Church Question

Not quite engaged...but any day now! I found out rather comically that the ring has been purchased even though he was trying to be secretive about it...once it's all official I will share the story!

Anyway...church question. My parish is Maria Regina in Seaford. I have heard from others in the past that the church looks down upon you having booked your reception hall first. Is it at all possible to even simply call the church to find out what dates they have available first before you meet with the priest? I already have an idea of which hall I'm hoping for...but their dates are limited in August of next year.

And your first meeting with the church- I assume both bride and groom have to be there, correct? Do they make exceptions for out-of-towners? We're planning from Jersey. Would we also be allowed to do pre-cana at the parish in our neighborhood in Jersey?

Thanks for your help!

They don't need to know where was booked first. You give them a deposit and it's yours. Enough said. On the day we were booking, we called the church to see if the date was still available, they said yes and we said we'd be right in to give them money. On the way, we went to the reception hall and booked.

Enjoy your proposal! This is an exciting time of your life!!!!! I knew my proposal was coming too and it was still awesome!!!!

My church did mention that you should book with them first before you book your hall. I think they get insulted if you do it the other way around. I would say get the church to committ to a date first and then book the hall. Especially if you are set on that church. Sounds like you have a few dates to choose from so it should work out okay. I would not bring up the fact that you already spoke with the hall though.

I am pretty sure I called the church rectory first and asked if my wedding date was available before I met with the priest. If the date is available, meet with the priest as soon as possible.

Good luck!

They don't need to know which you book first. My church would not let me call and inquire about open dates. The first time we were allowed to talk dates with the church was when FH and I sat down with the priest. My church needed both of us to be there, but a friend of mine was able to book the church w/o her FH and then go later with him.

HTH

P.S. congrats on the almost engagement!!

My church did expect me to book with them first. They actually gave my best friend a really hard time when she booked her hall first and she ended up getting married somewhere else.

I recommend contacting them first. We did that and got a list of when the church was available during the months we wanted. Then when we booked our date, we just called and confirmed and we were good to go!!!

Our church told us we could do pre cana anywhere, we did it at my parish though....

Good luck!

Thanks for your help!! I really appreciate it! Hopefully Maria Regina won't be a stick in the mud and will let me know availability over the phone.

Thanks!!

CHurches like you to book them first so you can work around their schedule but you don't have to tell them that you booked anything first

I was able to call my church to find out what days they had available without going in. both fh and i had to go to the meeting with priest

i believe you can do your pre-cana anywhere...not sure though

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Posted by MrsBartonToBe

When I went to my priest he said 'before we make any plans here, you have to make plans at your RH FIRST!'... so I asked my RH to hold the date for a few days so I could speak to the church and THEN went to the church to make sure, and then went back to RH to book it...

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What a great priest!! I hope I'm that lucky!!!

To me, what's more important? Receiving the Sacrament of Marriage or a party????? Without question, book the church first. Maria Regina is a huge parish, so I would definitely get a date from them first before i start looking at halls... JMO.

The church gets upset when people do it the other way around because it's like, 'What really is important to you?' They also dont want to set you up for disappointment. if you've booked the hall, that's it.... there's nothing they can do if they can't accommodate you at the church.

Here is what I would suggest. Try to get dates that are available from the church. Then meet with the priest and finalize everything. Next, I would go to RH. You don't want to book reception and not be able to get the church.

If you can find out available dates ahead of time I would suggest you just do your meeting with the priest.

About pre-cana, you can do pre-cana in NJ. That is fine.

I booked my hall first and then crossed my fingers and met with the priest for the church date. I was pretty confident that the date would be open since it was a year and a half ahead of time. Plus, I knew the day and evening were open at the hall, so I figured I could change the time if the earlier mass wasn't open.

We are planning from NC....you do both need to meet with the priest . They ask each of you questions. My parish also does a questionaire type thing that you both need to fill out.

You can take Pre-Cana at any parish, as long as they send the paper work over to the parish you are getting married at. That is what we are doing.