Marriage

A Guide to Getting Married in Church

Congratulations on your decision to get married. We are delighted that you have considering marking such an important moment in your life by asking God’s blessing on your marriage by celebrating the Sacrament of Marriage. We will be delighted to help you in any way we can as you journey together as a couple towards your wedding day.

This brief step-by-step guide is intended to help you with planning your journey towards your wedding day in our Church. Several of the steps will vary significantly if you plan to celebrate your marriage outside of our family of parishes or in a Church abroad. We recommend that you speak with us personally if you plan on marrying in a Church abroad so that we can advise you on the particular requirements.

Please do not hesitate to contact one of the priests of our family of parishes if you need support in fulfilling the steps outlined below.

Marriage

As soon as you get engaged.

1. Book the Church. Contact the Parish Office to book to confirm the availability of the Church for your desired date. Every booking is taken on the understanding that both parties are free to marry in the Catholic Church and that no impediment to the marriage exists. The celebration of marriage depends on this being the case. All bookings for weddings in our family of parishes are regarded as provisional until the couple have completed all the requirements and paperwork laid down by the Civil Registrar and the Church. While the booking is provisional the time and date will be held for the couple and the booking will be only confirmed when they have fulfilled the civil and Church requirements.

2. Confirm the availability of the priest or deacon. Contact the priest or deacon whom you wish to invite to officiate at the celebration of your wedding to check their availability. This must be done personally by the couple themselves, independent of booking the Church. You are welcome to invite any priest or deacon on the list of approved solemnisers recognised by the Civil Registrar for Births, Deaths and Marriages.  If you are inviting a priest friend or relation from abroad, they will need to apply to the Diocesan Office well in advance of the wedding in order to be temporarily approved as a solemniser.

As soon as possible after you get engaged.

3. Make an appointment with the Civil Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages to complete the formal process of officially notifying them of your intention to marry. This process must be completed at least 3 months before the proposed date of marriage, but we recommend that couples do it as soon as possible after they have finalised the details of their wedding date and the priest who will officiate at the ceremony. Once you have completed the process the Registrar will issue you with the MRF Form [Marriage Registration Form] which you, your witnesses and the priest or deacon will sign on the day of the wedding.  No marriage can take place in Ireland without an MRF. For up-to-date information and all questions relating to civil registration of your marriage consult the General Register Office

4. Book and complete your Marriage Preparation Course. Given that marriage is such an important decision in life, the Church requires all couples to complete a Marriage Preparation Course to ensure that they fully understand and appreciate the nature of the commitment involved in marriage and to help them to prepare for married life. We recommend the courses run by Accord, the Catholic Marriage Care Service. Information and booking details are available on www.accord.ie

Six months before your wedding.

5. Meet the priest in the parish where you are currently living to complete the Pre-Nuptial Enquiry Form. At least six months before the wedding, the couple should make an appointment with the priest of the parish where they are living to begin the process of completing the ‘Pre-Nuptial Enquiry Form.’ If any special permissions are required for your wedding [for example, if your partner is not a Catholic] this will allow time to request this permission from the Diocesan Office. To complete the ‘Pre-Nuptial Enquiry Form’ the priest will ask each of you to get a recently issued copy of your Baptism and Confirmation Cert, and to provide proof that you have completed a recognised Marriage Preparation Course. He may also request proof of your freedom to marry but he will explain to you the options available in this regard.  Once you have completed your Pre-Nuptial Enquiry Form, the priest will forward the completed forms to the parish in which the marriage is to be celebrated.

Three months before your wedding.

6. Meet with the priest or deacon who will officiate at your ceremony to discuss the planning of the wedding ceremony, including the choice of scripture readings, prayers, music, etc.

On the day of your wedding.

7. Sign the MRF and return it to the Registrar’s Office. On the wedding day itself the couple are responsible for bringing the MRF (Marriage Registration From) to the Church. After the ceremony, it is signed by the couple, their two witnesses and the priest or deacon. It is then returned to the couple, and they have one month in which to return it to the Registrar’s Office to ensure that their marriage is registered.