Catholic Wedding for a Catholic and Protestant?

sclaterlw

Hello all,

I need help!!!  My fiance is Catholic and is from a super devout family.  I am an unbaptised Protestant.  I have always dreamed of having an outdoor wedding and one that is relatively short.  I'm struggling with giving up my idea of my dream wedding.  But also I really don't want to deny my fiance the Catholic wedding he believes is important (or offend his family).  Is there anyway I could get a Catholic preist to preside over an outdoor wedding with my not being Catholic?  I am prepared to give up my dream wedding if it means making my fiance happy, but if there's any way to make both of our dreams come true I'd like it.

hvcfringe

I don't think it's possible, the Catholic church doesn't believe that a marriage is valid unless performed in the church. Or atleast thats what I have understood I may be wrong I have not been in the church for to long.

mica178

It's incredibly rare for a dispensation to be granted for an outdoor Catholic wedding ceremony.  You might be able to find a church that has an outdoor altar, but those are rare. 

(Btw, the fact that you are not Catholic has nothing to do with why the Church does not allow (in general) outdoor weddings.)

My parish had huge clear windows, so we had views of the surrounding trees and garden, which was a reasonable compromise between the indoors and outdoors.  Could you look for a church that is similar?  Have an outdoor reception?  Take pictures outside?  Etc.

rcj2rcd

I think it's great that you are focusing on the important part of the day, marrying your FI, but I don't think you'll be able to have a Catholic ceremony outside. How about bringing the outdoors inside? You don't need a multi-million dollar budget to do something similar to what Kate Middleton did. Use greenery instead of flowers and keep it simple.

HandBanana

This is a very common topic on this board and there are several posts you can find that go into depth about the difficulty to get a dispensation.

It might be a good idea for you and FI to meet with the Catholic priest who would marry you.  He can better explain the importance of being married in the Catholic church vs being married outside.  Also, you and FI need to decide why a Catholic wedding is important and what is important to both of you. 

I'm really glad that you are acknowledging the importance of your groom's wishes.