Church Ceremony (sort of long)

[DGG]

I was hoping you girls could give me some advice --

We have planned our ceremony and reception to be held at our resort in the Bahamas - we are having a beach ceremony, which is what we both really wanted from the beginning.. After setting this all up, we found out we cannot have a Roman Catholic priest perform our ceremony - apparently they won't perform an outdoor ceremony. We know other people who were able to find a RC priest in the US to do this, but apparently not in the Bahamas. I'm not very religious and would be okay with this, but now my fiance is really upset because if we don't have a priest our wedding isn't recognized by the Church..

So - here was my idea but I don't know if this is ridiculous -

I was thinking we could go alone (or with immediate family only) to church in the morning and have an abbreviated religious ceremony - and not really tell everyone else - then have our ceremony as planned at 6pm.. maybe we could tell people we are going for a blessing or something.. We are having about 50+ people so we don't want to have everyone at the church also - which would also make our beach ceremony sort of silly..

Or should we just keep our current plan and have a priest "renew our vows" when we get home...

If anyone else has dealt with this, please share

[Maura]

your idea that you're proposing to have a secret ceremony in the morning and then the regular big hoopla with all the guests in the evening is exactly what my husband & i did, and it worked out perfectly. we only invited our parents and a few close relatives to the secret ceremony at church. none of our guests were any the wiser! (plus we had a legal ceremony in the US too, so i actually got 3 weddings hahaha)

[Signature Weddings]

Hello!

Bahamas & Los Cabos are the same regarding catholic ceremonies. Your idea is very good by the way! You can have your ceremony in the morning, with the catholic priest and then hire a non denominational minister for the 6:00 pm ceremony. The good think of having a minister for the ceremony is that you will be able to build your own vows. Other option would be to find a catholic priest among your friends who would be able to come and celebrate your ceremony. The expenses (flight + accommodations) would be higher though.

Good luck! Saludos!

[~*Kathy*~]

Just throwing my two cents out here but from what I understand, RC priests CAN perform outdoor ceremonies but they need approval from the dioceses (sp?) first, I believe. I can double check that with my mom as she works in her town's local RC parrish office if you're curious.

 

Good luck!!

[DGG]

Thanks Kathy. I think you are right - and some dioceses in US (and apparently PR also b/c I know someone had a RC priest do an outdoor ceremony there) will let you..

But apparently not in the Bahamas. We have already gone way overbudget so can't afford to fly a priest in also even if we can find one here. but thanks for the good advice girls.

[ErikDaGenErik]

i'm getting married in a Catholic Ceremony in Cancun and our wedding is outdoors...in a chapel gazebo though. make sure you plan accordingly because the priest will need you to fullfill the requirememts with your local diocese.

 

have you taken all the marriage prep classes and received confirmation?

[Angela139]

Another option to consider is having a religious ceremony at home, a day or two before you go...we dealt with a somewhat similar situation (although it was not for religous reasons) from what I've heard, it is bad etiquette to have the official ceremony before the one that your guests are invited to without telling your guests that you have done so...but as far as I'm concerned, etiquette means very little - do what you want and need to do to have the wedding of your dreams!!! The only people who matter are you and your FI.