Pre-Cana Question

Tully16

Does anyone know if you can take Pre-Cana classes other than the parish where your wedding will take place?

There are two main reasons FI and I would like to do this:

(1) We would like to get married at the parish my family attends in my hometown; however, both of us live several hours away.  It would be much easier to complete the Pre-Cana where we live, instead of having to make a lengthy commute.

(2) The parish my family attends is VERY conservative.  I would be hesitant about completing Pre-Cana there.  (NFP is nice, but it's not for us.)  I know that the curch I currently attend would make FI and I feel more comfortable about the classes.

Can anyone help me out?

ExpatPumpkin

We got married at a parish in Colorado, but did our pre-cana in Texas.  I'd just ask if you can do it near you to cut down on travel time and expenses.  It shouldn't be an issue.  Good luck

CassiePEI

Ask your pastor!  The church I'm getting married in doesn't have pre cana classes.

pjseabee

We are getting married in my hometown 8 hours away from where we currently live... Our Priest told us when we scheduled our date that he didn't expect us to travel to him to do our pre-cana, that we could complete it at our local church. 

Theresa626

yes you can but you need your parish and priest's permission first and you really need to go through them to make sure you meet all of the requirements they have.  Every single parish is different so I would say you should contact your parish immediately and explain the situation.  

Tully16

It sounds like it shouldn't be too big of a deal.  Thanks for the answers, everyone!

Ingamckinley

Hi I thought I might be able to help with this.
You should be able to. You should talk to the priest at the church you'll be getting married at. Mine said it was fine but I would need to take classes over here in Phoenix and meet their requirments. You should be able to take classes at the church you and your FI are registered at, or at the church you live closest to.

andyandhillary

Contact your parish.  I love 12 hrs away from the parish we are getting married at and I had to take a day off of work to come back for the weekend retreat.  I was not a happy camper. 

[Deleted User]

Just ask. We, too are getting married in our home parish but live 10 hours away. We did our pre-cana the parish where we live and the priest that did it with us and the priest that will marry us were in constant contact. Our EE weekend that we were reuired to do was done in the same state we live in, but we had to drive 3 hrs, but that was better than flying home for the weekend to do it. Best advice: ASK and ask lots of questions if you aren't sure about something.

shanell411

Cssie so you didn't have to do any pre-cana at all? How did you get around that? I am asking b/c my fiancee is from another country and once he gets here on a fiancee visa we just have 90 days to get married or he has to return to his country and our archdiocese website says that pre-cana is a min. of 6 months.

Riss91

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_pre-cana-question-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:a023507b-2278-47bf-be45-deeabe331146Post:d0cf8d0d-d30d-4b51-bae8-35c6949dbf76">Re: Pre-Cana Question</a>:
[QUOTE]Cssie so you didn't have to do any pre-cana at all? How did you get around that? I am asking b/c my fiancee is from another country and once he gets here on a fiancee visa we just have 90 days to get married or he has to return to his country and our archdiocese website says that pre-cana is a min. of 6 months.
Posted by shanell411[/QUOTE]


Pre-cana classes do not take 6 months. There are various formats, but typically they are about a 20 hour requirement (maybe more for a retreat style). We did ours a month and a half before our wedding. You need to begin your pre-marital counselings with your priest at least 6 months in advance. We contacted the priest about 8 months out and he put our date in the church book. We met with him maybe 4 months out and he just went over our general info, it was a 30 min meeting. We did our pre-cana classes a couple months later and that was all we needed to do. I would just contact a priest now and explain your situation, I'm pretty sure all of the non-pre-cana class stuff can be worked out.

amy727

It depends on the church.  My friend just got married in October and the priest made them drive the 2 hours back home for the classes. 

I just called our church and they are letting us take the classes here in Philly so we don't have to drive 5 hours. 

shanell411

Rissa: The problem is when he gets approved for a fiancee visa (how ever long that will take) once he comes here we have just 90 days to get married per immigration rules or he will have to return back to his country. My archdiocese website said that pre-cana is a min. of 6 months which we don't have b/c immigration just gives you 90 days to marry.

Riss91

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_pre-cana-question-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:a023507b-2278-47bf-be45-deeabe331146Post:20877e20-328d-41e3-a35e-9287b2abcd35">Re: Pre-Cana Question</a>:
[QUOTE]Rissa: The problem is when he gets approved for a fiancee visa (how ever long that will take) once he comes here we have just 90 days to get married per immigration rules or he will have to return back to his country. My archdiocese website said that pre-cana is a min. of 6 months which we don't have b/c immigration just gives you 90 days to marry.
Posted by shanell411[/QUOTE]


Right, I understood your original post. If you contact your priest now, explain the situation, I am pretty sure it will work out fine. The only parts of "pre-cana" that the both of you need to be physically together and in this country for can be done within the 90 days. The 6 months is a guideline to ensure you're prepared for marriage. Just give the priest a call!

lauraNkieran

Agreed - you need to speak to your priest and explain the situation.  It really does vary parish to parish and even then, priest to priest.  We booked the church and had our initial talk with the priest last April (we were married ths past March), he gave us the paperwork for where pre-cana classes were held and didn't care WHEN we did them as long as we had our certificates to give him before the wedding.  We met with him again in February to hand over the paperwork and go over readings.  Aside from random phone calls I didn't see him again till the rehearsal.