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Small Catholic Wedding..Who else is needed for ceremony?

shanell411shanell411
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in Catholic Weddings
I attend a small Catholic church there are approx less than a 100 members. I love the close knit of it though of the community. Anyway I will be having small wedding 50-75 at the max. Our church just has one Sunday Mass service. We have a small choir and  altar servers etc. I will be having our parish priest marry us. My FI isn't Catholic so it will most likely be a wedding outside of Mass. Who else other than the priest do we need to be there at the wedding? Do we need altar servers, ushers etc. I know we will need the musical director for music but that is about it outside of the priest? I don't think we need anymore people...I want my sister and a close friend or my mother do some of the readings what do you guys think? And how much would I pay other people that will be servicing our wedding miusic director etc?

One last question what is  a good donation amout to the priest? We will be using the church social hall basment for reception and pay for that but what is good for the priest to have for himself?
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Re: Small Catholic Wedding..Who else is needed for ceremony?

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    mswood1977mswood1977 member
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    edited December 2011

    If you are not doing a full mass (no communion) you will not need alter servers.  If your priest requires the Pslam be sung you will need a cantor in addition to the organist (most Catholic churches don't allow pre-recorded music).  You can select someone to be an usher for you but in my parish it is not required.  One of our Groomsmen is acting as our usher.  My parish also requires us to use the parish wedding coordinator to make sure that everything is setup correctly and the service goes off without a hitch but I don't think this is required in all parishes. We where allowed to select whoever we wanted to serve as lectors (do the readings.)  Since we are having a full mass we needed 3 lectors (1st reading, 2nd reading, Prayer of the Faithful).  If you are not having a full mass I think you normally only have 1 reading and I don't think you have the prayer of the faithful.  My parish recommends a $200 stipend to the priest but there is not required amount.

    My priest was a great help in letting me know what we needed.  He also gave me documentation on the wedding policies, requirements and procedures when we initially met with him and a booklet called "Together for Life".  I recomend you discuss with your parish priest the policies and procedures for weddings in your parish.

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    Pirata13Pirata13
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    edited December 2011
    We are giving my priest $100 in addition to the required $350 fee that covers the church, organist etc.  However, I did find out that if we give him cash he has to donate it to the church. He goes to Starbucks every day, so we'll give him a Starbucks gift card and a gift card to one of his favorite restaurants.
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    Calypso1977Calypso1977 member
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    edited December 2011
    you will need two witnesses, one of whom should be Catholic.
    if you arent having mass, then you dont need organ or vocal.  we had mass and only had teh organ.
    you dont need gift bearers or altar servers if you arent having mass.  i dont think you even need readers unless you really want to have readings done. even then, the priest can do them.
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