Priest question

mgg242

I am the first one in my family to be married in the church (also never been to a Catholic wedding).  I am so greatful and excited to be taking this step in the church!  My FI families from Mexico and wanted to make sure I had a donation to our priest in my budget.  I did.  Then we began our marriage prep we were told the fee for the church was $600.  I asked my godfather if I still make a seperate donation to the Priest and he was unsure (he was my go to guy, he was a priest.)  His parish was in Wyoming and they didn't charge for use of the church, so he was unsure on what I should do. 

Do I make a seperate donation to the Priest?  We are not being married at our home church or by our priest who is still doing our prep, our parish is too busy to take our wedding.

Thank you in advance!

chelseamb11

It really depends on the church.  Some will give the priest money out of the fee you pay them. Others won't. I'd just ask your church where that $600 is going (or even specifically ask them if some of it is going to the priest) and see what they say!

professorscience

Agree with Chelsea.  Our total fee was $1000, and that was broken down into the rental for the church, the payment of the priest, the coordinator, and the music director. 

mgg242

Thank you ladies!

Calypso1977

the priest (and if you have them, the altar servers) should all receive stipends.
our church chraged $100 for the priest, we gave him an extra $100 as we were not charge for pre-cana which was three nights of his time.  we gave our altar boys $40 each - they gave up about 3 hours of their saturday for us.

Irishcurls

And if you're not comfortable asking the priest himself, try the receptionist--they have a good grasp of norms in the parish. 

professorscience

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_priest-question-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:edd24caa-cb47-4869-ac2a-fa21428b6f79Post:4fab58e9-79ad-484f-aae7-864b0ece7a03">Re: Priest question</a>:
[QUOTE]And if you're not comfortable asking the priest himself, try the receptionist--they have a good grasp of norms in the parish. 
Posted by Irishcurls[/QUOTE]

<div>Or the church wedding coordinator, if your parish has them.</div>