Getting married in a Catholic Church seems like it will be an interesting experience. So far, the mounds of paperwork have been! From what I’ve read online, it seems like the requirements can vary slightly from parish to parish, and that can get purty confusing for a non-Catholic like myself. I thought I might be able to shed some light on what the Diocese of Scranton requires for all the NEPA Brides & Grooms in a similar spot right now:

• First and foremost, you both need to be baptized by someone, at some point. You’ll need to get a copy of your baptism certificate from your home church, dated within the last 6 months.
• If you are Catholic, you will need permission to be married outside of your parish. I’m assuming this is fairly common cuz if you are both Catholic, you’ve gotta choose a church! This can be a written note or it can be a phone call between priests.
• Attend a Pre-Cana Conference, Engaged Encounter Weekend, or another form of approved pre-marriage counseling.
• We are required to have 2 letters each confirming we have never been married before. This can be as simple as a hand written note, and it could be provided by each set of parents, if you are able to do so.

PHEW! Once your priest has all of these, he can begin to process the paperwork. In our case, he will also have to ask for an exception to be made to allow me to marry in the church. It’s a common thing, and is generally approved, but one you should be aware of.  Our goal is to have much of this gathered and scheduled by the end of this month.

Were you surprised by the amount of paperwork involved in getting married?