Priest issue

The priest at St. Raphael's is insisting that we register with their parish to get marrried there. He won't even check availability for me for the date.... I said ' Father... I'm not going to register
unless I know the date I need is free... does that make sense? '

He said the book was not near him and hasn't called me back yet.... that was on Thursday or Friday.

I hate arguing with him but my priest who's performing the wedding from an outside parish recommended that we don't register unless we plan to live and attend that church which we don't know yet since we both live at home.

the reason I'm not using my own church is that it's 'L' shaped and not the vision I want for walking down the aisle. My FH's church is in Astoria ... too far , no parking and on a Friday would be a nightmare.

Anyone work with very nice Catholic churches who didn't mind that you aren't a parish member?
Anyone using St. Edward's??


Please let me know.

:)

--Tara

Def. not unheard of - I ran into the exact same problem - the church wanted us to register but ALSO we had to attend church every week for 3 months before we were even allowed to register and had to stay until the end of the mass to let the priest know we were there. And it had to be a mass by a particular priest.

The rationale behind it is that supposedly so many people want to get married at this particular church but aren't parishoners and in the past the people would get married there and they'd never see them again. Also, brides who WERE parishoners were getting blocked out of dates they wanted if they were already booked to non-parishoners. I can understand the inherent unfairness in that situation - I'd be upset if I was in that situation.

However, we were asked to comply with this procedure even though the church is in my town and my sister and her family are registered members. Initially we were going to do it, and after 4 weekends in a row of being unable to get there for mass when the particular priest was there, we decided against it.

I'm not sure what area you're in, but if you're in mid-Nassau, I'm pretty sure my church doesn't require you to be registered. FM me if you want more info. HTH.

NEW Re: Priest issue

I'm getting married at St. Pat's in Bay Shore and I am NOT a parishioner and they are amazing to work with. Everyone is so sweet and accommodating. The fee is higher for non-parishioners but it is so worth it - this church is absolutely BREATHTAKING. Check out my album - I put several pictures of the church up and I have more if you'd like me to email them to you. FM me for details!!
________________________________________________________


Awww we have the same ring!!! That church is AMAZINGLY beautiful... I think it may just be too far east. We have several people traveling from Queens, I'm really trying to keep everyone in Nassau since it's a Friday. But.... I'll keep it in mind if push comes to shove and I have no luck with my current church.


:)

--Thanks!!

Hi RH Twin!

Holy Name of Mary in Valley Stream is where I'm getting married. I used to be a parishioner there, was baptized, first communion, and confirmed there, BUT you don't HAVE to be a parishioner there to get married. In fact we just finished pre-cana there and there were a few couples that weren't even getting married at that church.

It's about 20 minutes from NRC, and it's a beautiful church. Pics are in my album. It also has the longest aisle of all of the Catholic churches in Western Nassau.....130 feet

If you want more info, let me know

my FH and I aren't a member of the church, but my FH's grandma is ( I don't know if that's why he was so lenient about it)

Are you having a mass or a ceremony? We're just having the ceremony, so that may be another reason he's not making such a big deal about it..


Edit: St. Joesph's in Hewlett