I know prices are based on location etc., but I'm wondering if this is just too much regardless. So, finally got in touch with someone at what was my church until I was 23, and still consider to be my "home" church. They're undergoing renovations right now, but they will be done by the fall. This will take an already outstandingly beautiful church into just ridiculously perfect looking church. It's really going to be stunning. The rental fee used to be $500 for parishioners and $2000 for non-parishioners, this included the celebrant (priest) and altar boys. Because it's always been a beautiful church, they have a lot of Catholics who are members of other churches in the area come to get married there because it is by far the prettiest one in the area. They also used to give "first dibs" so to speak on a date to a member or someone who had family that attended there or could prove a close relationship to this particular parish. It then became $1000 for parishioners and $3000 for nons. Now the new priest wants it to be a $2000 flat rate for all weddings after this summer, which would include mine. This will include the celebrant, the altar boys (who aren't paid anyway, so I don't know why you would have to include them in the price) and use of the organ/organist.
That seems like a whole lot of money for just the church, to me. Please tell me if I'm just horribly off-base. $2000 is a huge chunk of money to just be spent on the place where we take a few pictures, and have the service. And I say this as someone who always saw this church as the only constant in any wedding I've ever thought of having. I can justify a lot of costs in my head, but I just can't get my head around this one. Not to mention that it only includes the organist, no kind of cantor or anything. It also doesn't include decorating the church, and this church is very picky about what kind of decorations you can use; very specific about it having to be live cut flowers, no potted plants or fakes of any kind, you also leave any flowers there after the ceremony to be used at the Masses. Which I would be totally down with, if the church fee wasn't going to be that much.
This is considering that we then would still have to find a place for the reception and all of that, which could get even more expensive. And the date I really wanted is already booked. I just don't know. Maybe I've just been low-balling church costs in my head. I did kind of think that would be less expensive or more of a donation. My Mom is talking to the priest in her hometown which will hopefully be a lot less. I don't have a relationship with any other priests or churches in my hometown, so it seems silly to go fishing around there when I could do it cheaper in her hometown, even though that might be more difficult for guests. Bah.
