Priest $ Donation?

GCsn2bRhds

The priest that is marrying us is well-liked and a friend of my parents'. He never asked us for money, but we would like to offer him something in return for his services.
When my parents had their 25th wedding anniversary, they donated $200 to their priest. What would be the appropriate amount for our wedding, you think? Ideas?

Calypso1977

our priest fee was $100, and then we gave him another $100 on top of that.  we didnt want to cheap out on the ceremony services.  looking at what we spent for the ceremony and reception, we spent about 20% on the ceremony between the fees, what we gave on top of the fees, adn the altar boy tips, etc. 

[Deleted User]

The customary donation is $250 for our priest according to our church's wedding guidelines.

Theresa626

We are required to give two hundred dollars to the priest. 

calli0pe00

For my church, the fee is $400, but that is for everything including the musicians and cleanup.

lburkey21

I'm actually wondering the same thing! Our priest is my FI's childhood prist and isn't charging us a fee. His is however flying out of state to perform our ceremony so we will be coving the cost of his hotel during his stay. In addition to that, how much do you think is appropriate to donate? Or should we get him a personal gift since we are so grateful to him to come all the way to Ohio for our wedding?

chelley599

The church fee for us is 300 but should we be planning on giving more to the priest?  I thought that was what the fee was.  They call it a donation

calli0pe00

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_priest-donation?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:dba645b4-fb52-46b9-a6a0-712f90fcfc47Post:de16605f-c9f3-4c15-852f-6a19bd966c69">Re: Priest $ Donation?</a>:
[QUOTE]The church fee for us is 300 but should we be planning on giving more to the priest?  I thought that was what the fee was.  They call it a donation
Posted by chelley599[/QUOTE]
Same here. I sure hope not, because 400 for me is already a lot!

blackfire5th

Our Church fee was $400.  Our priest actually brought up tipping.  He said that it was the way priests made money before they were paid a salary.  Now that they get a salary, tipping isn't needed.  He said that anything we gave him he would donate because others need the money.  He said that if it was small enough (around $20) he would probably take the other priest and deacon out to eat.  So we did something around $20 since he would be getting a direct use.

Pirata13

Our church donation is $350, but we will give the priest something extra. I did find out however, that if my priest is given cash, he has to donate it.  I know he goes to Starbucks all the time so I will pick up a gift card for there and also find out where he likes to eat and get him a gift card for a favorite eating spot.

Clare13

I have a very good friend who is a priest and specifically asked him this question.  His answer was something along the lines of, marriage is a sacrament and the priest should not be making/receiving money for administering the sacrament.  (Ok, the sacrament is performed between the husband and wife, but you get the point.)  With that said, it is very customary for churches to collect a donation/fee for the church to perform the wedding.  Often it says the priest's fee is included in it.  He told us that if he is given money, he always donates it.  He stated small presents and token gifts he appreciates.  He is performing our ceremony and I plan on getting him a gift card and maybe a token gift.  I would suggest getting your priest a nice consumable gift that he can use.  Think candy, gift cards, etc.  I would avoid the money unless your intent is to give more to the church. 

dogluver315

There was no required fee for our priest but we did give him a $200 gift card to Bass Pro Shops because on his vacations he loves to hike and he's been all over the world.  We loved it and already knows what he's buying.

Littlin

We are probably going to do the gift card route for a nice dinner out as well.

mrsdevilguy

We're trying to figure out the same thing. Our church fee is $300 but the deacon told us that doesn't include anything for him, the organist or cantor.

mswood1977

Our church doesn't charge parish memebers anything for the use of the church for the wedding, but they do recommend a $200 stipend for the priest.

Jay+Marissa

As an add-on, what would you recommend for TWO priests? (after not being able to find one for months we ended up with two--crazy). DF's mom asked a Legionary priest to do our wedding--he said he'd be honored and would bring another Legoniary  priest friend along too. I imagine we are going to have to pay for their travel/hotel expenses from Houston to Dallas--not sure what to donate to each of them on top of that.