Catholic Wedding

lisaburka · 08-13-2008, 07:01 AM

Hey Everyone

I was having a lot of difficulties since I wanted a wedding away to make it "easier" but my family is super religious. I found out that I am able to have catholic wedding in a church in the DR. Has anyone else done this?

GPBride2009 · 08-14-2008, 04:04 PM

Hello :)

My family is also Catholic, so I had to look into this too.

Actually there are some resorts that offer Catholic wedding ceremonies (in a chapel or gazebo, not on the beach). But there is alot of paperwork involved - getting written permission from your home parish, alot of back and forth between parishes and dioceses. What we are doing, is actually going to our Catholic church 2 days before we leave for the trip, and having a short and sweet ceremony, parents and siblings only, and then we are leaving for Punta Cana to receive a religious blessing/renewal of vows (even though the vows will be only 2 days old, LOL!) So we still get to wed in our home church (on a Thursday night), there is no paperwork required for the resort. Something to consider - although the only downfall with this is that we are in essence having 2 weddings, but the first one is similar to say, a Rehearsal, but we're actually signing the papers!

foxytv · 08-22-2008, 01:05 PM

It's definitely different in DR than in Mexico ... lots more DR red tape ... but it's possible. I would also recommend the Symbolic Ceremony in the DR and church ceremony to sign papers beforehand, but I know that can ruin the 'romance' of it, especially if your family is set on a religious ceremony. If that's the case, email the WC's at your top resort pics and ask about the Catholic priest and your ceremony location options. While it can't be on the beach, I know a Catholic priest IS available for a slightly higher fee and some of the location options are beautiful (like the PPC gazebo or Lobby Garden).

rdhbride · 10-03-2008, 03:44 PM

i can't understand why we can't get married by a priest on the beach but can get married in a gazebo? whats up with that ? not fair!!!!!

ands52 · 10-14-2008, 05:30 AM

I am actually doing a Catholic Wedding in the DR in December. Although there was a lot of paperwork, there wasn't much more than would be required in the States. You need to hand it in 2 months before your wedding. I think there are a few extra letters needed from your parish priest, but it wasn't a big deal.

jessyg20 · 10-15-2008, 03:40 PM

My family is also very religious. It's really hard to get a catholic priest, so we were told. Instead, I found a non-denominational priest who works in Punta cana doing Mission work. His name is Pastor York. He will be doing our ceremony. We figured we wanted our union to be blessed whether it be by a Catholic Priest, Rabbi, or Christian. Heck we would of settled for a monk! lol

Inked1 · 10-15-2008, 04:31 PM

I'm a little rusty on my doctrine but to answer the question of why not on the beach. For your marriage to be considered official in the Catholic church it must be presided over by a member of the clergy and I think also must take place in a "house of worship" ....I know a few couples at my church who were married outside the church and had their priest perform the catholic rite at another time.

MsSunshine · 10-19-2008, 10:21 AM

Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort does catholic weddings. It costs about $2,000 to have it at their chapel.

dominicanwedding · 11-23-2008, 06:12 AM

hey there

its the groomzilla again with a few questions for the lovely ladies here at BDW.

As many of you know i'm Dominican. I'm a Catholic Domincan to be precise and my lovely fiancee is Anglican. We have decided to not only not have the wedding at the resort anymore but to have it in the old city of santo domingo ideally in the main cathedral or one of the many breathtaking churches of the city. There's a small hiccup. Kate is not Catholic. And she has no problems regarding marrying me at a catholic church but im not too sure how to play this one out. I thought to myself. How are they going to chech that we're both catholics?? But it turns out that they ask for paperwork from the country of origin.

Does this ring any bells to anyone? Is it possible? Could I try and "wing it" and see what happens??

Any light you can shed on this would be great;y appreciated, even more so if you happen to be dominican or have been in a similar position as me.

BTW, Just so you guys know. We canned the wedding at the resort EdenH when we found out that we couldn't bring in our own suppliers and had to use whatever was at hand on the hotel. We're now honeymooning at Cap Cana. Donald Trump's piece of the D.R

Inked1 · 11-24-2008, 04:26 AM

I know when my catholic MOH was married (albeit at her local church) she and her non-catholic hubby just had to take some pre-marital classes etc. Her husband had to promise not to deter her from practicing her faith. I imagine if you are having your ceremony at a church rather than your own congregation you can take said classes at home and your priest can help you out with anything the church in Santo Domingo would need.

My childhood church was great about it when my godson was baptized and we needed proof of my own baptism,Eucharist and confirmation.