and has provided the priest with all the necessary certificates and
documents and permission from our Superiors in the Catholic Church is obtained.
Booking the Church
The booking of St. Mary’s Church for a wedding ceremony can only
be done through the parish priest.
You can make an enquiry through the parish office to see if the
Church is free on a particular date, but the booking will not be finalised,
until after a meeting with the parish priest, the completion of the relevant
paper work and the payment of fees etc.
It is possible to have the wedding conducted by a priest who is
not at St. Mary’s, but this must be cleared through the parish, and the parish
priest consulted.
St. Mary’s Church can only be used for weddings in the Roman
Catholic Rite.
WEDDING
PRACTICE.
This usually happens the
evening before the wedding, or a few days prior.
Payment of the balance owed on the church booking is now due at the parish
office.
WEDDING DAY.
By simply following through
these steps, you are guaranteed an enjoyable, and
spiritual celebration of the sacrament of Marriage.
PLEASE CLICK
HERE FOR THE WEDDING APPLICATION FORM
To return to the parish website main page, please click here: www.marycatholic.com