Catholic Churches around Philadelphia Area- Non-parishioner

emb5147

My fiance and I want are moving to Michigan, but we want to have the ceremony and reception back where I grew up outside of Philadelphia. My mother and I don't exactly have good ties with the catholic church I grew up in so I was looking to find a catholic church outside of philadelphia or possibly in the city that would let us get married there without being a registered member? Does anybody have any suggestions? I'm looking for a church within a 35 mile radius of Philadelphia (so i'm pretty much open to anywhere that will let us get married there)

Please help.

[Deleted User]

I was married at Our Mother of Good Counsel in Bryn Mawr best bargain of the day, $200 for non parishioners.  They were very nice and accommodating.  They only have about 10 weddings a year so I think they were excited to have us.  

You have to use their musicians, but they are all pros are in the Philadelphia Orchestra etc and are cheap as well, $175 and $200 depending.  

babe2331

Try St. John's in Center City Philadelphia (13th & Market) or St. Rita's in South Philly (Broad and Ellsworth- not too far from Center City)

Good luck!

_Dagney_

Are you registered with a Catholic church anywhere?  They usually require a letter from your home church.

jelybeancg

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-philadelphia_catholic-churches-around-philadelphia-area-non-parishioner?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:105Discussion:ab2e71a4-25b3-433d-90f8-ba4a6adde5b2Post:3cdd9287-f361-4e9f-8758-c8e45534c3cb">Re: Catholic Churches around Philadelphia Area- Non-parishioner</a>:
[QUOTE]Are you registered with a Catholic church anywhere?  They usually require a letter from your home church.
Posted by _Dagney_[/QUOTE]

I am not getting married at my home parish and I was not asked to get a letter from my home parish. It really depends on the individual priest.

krazykramer

My parish church is in need of renovations, so I started calling other churches.  I used this website as a guide.  It actually ranks churches in and around Philadelphia.  

http://phillychurchproject.com/

Almost all of the churches I called were receptive to having a non-parishioner marry there.   We chose Immaculate Conception B.V.M. in Jenkintown because we liked the look of the church and the location worked with our venue.  They are charging me $400 plus $100 for the singer and $100 for the organist. That was about par for the suburbs.  Center city churches will run between $1000 and $2000 and you have to provide the priest. If you are getting married in the summer make sure they have air conditioning.  Some of the older churchs do not.

emb5147

The situation with my home parish is really kind of sticky. My mother worked for them for years and they haven't been the friendliest, so i'd rather not have to deal with having a letter of recommendation or anything from my home parish.

Thanks so much for all your responses It's been a lot of help!