Community› Cultural Wedding Boards› Catholic Weddings
Catholic Weddings
New Discussion
Options

Church renovation - advice? long, sorry

OctoberLouOctoberLou member
First Comment
in Catholic Weddings
Hi everyone. I just wanted to share what's going on with my church and see if anyone has been in a similar situation or has any advice for me! As background, our wedding is 10/16/10 and my fiance and I are both Catholic. Our situation is - we got engaged in Nov '09, reserved my family's church in my hometown the same month for our wedding date. A few weeks after we reserved the church, we found out that the church was going to go through a major renovation in 2010. At that time, the deacon told us that it was expected to be done prior to October, so we should be fine. Now they've just announced "it will be finished before Christmas." When I emailed our deacon to get more information, he says that they have no timeline. but if he were me he'd leave the wedding at the church and trust that if something isn't finished it won't impede our celebration.

Granted, I may be imagining worse case scenarios here, but with no timeline, we could have a church with scaffolding, ripped up carpet, or anything. I know we'll still be married, but I just don't want to have a half-finished church in our pictures, memories, for our guests, etc. With no reassurance that the major renovation will be close to complete, I'm trying to consider what our options are. Has anyone been in a similar situation? It seems that most churches require you to be a member to be married there, is that generally true? Thanks for reading, sorry this was long, and if anyone has any advice I would appreciate it!!


Report Reply to Post

Re: Church renovation - advice? long, sorry

  • Options
    GulfCoasterGulfCoaster
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I guess my question would be, what is the anticipated schedule of renovations?  If they're planning to be done by Christmas, what work will still be undone in October?  Major stuff?  Or more minor things?  Can the deacon give you any guidance on this?  The church ought to have some sort of projected schedule from the contractors, I'd imagine.  My friend got married in a church that had just undergone a major renovation -- they had just finished all the work on the interior before her wedding, and were working on renovating Sunday School rooms and the fellowship hall then (which none of the guests even saw).  It all depends on the contractor's projected schedule and what order they are doing the projects in.
    Report Reply
  • Options
    Calypso1977Calypso1977 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    can you just get married at the church you attend now with your FI rather than your home parish? 

    funny, our church now is going thorugh extensive renovations.  our anniversary is Sunday, and H and i both commented on how we were happy we got married last Feb instead of this Feb.  currently, the entire altar is missing while they refurbish the marble and granite - the priest is using a table.  we would have made it work, but if you guys have another option that will give you less stress about wondering whether it will be done in time, id go with that.
    Report Reply
  • Options
    kmg977kmg977 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Well If I were you I would get more information about what exactly will be being done.  If they arn't clear I would honestly check into maybe getting married somewhere else.  My wedding is at a Catholic Church that my fiance was not a member of until we got engaged, but he let him join and let us get married there because we are planning on moving to an apartment a few blocks from the church.  I would maybe try that.  Figure out where you are going to live (or where you live now if you are not moving) and try to see if you can get married in the church in your district.  I just think changing it seems practical because if I were you it would be added stress. 
    Report Reply
  • Options
    Karen's MOHKaren's MOH
    First Comment Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    It depends on the parish, but a lot of churches will marry non-parishoners. Sometimes it's a higher donation, or maybe they open dates up to parishoners first, but a lot will allow it. If you are really concerned it might be worth calling up a few otehr churches in your area. I wouldn't want to deal with that stress, but then my church doesn't hold a lot of personal significance, since it's not where I grew up.
    Report Reply
  • Options
    Theresa626Theresa626 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Honestly, I would want to switch too.  Perhaps you can ask the marriage prep person at your church if they could help you find a partner parish to get married at.  Try to express your concerns about construction.  If they won't help you, you could call lots of other churches and ask if you could do your pre cana at your home parish but still get married there.  It doesn't hurt to try. 
    Vendor Reviews and For Sale
    Report Reply
  • Options
    OctoberLouOctoberLou member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thank you guys! Since I can't get more info from my parents' church right now, I am going to try to find out more about other possible churches in their town too. Thanks for your help!
    Report Reply
  • Options
    kobe013kobe013 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I am in the EXACT SAME SITUATION. Except for the fact that rennovations started in June 09 and we were engaged in November 09 . The wedding is in October 2010 and and it was supposed to be done by then, but it's taking long than expected, so chances are it will not be done. Where are they holding mass in the mean time at your church? Ours is holding mass in the social hall. It still has an alter and everything, it's just not as pretty as a cathedral. The church has been referring couples to other churches in the area to get married. FI and I decided that it was the church that meant something to us and it was important for us to be married at the church we were both members of. We won't have the incredible backdrop of a cathedral in our pictures, but in the grand scheme of things, the church itself was more important to us. They have not performed a wedding since the rennovations began in June, so we may very well be the only couple to be married in the socail hall!

    It's up to you though. You just have to ask yourself, what's more important to you?
    Report Reply
  • Options
    OctoberLouOctoberLou member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Kobe, they haven't even started the renovations at my church yet, so they're still having mass there. It's nice to hear from someone in the same situation! The update since I've posted is that the priest actually helped us reserve a backup location/church  The church is definitely most important to us, so I'm hoping we can get married there. But if worst comes to worst we actually have another church we'll be able to married in, so I'm thankful for that.
    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards