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Officiant Suggestions/Recommendations?

RangergirlRangergirl
First Comment
in New Jersey - South
Hello Ladies!

So my FI and I are getting married at the Merion, it's just going to be so much easier for our guests logistics wise.... However this leaves me with a bit of a problem in terms of the ceremony. Our parish priest is a stickler with the rule about not getting married outside of a church so he won't perform the ceremony for us. Do any of you have anyone you could recommend? Ideally we would love a priest (even if he is retired and will just do a ceremony LIKE a Mass) but if not, anyone who can give us a religious based ceremony would be totally fine. I know the Church won't recognize it no matter what so we may do a private vow renewal one day in the Church before we have kids but for now we just want to make sure we incorporate it somehow into the ceremony and I'm not familiar enough with this area of Jersey to know who is good.... some of the names of sound kinda... funny.. (Mitch the Minister? Really?) OR does anyone know of a Catholic parish in the area that is willing to marry people from outside the parish? Any info would be much appreciated, thank you!
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Re: Officiant Suggestions/Recommendations?

  • campergrlsugarcampergrlsugar
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    we are using andy mahaney he is wonderful. Our priest couldnt marry us outside the church either but Andy incorporated him into the ceremony (our priest is a long time friend of my FI).  His email is andy@theweddingpastor.com...Hes really great! HTH
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  • Bonnie&Clyde77Bonnie&Clyde77
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    If you don't mind me asking, are you both Catholic? If your not then it shouldn't be an issue where you get married for a Priest unless it is personal preference. The way it was explained to me by my Catholic Priest was that since my FI wasn't Catholic (he is Jewish) then we couldn't have a Mass anyway so it would be more of vows/blessing sort of ceremony and that was acceptable in the Churchs' eyes. At first I didn't believe that since I grew up in a strict Catholic fam and was under the impression that it was wrong to marry outside of the religion but after research, he was right. 
    Maybe you could ask your Priest for suggestions or even call around to Parishes in the area and ask?
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  • RangergirlRangergirl
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We are both Catholic... it's been SO difficult and it's getting to be upsetting. We were actually in South Jersey this weekend and went to a Mass in a BEAUTIFUL Church and thought about doing it there but the bulletin says they will only allow people of that parish to get married in the Church which seems insane to me... I can't imagine what people who move away and then want to get married back home do in this situation! I'd be willing to do the Pre-Cana and everything but still having a problem. I am going to try to find a Church in the area of the hall to see if a Priest from a parish down there can do it but I figured I can't be the only person with this problem.
    Thank you for the recommendation Campergrl!!
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  • campergrlsugarcampergrlsugar
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We are both Catholic and our Priest couldnt marry us outside of the church!!! Its the Catholic Church's rule....And you could get married in any Catholic Church as long as you send them an envelope every week for a year....

    Good luck it will all work out...just take a breath!!
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  • dgiannottidgiannotti
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We are getting married by a priest outside of the church.  We are both divorced and never went through the anullment process so we can't get married in a church.  We found a priest who is a Catholic priest but years ago wanted to get married and have a family so he received a dispensation from the Pope.  Since becoming a priest is a sacrament, it's the belief that "once a priest, always a priest".  However anything he performs (baptisms, weddings, etc) are not officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.
    This worked out perfect for us.  Our ceremony is the format of what you would see in a church ceremony (liturgy, gospel, homily, readings, blessing, etc etc).  We even had to go through a "pre-cana" with him.  We met with him 3 times over the past 8 months to discuss different topics. 
    If you want his contact info email me.  It's my user name @ gmail.
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  • jenny8245jenny8245
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    i love andy mahaney www.theweddingpastor.com
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  • TheBacheloretteTheBachelorette member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We used Melissa Brown from Weddings By Melissa.  We absolutely loved her.  She drafted a custom ceremony about us and we received so many compliments after our wedding.
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  • Bonnie&Clyde77Bonnie&Clyde77
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I know Im all late with this post but I just searched interfaith weddings or officiants on here and there is a company (I guess) called interfaith ceremonys that have Priests (actual ones, not the ones that were kicked out of the Church) and Rabbis and even nondenominational Reverends that perform ceremonies. They even give you an example of how each ceremony will go. Even if you don't end up using them, the ceremony layout is a pretty good starting point and you could even individualize it by inserting your own readings or vows into it. I emailed them about a Priest/Rabbi for my ceremony and will let everyone know how it goes when I hear back.
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