Wedding Vows & Ceremony Discussions

Trouble Booking Chruch

My fiance and I are planning an out of town wedding in a Catholic church. Right after we got engaged in Nov we called the church and the priest said we should work with our own priest and that he wouldn't put us on the calendar until speaking with our priest (probably trying to see if we actually practice). Our priest in our town, who we know well, agreed to work with us and do our preparation and even preform the ceremony. We met with our priest a couple weeks ago and he said he would contact the out-of-town priest. 

We are planning for Sept 2011, so we have awhile, however the reception location books very quickly and is a summer only location, so we want to book it as soon as possible, which we made clear to our priest. Well, he still hasn't contacted the out-of-town priest! He told me last week he would call within the week (which he said 2 weeks ago), but I'm getting really frustrated. I'm worried it's going to take weeks for them to figure this out and do the paperwork. I just want to book our reception but I thought we should book the church first. I e-mailed the out-of-town priest last week just to let him know our priest would be contacting him but didn't get a response. I don't know what I have to do to get the wedding on the church calendar! Has anyone else had trouble with booking a church? I'm thinking I have to just be patient but every day that goes by I'm worried the reception location will get taken. We're not getting married out of town unless the reception place is available. Any tips?

Re: Trouble Booking Chruch

  • Honestly, if you must get married at this particular church and your priest must make the arrangements, I'm not sure what you can do besides wait for him to take care of it.

    I would perhaps call him and remind him how important this is and how fast locations book in the area and ask when he'll be taking care of it but unless you are willing to be flexible on the ceremony location you are just going to have to wait until it gets done.

    I think it stinks that you can't count on your priest to do things in a timely manner.  Does he know you well enough for you to bring your concerns to him?  Or if not, is the fact that he doesn't know you that well what is stopping him?

  • well it seems like you've already done everything you could do, short of hijacking both priests and driving them blindfolded to a secret location where they *must* work it out or face hours of torture. so. i say take a deep breath and relax. you don't know how it will turn out, but that's ok - i'm sure ending the day as a Mrs. is paramount to everything else, so just remember that. go pour yourself a glass of wine & imagine yourself 10 years from now when none of this matters.

    don't hinge your heart on that location right now, cuz it's obviously driving you crazy. hinge your heart on being with your love for the rest of your life, and if you *do* get this worked out in time to secure your location, then you'll have an awesome bonus.

    however. have you checked things out from the location's end, though? perhaps things are a little more flexible than you think and another week or two won't hurt as much as you think? also, even if they are booked solid by the time you are able to book, perhaps you can be on a wait list in case of cancellations? there's bound to be something that would open up between now and when you'd be sending invites.
  • I suppose you could contact the priest at the location church, and inquire if the church is still available for your target date.  Then ask him to contact your local priest to verify that you are practicing Catholics, and are doing your preparedness sessions. 

    Other than that, I don't really have any suggestions other than to look on the Catholic weddings board.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_trouble-booking-chruch?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:f0e22dbc-d2b3-424f-a69d-830ecd86bb81Post:2cc9a5f3-8acb-49ac-91f0-6cecf7cc8616">Re: Trouble Booking Chruch</a>:
    [QUOTE]well it seems like you've already done everything you could do, short of hijacking both priests and driving them blindfolded to a secret location where they *must* work it out or face hours of torture. 
    Posted by bajediva[/QUOTE]

    <div>LOL, thanks for the laugh! Right now that seems like it could possibly be easier than talking separately to them both! And thank you to everyone else's advice. About the priest knowing us well, we don't attend service at his church regularly however my brother just passed away from a long illness and there have been many visits at home and the hospital with him over the past few years, so we really have gotten to know him personally. That's what makes it so frustrating, that on top of having all this grief over my brother, I can't get this sorted out and actually start planning my wedding. You would think he would be eager to do us a favor. I guess I'll just have to be patient. Maybe call the reception place and see if they've done many bookings since we last talked to them at the end of November. </div>
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_trouble-booking-chruch?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:f0e22dbc-d2b3-424f-a69d-830ecd86bb81Post:585700f8-3c1f-4862-b17d-2220734a8e62">Re: Trouble Booking Chruch</a>:
    [QUOTE]Other than that, I don't really have any suggestions other than to look on the Catholic weddings board.
    Posted by Catwoman708[/QUOTE]

    <div>Thanks for the tip, I didn't even know there was a Catholic weddings board! I'm sure this will help me a lot with ceremony stuff!  Still a little new around here <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /></div>
  • I don't have a ton of advice for you, but I totally understand what you're going through. My FH and I got engaged October of 2008 and contacted our church as within the week. We live in a very small town where there are 2 catholic churches but it's the same parish. We booked St. Philips Church (where I made all of my sacraments) in Nov of 08.
    Our priest did tell us that he woudl be retiring in January 2010, but he would come back to marry us, if we wanted him to. We agreed on that. Last April, we were told that St. Philips may be closing due to financial difficulties and that we might have to wait to know if it would be open.
    In December I called the church and they were still unsure if we would be able to use that church or not. After Mass this past Sunday(which was our priests last day), he told me he was still unsure of what was going on and didn't have an answer for us. If my wedding wasn't less than 3 months away, I wouldn't be so upset, but we still dont know and won't for at least another week. 

    The only thing I can really tell you is to keep calling both priests at least once a week until they decide to get everything in order for you. Having to wait til the last minute to know where you will get married is the worst in the world. What I would do in your situation is book the reception hall immediately, and wait for the church. I'm sure that there is another church in the area that you would be able to use, and if BY CHANCE there wasn't, you could always use the reception site for your ceremony too.
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