Church Costs

smith3br · May 2011

Hello,

My fiance and I met with our pastor today and received prices on the cost of the church. We are getting married in the catholic church and after all fees it is close to $1000. Is that standard? My sister paid $300 in Milwaukee.

babywolf77 · May 2011

I am not sure about catholic churches, as we are Presbyterian.

I am a member of the church we are using and it is costing us less then $100 and the minister does not have a set price for members, just what we feel confortable giving (we were thinking $200). That is CRAZY.

jsquared62009 · May 2011

We paid $300 to reserve the date and I think there's still a $150 fee then we have to pay for servers ($20 maybe? I don't remember what the sheet says). Then musician etc is more on top of that. So even that w/o the musician is like $500. Depending on if that quote included musician/cantor, etc I can see it creeping up towards the $1,000 mark

pajarito81 · May 2011

yes, we paid even more than that when you take into account the fees they charge you for the marriage counseling,etc. Just for the church alone it was $800, the priest usually has an "officiant fee" too that you pay him directly the night of the rehearsal. That was about $200. IT was pretty pricey. We got married through the catholic church too.

akakoli81 · May 2011

My church is $400 for pre-cana and everything except the music. They gave us a list of their suggestions for music but I am not sure those prices. I hope it does not add up $1000! dang.

MobKaz · May 2011

I think you will find that every church will be different. It may depend on whether or not you are a parishoner, and whether or not you are a regularly contributing parishoner. Some parishes will have flat fees, while others will ask for contributions/donations.

Our musicians do have flat fees, and they differ from cantor to cantor. Our pastor does have a fee, but it is extremely low. We plan to add to that. This was one of the most important components of our wedding. The ministries are spending a good deal of time with my daughter helping to select readings and music that are significant and meaningful to them. And, giving the altar servers a small cash gift is important to remember, as they are giving up a portion of their weekend to help with Mass.

seventiespop · May 2011

When we were looking at churches in the city, the prices varied from $500-$1200. We got married at St. Vincent de Paul and their suggested donation was $500. We paid for Pre Cana and the FOCCUS test through the Archdiocese (which I think was $200?) Then we paid for their musician which was $250 (but was well worth it). The only other fee we paid (but wasn't required) was the donation we gave to our Priest.

MrsPaps · May 2011

we're at a catholic church in the NW burbs and our fee is $450 for the church but we are parishoners and the cost without being a parishoner is $1200. That does not include Pre-Cana or music.

smith3br · May 2011

Thank you everyone for the feedback. This is the cost as a parishioner. It would be an additional $300 if not. In total we are looking at $1300 to have our ceremony including Pre-Cana. I feel better knowing that this is somewhat standard in the Chicago area. We are getting married in Oak Park.

I was also wondering about tipping the priest. I was told this was standard practice however are we actually tipping the priest or donating to the church? And is there a standard amount we should go by? I feel a little weird handing my priest 20%

Scarlet Starlet 31 · May 2011

If you're spending $1300 to have your ceremony there, you should be giving to the priest, not donating to the church. I would think maybe 100 to 200 would be sufficient. That's a pretty steep fee.

seventiespop · May 2011

We "tipped" our Priest $100. We figured that if he didn't want to accept the money he would donate it to the church.

heyyjude7 · May 2011

Our wedding is at a Catholic Church on the North Shore, and we were told it is $150 for using the space, plus a donation. They then told us that typical donations start at $500, but go up to around $1,000, though it "depends on what we can afford."

PenelopeSnuz · May 2011

We are parishoners at St. Clement in Lincoln Park and are paying $800, plus $200 for a cantor and $200 for a trumpeter to add to organs.

aimers1525 · May 2011

We paid $600 for our church in the south suburbs--included officiant fee, music minister (organist), and I guess the general donation. We paid an additional $190 for pre-cana. Also, it was the church I grew up in so technically my parents are still parishoners.

TEA&Co · May 2011

Our basic fee/donation is $275 (I think, can't remember for sure, but I know it's not over $300). Then an additional $300-ish for music. Not sure about the charge for Pre Cana...hmm...guess I'll find out when it gets started next month. This is at a Catholic church in the western 'burbs...parents are parishoners.

PenelopeSnuz · May 2011

Oh, Pre-Cana was free for us because we did it through the St. Clement program.

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