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Fees

jennylove810jennylove810 member
Combo Breaker First Comment
in Catholic Weddings
I realize this may vary by region, but I have a question about fees. The church I'm getting married in is the same church I received my first communion in, and also where I was confirmed. However, I no longer attend services there regularly because I've moved 45 minutes away. (I still make the trip down to attend services with the rest of my family on Christmas and Easter) Well the fee to be married there is $400 for the church and $400 for the priest to officiate. I can't put my finger on why, but this seems pricey to me for a very small church. But I could be wrong. How does this compare to your fee schedule?
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Re: Fees

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    clearheavensclearheavens member
    First Anniversary Name Dropper 5 Love Its Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    These are my fees. My church is the Newman Center Parish of my Alma Mater. Deposit Fee: $50.00 Parishioner Stipend for use of the church: $100.00 Organist/pianist/Music Director: $175.00 Cantor: $150.00 Wedding Coordinator: $75.00 Security person: $20.00 Usual stipend for the priest: $100.00 Each additional musician would be $150.00 hth!
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    Riss91Riss91 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    We paid $700 to the church (we were non-parishoners of the church). The priest from that church handled all of uor administration/counseling/paperwork. We paid about $150 to the priest that performed our ceremony. We did not require musicians from the church because we hired our own separately.I think you may get different prices if you call around. Eventhough it may seem like a lot, it's the most important part of your day, so it shouldn't feel so awful to pay $800 for it.

