Pennsylvania-Pittsburgh

Finding a Catholic church for the ceremony

I am pretty new to The Knot and very new to discussion boards, but I thought perhaps someone might be able to help with my ceremony venue dilemma.  I am not Catholic but my fiance is and we have decided to have the ceremony in a Catholic church.  The most natural choice would be the church he was raised in; however, we just booked Edgewood Country Club for the reception and I am concerned about how far away the church is from the reception venue.  We are going to have a lot of out-of-town guests since my family and I are not from the area so I thought it might make more sense to have the ceremony at a church closer to the reception location.  Does anyone have any thoughts or advice?

Re: Finding a Catholic church for the ceremony

  • I have a lot of OOT guest too and we are getting married in my catholic church and have a hour drive to the reception. Now granted there is only 2 or 3 main turns but I wanted it there. People have GPS and if they don't give them. Choose the church that has meaning! FI faily is not from the area but they will all follow one another and be together. The day is about the two of you!
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  • how far is your FI's church?
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  • Some Catholic churches are strict in their rules governing who can be married in their church, so I would contact your FI's home church first to ensure that is a viable option.  You may also want to contact a few near your reception venue just to confirm whether they will allow your ceremony to be held there or not.

    Also, to be married in the Catholic church you will have to complete pre-cana classes approved by the Diocese of Pgh, and they typically must be completed 6 months prior to the wedding (unless there are extraneous circumstances).

    Good luck!
  • My fiance and I are having our wedding reception at Edgewood Country Club in October of this year, and we had an issue with the church thing too. We both moved up from Florida, though we are originally from the PGH area, and did not belong to a church. If you do not wnat to make your guests drive that far, Saint Bartholomews Church is maybe 15 min away from ECC, and they will allow people who are not members of the church to get married there. WIth what SimplyME said, you do need the pre-cana classes if you plan on being married in a Catholic Church. 
  • There's a nice and pretty old Catholic Church in Swissvale called St. Anselm.  I would contact them and see if they can help you out.  I'm not sure who the priest is anymore since we moved. 

    Good luck on those pre-cana classes.  They are terrible.
    image June 22, 2012
  • It's 7 minutes away from the country club...
    7446 McClure Ave.
    Pittsburgh, PA 15218
    Phone: 412-241-1372
    Fax: 412-271-2335

    Not sure if that helps at all.  You could also contact the Diocese of Pittsburgh to see if they have suggestions.  Good luck!
    image June 22, 2012
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