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Cathedral brides - how far in advance did you book?

sbelle85sbelle85 member
100 Comments
in Louisiana-New Orleans

For all the brides getting married at the St. Louis Cathedral, how far in advance did you book and what day of the week/time is your wedding?

We were originally planning an October or December 2012 wedding, but our work schedules might make it necessary to move the wedding to this summer, and I'm very concerned that we won't be able to get a date in the cathedral with such short notice.

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Re: Cathedral brides - how far in advance did you book?

  • carolembcarolemb
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    standard for the Cathedral is 2 years in advance for the day/time of your choice. Any less than that and they tell you when you're getting married. We booked a year in advance and got a day (March 31, 2012) that no one else wanted... and now we know why!! Having it that weekend is making our wedding more than twice as expensive as we orginally thought. Our budget has sky rocketed to the absurd!!
    That said, you may get lucky. Sometimes people cancel and you can get their slot or if you don't mind getting married on a holiday weekend, sometime those are available.
    Good Luck!!

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  • NO2012NO2012
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I booked my Sept 29, 2012 date this past July 2011.  I had originally wanted 7pm in October, but there were no dates left.  I switched it to 3pm and got the closest thing I could to October.  At that time in mid-July, there were some dates left in November 2012.  We had contemplated moving it up into summer 2012, and I believe there were still some slots left in August. 

    If/when you get your date, remember to book your rehearsal date too (you have to book it just like you do the wedding date, they don't assign it to you). I just happened to ask about it in one of my several convos with Kevin, one of the coordinators there (he's great btw!), and was able to book the last spot available on the Friday evening before my Sat wedding. Otherwise, I would have been stuck with a Thursday evening rehearsal which would be very inconvenient for my OOT BP. 

    It's madness sometimes with the Cathedral, but I think it will be worth it in the end. If you haven't already called the Cathedral to inquire about dates, do it now.  Leave a detailed message about what months and times you prefer and ask them to leave you a message with the available dates in case you miss their call.  It sometimes takes a week or two for them to return the call and you don't want to waste precious time playing phone tag.  I missed my desired October date by about a few hours, so don't delay!! 

    Let me know if I can help with anything else.  Good luck and HTH!
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  • carolembcarolemb
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    NO2012, Thank you sooooo much!!!
    I didn't realize you had to book the rehearsal also! I'm praying they still have a slot left on Friday for me b/c my WP is all OOT also. Yikes!!
    Thanks again!!
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  • sbelle85sbelle85 member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Thanks for the feedback! I am praying about it... We are even willing to do a weekday if necessary and are open to any time, so hopefully there will be something available.
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  • courtneyclare103courtneyclare103 member
    Eighth Anniversary 100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I booked two years in advance. I got my first choice, so I don't know how much they had available at that point, but I do know some weddings for my month were already booked at that point, almost two full years in advance.

    I also recommend booking your rehearsal slot when you book your wedding date. I didn't know about that and I, like a previous poster, got the last Friday rehearsal slot when I did book it.

    And, like others have said, it can be super hard to get in touch with them. My mom took care of booking my ceremony for me and she called and left a message and then called back a couple days later and someone actually answered the phone (she called around 6:00 pm). Last spring it took me about two months to get in contact with them--I called and left a message, they called me back and left a message, I called them back and left another message and then I never heard from them. I called back about a month later, left a message, and they finally called me back the next day.

    So--moral of the story--call far in advance to book, book your rehearsal slot when you book your ceremony, and be prepared for a lot of phone tag/waiting. But--it's all worth it. =)
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I booked my Oct 6, 2012 date one year and three months in advance!
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  • fatgirlboofatgirlboo member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I booked mt May 14, 2011 date little shy of a year in advance. I was hoping to get the 3pm, but all that was left was 1pm. They are really hard to get a hold of so be forewarned! I will say that the day of the wedding everything went smoothly.
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  • NO2012NO2012
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Following up on @courtneyclare's post, all of the "live" conversations I had with Kevin were when he called me in the evenings (often on Friday & Saturday) around 6:00ish.  One time I missed his call at that time, I called back right away, and he actually answered the phone!  So try that too if you are having trouble getting in touch.  I believe in the power of prayer, believe me, but this is a situation where either super advance planning or major persistence has to come in to play!   :)

    @alarche...you are probably the bride that beat to me that date by a few hours!! :) I hope we have wonderful weather nexy year!
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  • asbrickhWed126694asbrickhWed126694 member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I booked my wedding in July 2010 for a Nov. 5th 2011 wedding date.  We lucked out and got the date and time we wanted, but they did tell us that is was luck because the other time slots were already booked. 

    I agree about booking the rehersal time in advance.  I didn't know about this, and it randomly came up in one of my conversations with Kevin.

    Another pointer, they are very flexible with letting you see another wedding or even meeting with you face to face after a wedding.  So if you are having a hard time getting to talk to someone, once you do get through to them - ask them if you could meet.  

    Happy Planning!
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    @NO2012 sorry about that girl! lol I am prayer for us to have good weather too! What time is yours?
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  • NO2012NO2012
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    @alarche I'm at 3:00. What about you?
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Yep, mine is also at 3pm.
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  • jdcook1jdcook1 member
    10 Comments
    edited January 2012
    I booked Immaculate Conception in May 2010 for an October 2011 wedding. My original date and time was already chosen (October 15@ 6 pm). I was the second wedding on the calendar for that month.
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