Marriage
Celebrating Your Marriage in St. Josaphat Church
Indeed, so important is marriage in Christian life that it is called a sacrament. Great care is taken to see that the prayer for this special moment is reverent, graceful, beautiful and open to the movement of God's Spirit among us. Our celebrations of the sacraments, marriage included, are rooted in listening to the scriptures so that we can be nourished and strengthened by God's Word. We always celebrate the sacraments as community, gathering our sisters and brothers in faith to ask for their prayerful support.
You are the ministers of this beautiful sacrament. As you schedule and work on all the details, try to relax and take time for each other. We will do everything on our part to make your wedding a fitting and prayerful beginning to your Christian Marriage. Along the way, feel free to call (773) 327-8955 with any questions you might have.
General Information
Requirements >
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To receive the Sacrament of Marriage, at least one of the parties seeking to marry must be Roman Catholic.
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We expect all parties seeking marriage at St. Josaphat to be registered, active parishioners at our parish for a minimum of 12 months. Active, registered parishioners and their family members have priority over non-parishioners.
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Non-Parishioners wishing to get married at our church must reside within our parish boundaries.
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If either the bride or groom have been previously married in any form - whether by a judge, a religious leader in another faith, or common law - a Declaration of Nullity must be provided at the time of your booking in order to demonstrate that you are now free to re-marry in the Catholic Church.
Wedding Fees >
The $1500 Church Fee is required to secure your wedding date and expected at your initial meeting. 50% is refundable if the event does not occur. You can bring a check made out to St. Josaphat Parish for your initial meeting with the priest or deacon, or pay on Give Central with this link.
Expectations >
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The priest or deacon will communicate only with the wedding couple and not with parents or wedding planners, to avoid any confusion or miscommunication. We expect your full cooperation.
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Unlike a hall or a restaurant, the church is not a venue to be "rented" for a wedding. It is a place of worship deserving of respect and is the symbol of the faith community before which you will be exchanging your vows. God is at the center of this sacrament.
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Please remember that parish staff (priests, music director, altar servers, sacristan, admin, etc.) and volunteers are not employed by the couple getting married or by their wedding planner.
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You are expected to be on time for the rehearsal and the ceremony. We will not delay the start of another ceremony in church that may follow yours.
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Drinking of alcohol before the rehearsal or ceremony will lead to the expulsion of those drinking from the church. Failure to comply could mean the forfeiture of the privilege of marriage in St. Josaphat Church at the discretion of the priest or deacon at any point in the preparation or ceremony.
Ready to move forward?
STEP 1: Wedding Inquiry
STEP 2: Meet With The Pastor or Deacon
A. Set Your Wedding Date >
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At your initial meeting with our pastor or deacon, you will have the opportunity to select an available date for your wedding. Only the parish priest or deacon can schedule a wedding date.
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Weddings are scheduled with respect to the couple's wishes and the availability of the church building and parish ministers. Weddings are scheduled at 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm on Saturdays to allow for Masses and other events in church such as baptisms, reconciliation and funerals.
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There are a few days in the liturgical year when a wedding cannot be celebrated. There are also times in the Church year when the liturgical calendar is less conducive to the celebration of weddings. For example, the season of Lent is a time of penance in the life of the church community; that spirit touches and colors all parish liturgies between Ash Wednesday and Easter.
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We encourage you to avoid holiday weekends such as Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve, etc.
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Please note, it is not possible to guarantee a date for a wedding if either party is pursuing an annulment. The final notification of the annulment must be granted before a date can be finalized.
For exceptional reasons, weddings may be scheduled on Friday afternoon/evening only after 3:30 pm or on Sunday afternoon. In the case of Sunday weddings, because of the schedule of Sunday Masses, weddings will be celebrated as a ceremony only because no additional Masses are to be scheduled on Sundays.
