Churches charging $1200+ for weddings?

behsco90

FI and I were looking at a couple of churches outside his parish for options and are shocked at how much they charge. His parish just asks for what we can afford.

But the other two have set fees and I'm just wondering if this is normal? One charges $1200 but said the fee may be flexible, we just have to talk to the priest. This particular church is a historical site so that may be why.

The other parish charges $1200 for the wedding plus $300 for the coordinator. When I asked if they work with couples on a budget she just said no, our fee is non-negotiable.

I'm not Catholic, so I don't know a lot, but I thought I heard somewhere that the church won't deny you a wedding if you can't afford it. Of course FI and I will get married at his parish, but I am just shocked at the cost of the other two. Is this normal?

IrishPirate60

You're looking at places where you are not a members. Rules are different for your home parish. If you belong to (and presumably support) a parish, you get the cost supported by the whole parish. Kind of like in-state tuition, KWIM? So a parish that is an historic site or one that is very pretty, for example, charge extra to cover their costs. People do go venue shopping, but that negates the crucial aspect of Catholic belief about just what is important: two people exchanging vows before witnesses.

Tami87

Also for many historic churches weddings are how they pay to upkeep the church and keep the lights on. Especially if it is not a parish. The prices you mentioned seem pretty typical for non member or historic churches. If you think about how much a secular wedding ceremony venue can cost it is really not that crazy. These churches do have a lot of operating and maintanence expenses.

As the previous poster mentioned if you are a member of a parish it is generally less because presumably you are already contributing to the church. If money is truely an issue the church will work with you. But often times couples will spend similar amounts on flowers, invitations, or whatever then act like it is crazy to pay so much to the church and I just don't get that.

behsco90

Thanks ladies.  That makes sense about being a non-member of the parish.

agapecarrie

The church will not withhold a sacrament for financial issues--- you can easily marry with a no frills wedding that happens in a regularly scheduled mass.

KPBM89

Ours was $850: $400 for the church use, $125 for the coordinator, $200 for the organist, and $125 for the cantor.  We also gave our priest a check, so we spent $1000 on the church.  It is a small church in a very small town and it's an extra $200 if you are not a registered parishioner. 

ifeelgoodifeelgreatifeelwonderful

Our church I believe is $800. I was shocked by the music fees as I wanted a small band that was $350 but decided that was too much so I would use the church people...that's now costing me $350, $200 for the organist and $150 for the singer. Then another $400 for the church. 

MesmrEwe

Since our wedding the church has put a $400 fee in place which covers all of the expenses of a wedding (musician, "janitor", classes, curriculum, priest/deacon, etc.). While I'm not sure how I actually "feel" about this - I do recognize that this stuff isn't cheap for the parish to pick up even if they did charge us individually on these things. As for the $1200 for the historical site church, the Cathedral here I believe charges around $2400 for non-parish members to get married there. Now THAT IMO is excessive. Sure, brides & grooms may be beating down the door to have their ceremony there, but that's out of line price point wise IMO.

holyguacamole79

I think our church was $1200. And we were parishioners. It was not a Cathedral, nor was it a historical site. It's just a church in the Houston suburbs. That said, that fee included EVERYTHING - musicians, priest stipend, wedding coordinator, etc. I think the only extra cost was to tip the altar servers.

nicole4793

The church I'm a member of is charging me $300 which includes meetings with the priest and the music/meeting to coordinate music. $1200 is an exorbitant amount to charge! You have every right to be shocked!! 

elizabethp17

We're getting married in Edinburgh's Catholic cathedral which charges £200 for the wedding and an optional £240 for an organist/choir. That comes to about $800, I guess?  Although really you could do it for just the £200, so about $350 or so.  $1200 seems like an awful lot.

szdanki

We are getting married at a university chapel in Rhode Island. Most of the churches in the city we are getting married had policies that did not allow for non parishioners to marry there, so the chapel was the only option if we wanted to have a Catholic wedding. Neither of us attended that university, so the cost for non alumni to simply use the chapel (not including a cantor, organist, or priest) was $4,000. It was really important to my family that we marry in the church, so we did decide to pay the price since it was the only option. I felt the same kind of shock when I first learned what the cost of the chapel would be! Good luck finding somewhere! 

IrishPirate60

When you list out all the expenses for a wedding, often the place where the wedding happens is a small percentage compared to the reception venue. Money allocated to an officiant and musicians is often minuscule compared to what is spent on flowers or photographers. If being married in a church or other religious facility is important to you, budget accordingly.

jellybeann

FI and I are getting married in the cathedral in my hometown and it is $1000 plus I think $150 for the cantor. We are not parishioners there and are also required to bring in our own priest for the ceremony. The parish my parents belong to is currently being renovated and masses are held in the middle school gymnasium, so that was a no go for the ceremony. If we were getting married in the city that FI and I live now, it would be $750 for at our parish as parishioners, and $1500 for non-parishioners. So I think it depends on the individual church and where you are located. I wasn't super put-off by the price, it made sense to me.

JMS62415

Ours is $350 for the ceremony but we're doing the reception there as well so it's costing about $2000 We're members of the parish too. Worth it though. 

Chloeagh

My church recommended $200 for the ceremony (although they never mentioned money again after the first meeting, never asked for it when we took a month to get it to them after the wedding), and we had a family member and FI's choir director do the music. The family member returned our check, so it only cost us $100 for music - $300 total for the ceremony.

ohmrs2014

The church I was going to be married in, a church that I was affiliated with my whole life, made my sacraments, went to the affiliated grammar school, wanted to charge me and DH $1500 because he was not a parishioner and not a Catholic.  I was a parishioner and the fee for parishioners is $325.

As much as I wanted to be married in my church, I chose not too because I was appalled.  I wasn't going to have the full mass, just the ceremony.  I felt like I was being "punished" for not marrying a Catholic.

marie2785

Yikes. These fees are high! Ours is about $425 for the organist and cantor, and we were advised to make an additional donation to the church. The donation amount was not specified, but I was told $200 was the norm by a staffer. They made it clear though the donation could be $0 to as much as I could afford. 

primafaba15

I've been beating myself up for insisting on our alma mater's chapel because I assumed it would be pricier than a 'normal' parish. This thread is making me feel a lot better about that.... For us, it is costing $500 for the chapel and $700 for musicians (would have been $500 but fiance really wanted to add a trumpet to the organ and cantor). Plus $175 for pre-Cana and whatever we give to our celebrant, although I have no idea what an appropriate number would be.