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    Calypso1977Calypso1977 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    metro boston, and our regular church to which we belong: $100 for church $100 for priest $230 for organist $130 for vocalist (we opted not to have one) we then gave an additonal $100 to the priest as he did our pre-cana, and then $40 to each of the two altar boys. yeah, $800 may seem like alot to you, but ask yourself what your budget is.  if your budget is $10K+, then $800 is really a small amount considering the ceremony is the required portion in order to be married.
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    AlexiaANDRobertAlexiaANDRobert
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    edited December 2011
    We only had to pay the organist and cantor and it was $125 and $100 respectively. We also gave the priest $100.
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    AlexiaANDRobertAlexiaANDRobert
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    edited December 2011
    My sister had to pay a set $700 at her Church on the other side of town (15 minutes away from mine). So, it varies by parish.
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    kmt_caskmt_cas
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    edited December 2011
    Our church fee is $400, I can't remember off the top of my head whether or not there is an additional fee for the priest - of course we will provide him with something, I just don't know if there is a requirement.  When we initially met with our priest (last November) the fee was $200, so it went up 100%.  That's a large jump, but in this area I think it's still very reasonable.The organist is $225.$50 for the wedding coordinator.
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    jennylove810jennylove810 member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hmm, thank you very much. $800 in the scheme of things is not a lot and doesn't seem to be unusually high, judging by the numbers here. But since the letter that was sent to me is full of typo's (my rehearsal is scheduled for 6:0030 lol) by the ancient but so sweet secretary, I think I need to look into it a little more :) Thanks again!
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    CkirwinCkirwin
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    edited December 2011
    our church doesn't have a "fee" (they also don't marry people who are not members of the parish), they only ask that you make a donation to the parish that is proportionate to your wedding budget but no less than $300. they charge $350 for the organist and cantor, but i sing in our choir so that fee will include for us the full choir singing at our wedding as well. then we plan on giving gifts to our two alter servers (daughter and son of one of my choir colleagues). so total it will be more than $700 for the church, which seems reasonable from what everyone else is reporting. GL!
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    luvdelilahluvdelilah member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We paid (or will pay) $1000 for the church/priest.  I'm told this is normal since its downtown Philly.  We also have to pay $350 for the organist and cantor.  A few people I talked to said their local parishes were "cheaper" at around 300-400$...
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    meltoinemeltoine member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Our Church suggests a donation of $200. I imagine that to use their organist and cantor would be extra, but a many friends who are experienced with ceremony music, so they are taking care of that for me :-) We are planning on giving the altar servers about $20 each (I got $10 for serving a wedding or funeral when I was a server like 10-15 years ago) This seems low compared to everyone else, but my parish is in a not-so-great neighbourhood and has a lot of less-well-off parishoners. (sp?)
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    mbcdefgmbcdefg member
    5 Love Its First Comment Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    Northern New Jersey/metro-NYC area for me, and I am a third-generation parishioner whose parents are VERY active in our church:$300 to marry in the church, and $200 for the organist (whether we use her services or not). I don't think the priest has a fee, per se, but I'm sure we'll give him something for his time. That seems pretty on-par to what other girls on my local board are paying. The cathedral in my archdiocese is $1000+.
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    dogluver315dogluver315 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Our fees are: church $1500 (non member) organist $250 pre-cana with our priest (we had to provide our own priest) $200 engagement encounter weekend $265 NFP $30 a session gift to priest $200 use of all Christmas flowers and decor - priceless :) (our wedding is 1/2/10 so the church is fully decorated)
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    Leah&Christian09Leah&Christian09 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    $800 really isn't that ridiculous, especially when you look at your whole wedding budget.Ours was $1300 for the church (included coordinator and flowers).  The organist was another $300 and then we had to tip the priest and altar server.
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    e_jakielae_jakiela
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We are getting married in Pearl River and their ceremony fee is $700, which they say pay for their altar servers, the singer and organist, whether we use them or not. Additionally they recommend some "tip" to the officiating priest. I was shocked too, at first, but then I realized that most of the reception halls charge from $5-$10 per guest for a ceremony on site... so the church is really not charging that much more for providing service that is so much more meaningful for us.
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    ZoolooZooloo member
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    edited December 2011
    $250 for the church. I am a member.
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    shortycole2shortycole2
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    edited December 2011
    Our church had no fees. We used our own family friends as musicians and gave them gifts, and got a great giftcard for the deacon as we assumed he would just take any cash and give it back to the church, and we really wanted to treat him and his wife. my in-laws gave a donation to the chuch, but it was less than $100.
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    mbcdefgmbcdefg member
    5 Love Its First Comment Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    I would also compare this to if you were having a secular ceremony. For example, if FI and I wanted to get married in the garden at our reception site, it would be an additional $6pp. That's about $900 if 150 people show up, so that's more than your church's fee right there. And to that we would need to add the secular officiant's fee (probably around $500, unless we got a friend ordained online), the cost to hire musicians or our DJ for an extra hour, maybe some additional decor (archway, aisle runner, flowers), etc. And you might need to write your own ceremony and vows, which we were personally not interested in doing. Plus any pre-marital counseling would probably be an extra fee, if you wanted the sessions, and you'd have to find someone to lead you through it. So by comparison, a lot of churches' fees are actually LESS than you'd pay if you decided to marry outside of the church. Try to look at it that way.
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    baystateapplebaystateapple member
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    edited December 2011
    The only part of that I really raised my eyebrows at was the Officiant fee -- the priests at both the church I work for, the church we're marrying at, and all the "guest" priests who have ever married anyone at the church I work for, all charge between $100 and $200.  I have never heard of a priest charging $400.
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    jennylove810jennylove810 member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Baystate- that made me raise my eyebrows a little bit too. Like I've said before, $800 to be married is, to me, well worth it and I have no problem with it, but I suppose I had expected it to be less. But it's interesting to see the different prices and fees across the country. If we're paying $400 for the church and $400 for the priest (who is the resident Father, not a visiting priest), do you think we're expected to give an additional tip?
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    IrishBrideNDIrishBrideND
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    edited December 2011
    Mine was 800, but its a huge church and I wasn't surprised.
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    ootmother2ootmother2 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    non member fee to church = 0This church was on Cape Cod in a popular area so I was quite surprised.  Absolutely gorgeous as well.The only required payment was $250 to the organist and soloist use them or not.Pastor refused any  payment and the marriage ceremony was performed by a deacon, uncle of the bride.  The couple gave him a silver frame with their picture together at the church.  He said this was the only payment he ever accepted from couples he married.
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