Catholic wedding in Jamaica?

[krissysnow]

Is anyone planning or has anyone had a catholic wedding in Jamaica? Im trying to plan my wedding in either Montego bay or Negril, and definitley want a catholic ceremony. Im having a hard time finding any info on this. Any help would be appreciated. Im curious what the process is, and if I can set a date without having all documentsprecana complete yet (im working on it). I am working with a TA but not getting much info, and Im getting very nervous because I was planning for this spring.

 

Thanks everyone!!

[montegobay09]

I wish I could help you! I askeda quite a few different people about even finding a catholic church close to our resort since we'll be there over Easter and many of my guests will want to attend a mass. I havn't had any luck with anyone. Let me know what you find out and I'll at least let you know about a church if I hear anything on my end!

[reenyw23]

If you find out any info on this, I am interested as well! Please let me know

[montegobay09]

I just emailed my resort as well as my TA so hopefully I'll find something out this week??!!! Let's hope!

[montegobay09]

Ok so I just found out that there are 3 Catholic churches within a 10-14 minute drive of the Riu MoBay. That probably doesn't help you much but it works out for me. The Easter mass is at 10:00 am and the resort will arrange for my guests to take a cab there. They are very happy about this!

 

Did you find out anything else?

[krissysnow]

Hi everyone,

 

Yes! A Catholic destination wedding can be done!

 

I have a lot more info now, sorry it has taken me so long to post. Im so excited to finally have a date! It is May 16, 2009. I changed resorts from Iberostar to RIU Montego Bay. My TA said the RIU was very accomodating with us having the ceremony at the local Catholic Church, they will setup transportation for guests and their photog will travel to Chruch with us, and they have done this for other weddings in the past. Church is about 15 drive.

 

I wasn't aware that there are 3 churches in Montego Bay, but the Church we are getting married at is called Blessed Sacrament Cathedral. I dont have the address, but here is their website:

Blessed Sacrament Cathedral (Montego Bay)

 

Google maps does not have much detail for Jamaica. If you want to actually see this on a map, install Google Earth (free download) and you can type in the name of the church and the popular resorts and it will show you their locations.

 

The resort was able to book a date & time at the Church for us, but they are waiting to recieve our documents. This is what they will need:

1. Baptism Certificate

2. Pre Cana completion Certificate

3. Letter from our home parish priest giving permission to marry outside the parish

4. I was divorced and received an annulment from the Catholic Church, so in my case they require a copy of the annulment certificate, and possibly copy of my divorce papers.

 

This is just what the chruch requires, but more is needed for the legal part of the marriage, the TA will need Birth certificates, and divorce papers in my case. And of course passports.

 

I beleive all these documents would need to be official certified copies with the raised seal on them, and issued within 6 months of the wedding date. But, my TA thinks xerox copies might be ok, but i tried to get 2 certified copies of everything that I could just incase.

 

Oh one more thing, if you have not completed pre-cana yet, it might be ok to book as long as they know you are working on it. You should try to complete pre cana ASAP. Many churches requre 6 month's lead time when planning a wedding. When I explained the fact that I am over 30, and I have waited over a year for my annulment to complete, and have been engaged for quite some time, they were very accomodating and helped me plan this quickly. Also, I can tell you from past experiences that if you are not already a member of a Catholic Church, they might give you a hard time. Most churches are accepting if you live in their district, but some will want you to become a member first, then wait the 6 months. Another option is to try talking to the parish where you lived or grew up in and they might be more accomodating, especially if your parents are still members.

 

If you are going this route, I would recommend using a TA just to make sure everything is being handled. I wouldnt feel safe trying to do all this myself online, especially when it comes to communicating with a church in a foreign country.

 

If you are interested in Negril, they have a church called Mary Gate of Heaven. website: Mary, Gate of Heaven Catholic Church

If you are not into having all guests leave the resort, I think there are some resorts with chapels on site, I know Sandals couples only in Montego bay does, and I was told by another TA (not sure how accurate this is) that a preist would come on site for the ceremony. And this is also the case in many resorts in Punta Cana, I looked into Dreams resort that said this could be done, but there seemed to be a lot more rules & red tape to go thru so thats what made us decide on Jamaica.

 

Sorry this post is so long, but I want to give as much info as I can, because I had such a hard time finding info when I was searching. If you have any questions, feel free to ask or PM me. I will try to keep posting as I find out more.

 

So I have the date booked with both Chruch and RIU, but havent actually put a deposit down. Im hoping to do that this week and I will feel much better! Now I need to start researching the RIU, because I dont know too much about it.

 

Good Luck everyone!

[montegobay09]

I'm so happy to hear that you found out what you needed to know!

It sounds like you have a lot of work to do with documents and all!!

 

I hope you enjoy researching the Riu MoBay...if you have any questions let me know! I've been doing my best to find out everything about it so hopefully I can help you.

 

 

Good luck with everything!!

[sasha]

Hi that is the frist time i am hearing of Rui Montego bay doing that as they are fairly new and i am sure they won't go above and beyond to make this day special as it will be be at there resort. I would suggest you get intouch with a local wedding planner you ca try Sadeki email her at sales#chic-eventsja.com. I realise she has done alot of sucessful weddings in montego bay. Let me know the out come

[krissysnow]

Do you know of anyone who had their ceremony off the resort and had a bad experience at RIU Montego bay or somewhere else?

 

So far the wedding coordinator Chantelle has been nothing but accomodating. My TA loves working with her and talked me into the RIU because they are so accomodating with my situation. Im using all of their services so I dont see why they wouldnt do their best, not to mention how much money they will be making off of my guests and reception dinner.

 

If anyone has any stories to share I would love to hear them.

 

Thanks

[claudette]

Ooh, this is very interesting information! I just assumed it would be too complicated so didn't bother looking into it! I wonder if it's too late for us to book the church - our wedding is May 23rd, 2009.