Ceremony Problems

peach12

I recently found a venue with a few dates  available and choose one they had a week before Easter.. So when I went to book my church I found out that the priest wont marry us because its holy week.. 4-16. I am catholic and never heard of this before and I have tried to find other churches but they say the same thing..now i dont know what to do??? I really would love to get married in a church..any suggestions??? 

skippylouwho

Most churches won't marry you during Holy Week. Whether it is purely religious reasons or because the church (and the pastor and staff) are so busy they don't have time for a wedding.

You said the venue had some other open dates, have you thought about changing your date ?

I realize this is water under the bridge but before I commited to a reception venue I would have made sure the church and pastor/priest were available the same date/time.

aerinpegadrak

My understanding was that most Catholic churches won't perform weddings during the whole of Lent, not just Holy Week.  It's the most solemn period in the Church calendar, so celebrations aren't held.

MyNameIsNot

I agree w/PP.  I've always heard that you can't get married in a Catholic church at all during lent.  

At this point, your options are to 1) go back to the venue and try to move to another date or 2) give up the church wedding.  If you are Catholic, a wedding outside of the church is not a sacrament and not recognized by the church, so you'll need to consider how important that is to you.  

Most venues will allow you to keep your deposit if you move your date.  Call them and explain the situation, and see what they say.  

handfast4me

Try the Unitarian Universalist church in your area.  They welcome all, including Christians, Jews, Pagans, Atheists, Agnostics, etc. I would think that a UU minister would not have a problem marrying you during "holy week."     However, if you have a lot of friends who are in that Christian mindset, they may not feel comfortable attending a wedding during that week.  I'm not Christian, so I'd be fine with it, but you will need to decide what you and your guests are comfortable with. . . or not. 

aerinpegadrak

I can't remember where I just saw it, but I believe most churches won't perform weddings during Advent either.