B. Submit Your Wedding Fee Payment >
C. Set Your Rehearsal Date >
- Rehearsals are generally held on Fridays at 3:00pm or 4:00pm, but may be accommodated at other times at the discretion of our pastor. A rehearsal takes between thirty and forty-five minutes.
- Our volunteer Wedding Coordinators are assigned based on their availability the week before your wedding, and will attend the rehearsal to answer any questions you may have. If a Wedding Coordinator is not available for your rehearsal, a priest, staff member or Sacristan may attend instead.
- In addition to the bride, groom and members of the wedding party, you may want to have your lectors present in order to learn where they will sit, when they will read, and (if they would like) to run through their reading at the rehearsal. Parents and your guests are always welcome at the rehearsal. Please ask everyone who will be attending the rehearsal to be on time. Often there will be other rehearsals before or after yours or other services scheduled in the church.
D. Plan Your Wedding Music with our Music Director >
Cantor: $100 - $175
Each additional instrumentalist - $225 (notable exceptions: harp and timpani are more expensive)
[email protected]
STEP 3: Required Documentation
Required Forms and Documentation >
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Baptismal Certificates newly issued and dated within 6 months of the date you are to be married must be received before your wedding can take place. Contact your church of baptism 4 to 6 months before your wedding to request a copy of your baptismal certificate. Photocopies of your originals certificate given at your baptism cannot be accepted for Catholics. Non-Catholic christians need to present a record of baptism. We must receive your baptismal certificates no later than 2 months before your wedding date.
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Confirmation Certificates (for Catholics) newly issued and dated within 6 months of the date you are to be married. If your church of baptism has notations on the back of your baptismal certificate that include your confirmation date, you do not need to provide a separate certificate of confirmation. If your baptismal record does not have your confirmation notation, you must contact the church where you were confirmed 4 to 6 months before your wedding to request a copy of this record. We must receive your baptismal certificates no later than 2 months before your wedding date.
- A Civil Marriage License is required for your marriage to take place in church. It must be obtained from the Cook County Clerk's Office even if you reside in another state because your marriage is taking place in Illinois. Your license is good for 60 days from when it is issued, but cannot be used within the first 24 hours of receiving it.
- Bring this to your wedding rehearsal.
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A wedding cannot be witnessed without a valid license.
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Two Witness Affidavits testifying to your freedom to marry are required from each bride and groom. We will give you the Witness Affidavit Forms to give to parents or close friends/siblings. They need not be Catholic, but should be at least eighteen years of age. We must receive your baptismal certificates no later than 2 months before your wedding date.
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A Pre-Nuptial Questionnaire is a statement of intention by both bride and groom, you will fill this out with the priest at your initial meeting.
Additional Forms for a Catholic Marrying a Non-Catholic >
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Permission for Marriage of Mixed-Religion which will either be approved by the pastor if one of the couple is a baptized Christian, or by the bishop if one of the couple is a non-Christian.
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Dispensation from Canonical Form granted by the bishop if the Catholic will celebrate the wedding in the tradition of the non-Catholic spouse.
Any time that permission or dispensation must be approved by the bishop, we require all paperwork completed six weeks in advance at the latest.
STEP 4: Marriage Preparation
Pre-Cana >
STEP 5: Mass or Liturgy?
What's the Difference? >
Every celebration of Mass consists of a Liturgy of the Word (entrance rite, readings, homily, general intercessions) and a Liturgy of the Eucharistic (presentation of bread and wine, the Eucharistic Prayer, and Holy Communion). When a wedding is celebrated at Mass, the rite of marriage takes place after the homily and before the general intercessions; then the Liturgy of the Eucharist follows. When a wedding is celebrated outside of Mass it is celebrated in a Liturgy of the Word in which the rite of marriage takes place after the homily and before the general intercessions. The rite concludes with prayers and a blessing.
Plan Your Liturgy >
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- Are the people who will be joining in your celebration mostly from St. Josaphat parish, or will they be coming from a number of parishes?
