Marriage Preparation

Can a Priest of Deacon marry me on the beach or at a venue?
As Catholics, we believe that marriage is a sacrament: a sacred moment given to us by Jesus. When you celebrate this wonderful Sacrament, we hold it in a space that is dedicated, sacred and consecrated. We have these three requirements because marriage is so important to us, so let’s take a look at each of them.

• A dedicated space: We consider weddings so special that we recognize they should be done in a place that is set aside for them. Obviously, weddings do not need to be the only thing toward which the space is dedicated. You may point out that Las Vegas wedding chapels fill this requirement.
• A sacred place: When we describe something as sacred, we are recognizing it as blessed by God or touched by God. Many places that are not churches also fall into this category.
• A consecrated place: The Church teaches us that, sometimes, we take a place (or even a person!) and set them aside from “common” use for sacred use. This is a movement of the Holy Spirit from the people of God through our clergy, which culminates in a ritual where we say, ‘This place is special.'”

To be fair, there are circumstances in which the Bishop of a diocese may grant special permission for a couple to wed in another location, but that would only be for serious reasons. Most likely, your reason for desiring to be in the midst of God’s creation will not be a strong enough argument to sway your Bishop

The Diocese of St. Petersburg requires a period of six months to prepare for the Sacrament of Matrimony. 

A Sacramental Marriage is the cornerstone for a Catholic family life. Because the Church wants couples to form lasting marriages and strong families, they have established a Common Policy for Marriages, which includes a couple’s participation in a marriage preparation program. Our Lady of the Rosary offers a parish based, “Joined in Christ Marriage Preparation Program”.

Our parish based program consists of three phases:

1. Investigative – to determine a couple’s freedom to marry in the Catholic Church
2. Enrichment - a time to examine each other’s suitability for a lifelong relationship
3. Liturgy Planning – an opportunity to focus on your ceremony; choose from a selection of prayers and scripture readings to customize your wedding ceremony.

Offering

The following offering fees helps defray the costs of marriage preparation materials, administrative service, utilities and other expenses incurred by the parish in the processing of documents required by the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

Pay Online

For those couples wishing to be married at Our Lady of the Rosary:

$100.00 - Deposit to hold date.

$200.00 – Marriage preparation cost, this fee is due at the time the couple meets with the Marriage Preparation Coordinator. Checks should be made payable to Our Lady of the Rosary. Should the wedding be cancelled, a refund in the amount of $150.00 will be returned by check to the payee.

$175.00 – Services of the Music Director and Cantor at your wedding liturgy. The costs of outside soloists, extra music rehearsals, additional musicians and/or requests for special musical arrangements are in addition to this fee. The fee is payable to the Music Director at the time the couple meets to plan the music for their wedding liturgy.

$100.00 - Services of the clergy presiding at Marriage Rite.  The gift is payableto the priest or deacon at the time of the wedding rehearsal.

$25.00 - Services of the altar server assisting at Marriage Rite.  The gift is payable to the altar server at the time of the wedding rehearsal..

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$600.00 - Total Cost to be married at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church.

For couples celebrating their marriage at another Catholic church:

$200.00 - Marriage Preparation cost at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, this fee is due at the time the couple meets with the Marriage Preparation Coordinator. 

After the successful completion of the assessment phase and all parish fees are paid in full, a wedding date can be finalized and recorded on the parish calendar or written notification/notice sent to another Catholic church. Registered parishioner(s), experiencing financial hardships, should contact the Pastor.