Anyone getting married in a catholic church? costs..

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We have to remember that a wedding is a celebration of a sacrement and that churches are large buildings that require maintenance, there is staff salary, and the priests take time to meet with the couples to prepare for their special day as well as the work that goes on administratively for the proper procedures to be followed for a wedding. There are things that cost far more than what is being described here, a vacation, even to Cuba will end up costing more than a wedding, which is supposed to be one of the most important days in a couple's life. Enjoy the process and think about all the work behind the scene that goes on for a wedding and other sacraments you receive in the church before saying that it is not worth the expense!

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What part of BC?

View quoted message My church didn’t request any payment. It’s donation basis and we got the marriage license at London Drugs. Does someone have a recommendation for singer and pianist for the ceremony? It’s a small parish and I’m having a hard time to find someone. Thanks

My church is asking for $500, $250 for the organist, $150 for the cantor, $40 bucks for the altar servers, $310 for the marriage prep course, $190 for the marriage license. 🤯 no wonder people are opting out from marrying with the church.

I know this is years later....but we are having a similar problem. $250 deposit to save the date, an additional $500 for the ceremony, $175 for required engaged couples retreat, $25 for family planning certificate, $200 for marriage prep, totaling $1150. On top of that, they are wanting an additional $825 to have the reception in the church fellowship hall (which is apparently 50% off the regular as a discount.) We have nowhere else we know of to have a reception, which sucks because most of our few guests will be from out-of-state. We cannot afford this, and if it weren't for church requirements for a marriage to be recognized, we would have no problem just getting it done at the city courthouse!

Hey! We're getting married at a Catholic Basilica in downtown Toronto so we're pretty much seeing the same numbers as you. I think with our specific church, the cost comes from how well-sought after this church is for weddings and they only do 2 weddings a weekend.

Wow! My friend got married in a catholic church, it was a small town one though. Capacity was 300 and they asked for $200, paid for the marriage prep course too. They had the option of using someone for singing and all that but opted out.

I am getting married at Lutheran, capacity is around 200. They ask for donation only and the marriage prep was free. We came to church and had sessions after, so we did donations each time during this. The organist is $200 if we want her.

I wanted to ask first, what kind of church is it? Is it a small parish or a cathedral? Main reason being, usually the bigger the church, the more money they ask. That also goes for donation (but don't be pressured by it)

The costs are pretty much on average. As for the donation, every church asks for one regardless of if its a wedding, funeral, or regular mass. Considering you're having a wedding with no mass, I wouldn't worry too much about a hefty donation. I also want to point out, the donation is usually for maintenance or programming, so your altar servers won't get any. So make sure to slide a 20 their way too.

We're getting married at a Catholic Churcg next October and they've been very vague so far with what the costs are so this is good to know. We just signed up for the $300 marriage prep in January which I'm pretty excited about, but other than that I wasn't too sure what the costs were going to be. I'm curious if I'd like to bring in my own musicians if that's an option.

Also my biggest question has been... do you have to do a full mass? We're hoping to opt out of communion but didn't know if this was an option.

SO I'm doing this process now, the church asked for a "donation" of $350. Plus I have to pay for the courses $150.00. i think this is even a bit much considering we are not having a big wedding bc we have a small budget. We are having 22 adults all together.

Wow! That seems like a lot of money. I would say that you should only donate what you feel comfortable for this "donation/offering" they keep talking about. I agree with Bethany as well that they aren't really doing much other than showing up and that maybe a percentage of your total bill is the best way to go.

Im not sure about that. Is the 1000$ your donation??? wow!

I had to pay $1000 offering just to get married at a Cathedral . Excluding fee for priest ,cantors , musician,marriage preparation course etc . I'm guessing we can claim it for tax purposes on charitable donations no ? .

They made it so clear that the 500$ was just for meeting with the priest a few times and then the rehearsal. It's so strange that every time they have mentioned this donation... I really don't know what they expect. But a few hundred bucks on top of everything I had to pay to get married there for should be appreciated. I hope.

Thanks Louise

Good Lord. My friend got married in a Catholic church and the donation was $500 for the ceremony, set up, courses and rehearsal.
I think $150-$200 is reasonable considering how much they are charging you already.
Usually what you pay is the donation.Good Luck.

Yes I was thinking $200 as well and honestly I think that's generous. Like you just said, it's a half hr ceremony. i think 2 percent is enough for the church. Ps, sounds like your ceremony is going to be beautiful. Violinist, organist, singer, the whole nine yards. And I also like traditional, everything about my wedding is traditional besides the church lol. I am having a religious ceremony even tho it's outdoors. Congrats

You are so right! Thanks for that, Bethany

It's literally just a half hour ceremony. We're not doing a full mass and everything so I really don't know if they take that into consideration. I'm thinking 200-300$ donation...

That's tough.. should you do like a restaurant and tip 15% of your total bill lol? 18% If service is good and 12% if service is bad. I'm not getting married In a church so I don't know what's typical. I know our venue is auto adding 18 percent gratituity to our bill cuz they're catering to a large party. Maybe the church is asking for that but instead of being too forward, they just ask for a voluntary amount donation.
You could think of it like that and do a percent thing and not a dollar amount. To be honest I think 10 percent or even 5 percent of your already costly bill is more than plenty. Heck do 2 percent. They're not serving you like it's a party, they're more or less just showing up. Let me know what you think.

It is what I want too Always pictured my wedding ceremony in a church. It's a bonus that I'm making the fams happy ontop of it. Just suprised at the costs is all. And how they keep mentioning this donation... I don't want to give something too small.

We have 20 guests and We donated 50$ to the Church to do it outside and our Hall is 50$ as well. 90% of our Guests are Family. You have to do what you want not what the Family wants, it's your day, not their day.

I never thought of that hahaha thats probably true

You donate what you are comfortable with! They can't do care the amount. And....maybe they are charging so much because they need to renovate :p.

Good idea

I am doing this mostly for our families. I'm not super religious but did always imagine my ceremony in a church.

How much would you donate to the church though?

I wonder why mine charges 500$... it's not even a newly renovated or nice looking church.. oh well.

That being said though, how much would you donate to the church after all those costs?

I know church close to me charges $200 and the organist was extra. Not sure how much though. I wanted to get married in the Catholic church but we needed to get married on the Sunday to accommodate family.

That is the main reason why we went with an outdoor wedding, No extra cost.