Non religious ceremonies

mah976

Is anyone going thru the dilema of finding a place to get married since their fiance is not religious?  i am chatholic but not practicing & going thru pre cana is too much.  I would get married in a church, but that seems to be a requirement.  Otherwise where would be some options to do it otherwise?Thanks!

desireedp

It really depends on where you're located and what time of year you're wanting to have your wedding. You could always do something like a park or by a body of water. Fi and I are in the same boat, I'm religious/him not as much. We're having ours at a Planetarium at his University. He loves the idea since he considers himself a man of science and I love it because stars have always been heavenly to me. It works for us

trix1223

There are countless options for you.  You can get married at your reception, if you've picked that out.  You can get married at a beach, in a park, on a mountain cliff.  You can get married on a boat~my brother and SIL had a beautiful wedding on a lovely boat that they chartered.  We went out into Boston harbor until they found a place they liked, and then they and their officiant stood on the front of the boat and had their ceremony.A small galley kitchen was plenty big enough to provide the appetizers, snacks, and drinks that we all enjoyed after the ceremony.My DD was married at a golf club.  Her wedding was outdoors on a knoll overlooking the 18th green.  Mountains in the background provided all the decorations they needed!My niece had her reception in a museum dedication to antique transportation.  It was just lovely.You can get married in an art museum, an aquarium, any other museum.  You can try old theaters, stadiums, or your backyard.  Use your imagination and start googling wedding venues that are in your vicinity.

christiedufon

FI & I are also not very religious. At first we thought about getting married outside in a park or on the beach, but we worried about the weather not cooperating. So, we decided to get married on the stage of a beautiful historic theatre. It really depends on your area, but there should be many other places besides a church to have a ceremony!

mah976

I would get married in a church because I am Catholic and went to Catholic schools k-12th grade, made all my sacrements, am Godmother to my neice, but I am just not actively going to mass every week.  Where as my FI does not even believe in God.  So I have always thought of myself getting married in a church and he's fine with it, but I dont want to be something he doesnt believe in.  I have checked out venues and they are very expensive (botanical gardens $450 for 20 people or less, parks need to pay for setup etc)  I was just looking for an idea that I maybe didn't think of yet...

mah976

Thanks and I appreciate the advise...

StarJay

Another option to discuss with your FI is a UU service. Universal Unitarians use litrugies from a wide variety of religions/philosophies and often are very open to including what the couple believes in in a ceremony. It would feel like a church wedding, but wouldn't necessarily be a strictly Christian ceremony.

rainedrop6

I definitely agree with Star. I was in the same situation, although neither FI nor I are religious, we are both Catholic. He has only been baptised but I've made all my sacraments. I too didn't want him to go through all that effort, just so we'd be "approved" to get married in the Catholic Church, especially since we'd have to agree to raise our children Catholic and we won't be doing that. I checked into UU because they don't require you to have a religious ceremony. Their church in Buffalo, where we originally planned to get married was insanely gorgeous and also a historic landmark. Had we not decided to get married in NC (where we live) we would have done it there. UU church here in NC was just not very beautiful to me, so I didn't want to get married there. Instead we choose a manor. Definitey check into manors, mansions, country clubs, golf courses, castles, historic landmarks, museums, and banquet halls in your area. To answer another posters question, I would get married in a church sheerly for the architectual and asthetic beauty, no other reason. One thing that's kind of related. We were shocked to find out that in NC the only people approved to marry someone legally is the Magistrate or a Religious Officiant. And that the Magistrate ONLY performs ceremonies at the Magistrate's office. We had to hire a religious officiant who was willing to perform a non-religious ceremony (which took some time to find). Just an FYI in case your state is similar.