fly a priest out of state?

Jackie5711

Hi Ladies!

My FI and I originally decided to get married in NY, where we both live. We booked the date at our church with the Priest that has know my FI since he was a child. 

After some heavy thought, we decided to have the wedding in my hometown in Colorado. We still want to have our Priest do the ceremony out there (we obviously will take care of all his expenses). We presented the the idea to him, and he surprisingly didn't turn it down. We've set up a meeting with him to further discuss this situation. 

Have any of you had the same experience? Are we asking too much?

thanks!

Theresa626

Since your priest has known you a long time and already agreed, I think it's great that you are flying him out there and doing all that.  I don't think you'll have any problems regarding that situation.  I think you may run into a lot of problems finding a church that will marry you when you're not a member of their parish because a lot of people seem to have issues with that.  Start right away with contacting churches there and seeing if they'll let you bring in your own priest. Since it's your hometown, I'd have relatives talk to their own parishes first because that might be helpful for you.   If you find one that is willing to work with you, you'll probably need to have your priest write a letter to the bishop there getting his approval.  You'll probably also need to pay higher fees because you are not from their parish.  

Calypso1977

pretty much what theresa said.

JuneBlossom3

We weren't looking into having a different priest or anything, but our parish had a handout stating that the use of the church and to have a different priest was a different price.  AKA: it was more than 3x as much to have a different priest and not be a member of the parish and just use the church. 

Although I think most churches are ok with it, because basically you are just asking to use their building, but they will likely charge you more money. (Example: Non-parish members wanting a different priest can have our church for $1000, while members using our priest is only $300)

Although I don't think they can technically 'charge' for the building use -- and I am definitely no expert here, but churches don't pay property taxes, so they have some sort of different law with them in the effect that they are somewhat-public buildings.  Technically the 'prices' are 'suggested donations'.

Plus, there's always negotiation!

tldh

Nevermind if the church is ok with it...IS THE STATE???

Be sure that the priest can legally marry you in Colorado.  He may have to get licensed there.

lburkey21

We are actually doing this exact thing. We live in MA but we're getting married in OH where I great up. Our priest here in MA has known FI since he was little and agreed to come to Ohio to perform our ceremony.

Your priest will need to get licensed in the state of Colorado in order to legally perform the ceremony. You should be able to get the appropriate paperwork from your church/diocese in CO. I don't know if its the same for all states, but the paperwork was pretty straighforward and our priest had to provide his credentials.

Jackie5711

Thank you all so much, this has been very helpful.
My FI and I are meeting with our Priest tonight to discuss our options!