- If they are from many parishes, it will be necessary to take into account the music they are likely to be familiar with through their regular Sunday worship.
- Are most of those assembled going to be from the Catholic tradition, or are many from other Christian or non-Christian tradition? Because those assembled are your guests, it is important they feel comfortable in joining in the prayer of this joyous occasion. You may want to include touches from another religious tradition if a sizable number of your guests are from that tradition. If one of you is from another tradition, you may want to have your own minister present at the celebration. We welcome the participation of your minister and would like to extend a personal invitation from the staff member working with you.
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- What is a "unity candle?" Should we have one? Every sacrament has a primary symbol, which shows us in a tangible way what we celebrate in the sacrament. In the Catholic marriage ritual, this symbol is the exchange of wedding vows between the bride and groom. Over the centuries, an additional symbol has been added--the exchange of rings. The rings have come to symbolize the permanence of the marriage vows (the unbroken circle) as well as the commitment in love to only one other person (the public wearing of the ring). In recent years, a third symbol--the unity candle--has been used by many brides and grooms as an additional symbolic articulation of their vows. In discussing your plans with the priest or deacon, you may find it helpful to explore whether or not you wish to include the unity candle in your ceremony.
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- Should we "make a visit" to the Marian shrine? Bringing flowers to the Blessed Virgin Mary shrine is a European custom added to the marriage ceremony, beginning around the time of your grandparents' wedding. The bride took a floral offering to the Marian shrine as an expression of surrendering her virginity. In our time and culture, it may also be a prayer of invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary that God bless the wedding couple in their new life together. With this latter meaning, the bride and groom visit the Marian shrine as a couple.
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- Are we supposed to bring roses to our mothers? Another addition to the wedding ceremony is the presentation of a single rose or some other small floral tribute to mothers and/or grandmothers at the time of the exchange of peace. While this seems like a very nice gesture, we ask you to consider whether you are singling out mothers at the exclusion of fathers or other important members of your families, and whether or not additional flowers (besides the corsage or boutonniere) are necessary.
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- Other customs (e.g., Arras, Lasso, Vinculo, Rosario, etc.) In many countries other additions to the ceremony are customary, including the giving of symbolic coins (arras) by the groom to the bride while asking for God’s blessing on their material concerns in their married life. The lasso is also used frequently in weddings when godparents (padrinos) place a cord/rope or a two-circled rosary over the heads of the bride and groom while a prayer of blessing is said. Similarly, a rosary (rosario) or prayer book (libro de oraciones) may be presented to the bride by godparents (padrinos).
Select Your Readings >
Select Ceremony Participants >
STEP 6: The Other Stuff
Order Your Invitations >
Chicago, Illinois 60614
Create A Wedding Program (or not) >
Church Flowers and Decorations >
Photography and Videography >
Please note: the photographer should never remove items from the altar or anywhere else before taking pictures.
Video taping of the wedding is certainly permitted by a professional. We ask that the taping take place from one spot only and without a sustained high intensity lamp turning on and off. The videographer is not allowed to walk around with his or her equipment nor set up a camera in the sanctuary.
Please show these guidelines to your photographer/videographer so they are aware of the restrictions and abide by our rules. Then, tell them they too must talk to the priest or deacon prior to the ceremony. These guidelines will help to make your ceremony more reverent, special, and prayerful. Photographers who do not follow rules will not be allowed to continue to photograph the wedding in church.
Your Wedding Day >
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There is an additional restroom available in the front right-hand side of the church.
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We do not supply stands, pedestals, extra candles, etc., please plan ahead.
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Please advise your guests that we do not allow rice to be thrown as it can be harmful to birds and can pose a risk to others walking in the area - our local birds appreciate your cooperation.
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The church is open 30 minutes before the ceremony. All weddings have the church reserved for 90 minutes from the planned ceremony start time, and this should include picture taking.
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On Saturday, the parking lot needs to be cleared by 4:30 pm because our Vigil Mass starts at 5:00 pm.
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