Catholic Beach Wedding, where are the few places you can do it?

sispy89

Hello everybody,

We would like to have a catholic beach wedding. I understand that, especially in the US, the Catholic church does not support that idea. However, I did find a place in Cancun that has a catholic glass chapel on the ocean and the post mentioned that they are a few more places that do it. Does anybody know of any place like this? We are not limited to a certain destination.

As an alternative, I could see myself getting married in a Catholic church near a beach, like in a small beach town or right next to the beach and having the reception at a beach venue. For this, I would like to keep it to the Southeast (Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama). Does anybody know of nice places?

Thank you!

HisGirlFriday13

(A) It's not a US-Catholic Church thing, it's a world-wide Catholic church thing about not having Catholic weddings outside a physical Catholic church. 

(B) You will have substantially better luck posting this on the local boards for the geographic areas you mentioned than you will on this board, because this board is an international board.

(C) If you had lurked for more than five minutes before posting this question, you would have learned that this question has been answered repeatedly on the boards. Use the "search boards" function in the upper-right corner of your screen.

Best of luck.

sispy89 said:

Hello everybody,

We would like to have a catholic beach wedding. I understand that, especially in the US, the Catholic church does not support that idea. However, I did find a place in Cancun that has a catholic glass chapel on the ocean and the post mentioned that they are a few more places that do it. Does anybody know of any place like this? We are not limited to a certain destination.

As an alternative, I could see myself getting married in a Catholic church near a beach, like in a small beach town or right next to the beach and having the reception at a beach venue. For this, I would like to keep it to the Southeast (Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama). Does anybody know of nice places?

Thank you!

ETA: quote original

OliveOilsMom

Ditto PP.  Marriage is a sacrament and must be performed in a Catholic Church.  If your FI is not Catholic, you could get a dispensation to have the ceremony performed somewhere else, but it would still need to be performed inside of a building (and you must prove extenuating circumstances).  So your best bet would be to find a venue on the beach and then marry at the local Catholic Church.  Just be aware, the cost to marry at a church you are not an active member in, can be more expensive.

Good luck.

Tami87

It is important for Catholic marriages to take place in a church. Ditto previous posters that this isn't just a US thing. I think the ceremony is the most important part of the day and I would personally never prioritize the vision of having a beach wedding over receiving a sacrament.

That being said, I did think of a beautiful Catholic church I visited on vacation in the Outer Banks, NC when I read this post. They have big glass windows that have a view of the ocean. I looked it up and you can have a wedding there if you are not a member although it will cost you more (pretty typical we also paid more to get married in a church in my husbands home town that we were not members of).You will still need to contact your local priest for marriage prep etc, but maybe it is something to look into.

http://www.ourladyoftheseas.org/weddingsandevents.html

itzMS

Why not just take your honeymoon to a beach destination? You can hire a local professional photographer to take some romantic shots of you and your new DH if the pictures are what is important to you.

It doesn't sound like where you live affords you the opportunity for a beach wedding. Destination weddings truly aren't as easy to pull off as it seems...especially when you tie in the requirements of the Catholic church.

How large is your guest list?

NOLAbridealmost

I think I know the glass chapel that you're referring to, OP. My parents suggested that as a venue when my H and I were looking for outdoor, beach wedding venues.  We ended up going a different direction (ie., I told my parents that as a non-practitioner of the faith a church or chapel would not be happening and we also scrapped the beach idea for other reasons). 

You won't find many beachy places w/a Catholic church in the states. 

I agree with checking out local boards. 

tally7

You should probably find the place where you want to get married then do a search for catholic churches nearby you will probably be able to find many places - also consider other waterfront not just beaches if you are mostly interested in the view

 

Good Luck !