Marriage Requirements

We offer our congratulations to all anticipating marriage, particularly to the parishioners of the Cathedral. People can have a wedding and a nice party for the couple, but it takes work by both parties to have a marriage. Marriage is a very important Sacrament in the Church and as such there are requirements necessary for having a marriage in the Church. It is important to remember that marriage is a covenant made by two people with God, a very sacred time in the life of the parties. Obviously this is not something to be taken lightly. With that, the Archdiocese requires six (6) months of preparation for couple anticipating marriage and the parties are to be married in a "sacred place".

The couple exchanges vows that include statements that the vows are freely given, they will remain married for the rest of their life, they will be faithful to their spouse, they welcome children, and they are marrying not only for the good for themselves individually but also for the good of the couple and their spouse.

To have a marriage recognized by the Church, it is important the couple show they are free to marry, that is, there are no previous bonds or vows that stand in the way of the marriage vows that are to be exchanged. To assist in this, marriage preparation at the Cathedral can be seen in three sections, which will be described below. The first is establishing freedom to marry by completing necessary paper work. The second is counseling with a priest/deacon or trained associate. The third is attendance at one of the workshops approved by the Archdiocese.

The celebrant is responsible for ensuring the proper paper work is completed before the marriage is witnessed. For weddings that will take place in a city where the parties cannot meet with the priest/deacon, the preparation described below is done with one of the priests/deacons of the parish of the Catholic party(ies).

Documentation Needed

At the first meeting, the priest/deacon doing the preparation will complete a "Bride and Groom" questionnaire. Each of you will meet privately with him for this. You will eventually need the following documents (you will be given detailed information on the documents at the time of your first meeting):

If Catholic, a recent copy of your baptismal certificate, that is, it must have been issued not more than six months previously. This can be obtained easily by contacting the parish in which you were baptized and requesting the copy. In the request, it is important to indicate that the certificate is for the purpose of marriage since there are requirements of sacramental notation that need to be included in the certificate. If not Catholic, but baptized in another religion, the matter of baptism will be handled in the affidavits (see next item). If a Baptismal Certificate is available, please let the priest/deacon have it.

Each Party, whether Catholic or not, must have an affidavit of freedom to marry from two people. These are usually completed by your parents, but can be done by anyone who has known you since your early teenage years. A priest, deacon, or a notary public may witness their signature, not necessarily by the celebrant or person doing the preparation.

To satisfy the civil requirements, you must obtain a marriage license. It is illegal in Georgia to officiate at a marriage unless the license is in hand. We expect the license to be obtained and placed in your file, along with the return envelope furnished by the county, at least one month prior to the ceremony. Exceptions must be approved explicitly by the officiant. The license will be signed and returned to the appropriate county office from which the license was obtained.

Pre-Cana Instruction

These programs are available for pre-marriage instruction. These programs offer you an opportunity to reflect on the life decision you are making. The priest/deacon conducting the pre-marriage preparation/documentation will help you select the most appropriate program. It is required that you participate together in one of these programs and that certification of participation be presented to the priest/deacon upon completion. Three of the programs are Engaged Encounter, Sponsor Couple, and One-Day Workshop for Engaged Couples. You are encouraged to register as soon as possible as the workshops tend to fill up quickly.

Counseling

The most important aspect of your preparation is the spiritual - your readiness to be united with each other before God in the Sacrament of Marriage. It is important that each of you have a strong and active faith relationship with God and that this relationship is fostered by your active participation in the life of some church or faith fellowship. For the Catholic, it is also important to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance before your wedding.

In addition, the priest/deacon conducting the pre-marriage preparation/documentation will facilitate couple discussion using the FOCCUS instrument. This process will require multiple sessions for completing the instrument and the necessary follow-up discussions.

General Requirements

Church law requires that both of you must be free to marry, that is, neither one of you was married before. If either one of you was married before and your former spouse is still living, you will need to obtain a declaration of nullity on the marriage from the Tribunal of the Archdiocese. The parish priest or deacon will assist you in starting the process. Under no circumstances may a date be set for the ceremony, or even a tentative date set, until the Tribunal process is complete.

In an interfaith marriage, i.e. a Catholic marrying a non-Catholic, the Catholic person makes a promise to maintain his or her own faith and to do all in his or her power to ensure that any children born of the union will be raised in the Catholic faith. The party who is not Catholic makes no promises but is aware of the promise of the Catholic. In addition, a permission/dispensation is required from the Archdiocese Chancery Office for interfaith marriages when freedom to marry has been established. The priest or deacon conducting the pre-marriage preparation/documentation will obtain this permission.

Reservation of Date & Time

To reserve a date and time for your marriage, you must first contact the Church office and sign up for a marriage preparation class. A suitable date and time will need to be carefully researched to avoid conflicts that would spoil your wedding plans.

Planning the Ceremony

It is anticipated the couple getting married at the Cathedral will attend one of the meetings sponsored by the Cathedral Wedding Guild. These meetings are held in the sanctuary on the first Monday of each month @ 7:00 p.m. During this time, you will get specific detail on the items in the logistics (music, flowers, photographers, video, invitations, candles, fees and stipends, etc.) Upon completion of the pre-marriage instruction program, the couple and priest/deacon conducting the pre-marriage preparation/documentation will meet again to review the outcome of the program and to plan the wedding ceremony. The officiant will give you a booklet listing the various options you have for the actual ceremony and will explain how to prepare the list of your selection. This list should be returned as specified to the officiant.

It is important to note that the entire ceremony is under the direction of the officiant, with the assistance of a volunteer member of the Cathedral Wedding Guild who will be familiar with your specific wedding plans. Bridal consultants, if you choose to have them, are not to interfere and may function only under the direction of the officiant. A Bridal consultant is welcome to help the bride and her attendants in the Bride's Room. Once the bridal party leaves that area, we have found it best to rely on the Wedding Guild member to direct the activity as the wedding party processes to the sanctuary.

The rehearsal is scheduled for forty-five (45) minutes, and will be terminated at the end of that allotted time (whether finished or not) if there is another activity scheduled. The Bride and Groom are responsible for ensuring prompt attendance of the wedding party, and should ask those attending to be present at least fifteen minutes before the scheduled starting time.

It is also important that you include in the invitation to your guests a map and directions to enable them to find their way clearly to the Cathedral. Phoning the Cathedral places an undue burden on the guests and the Church staff.

As you prepare for this most important day in your lives, we want your wedding to be the happiest and holiest of celebrations, enriched and enhanced by God'' abundant blessings for your future happiness and success.