Catholic Churches . . .

My cousin is getting married in 2009 and wants to get married in a pretty Catholic Church on Long Island. Something with steps going up into it, a long aisle, etc....any suggestions?

Re: Catholic Churches . . .

Most churches give their parishoners priority... Some don't marry non-parishoners at all... Hopefully someone can give you some good ideas, though...

Re: Catholic Churches . . .

yeah, you can't 'shop' for churches like you do for a reception hall. Most churches simply will not marry you if you are not local, and a regular parishoner. Heck, some won't even marry you if you haven't shown up for the last few years. The 'pretty' churches are usually the most strict, becuase everyone would love to get married there....

this obviously creates the situation where you can only get married close to home... it's really hard to have a Catholic wedding far from home....

We were lucky that our chuch agreed to marry us, becuase we only joined the church a couple months before we asked to get married there... (Our church is one of the 'pretty ones') I think they agreed becuase we do live only a couple blocks away, and it is obvious that they are our local Catholic church. (Our church has the strict rule that only parishoners may marry there...)

Re: Catholic Churches . . .

As some of the other girls have mentioned, it is harder than you might think to find a Catholic church who will marry a couple that does not live in the area and is not a parishoner. My parents live on LI (DH and I do not) but I refused to get married in their parish for a long list of personal reasons...therefore I needed to 'shop' around.

Luckily, the first church DH and I went to together when we started dating, was willing to marry us. There were a LOT of questions however, and it really helped that we were both Catholic. I also had to get a 'Letter of Agreement' from my church in NJ saying it was okay that I get married there. I was fortunate that my uncle (Deacon at my NJ church) was able to handle much of this for me. I think the church is beautiful but don't know if it is considered one of the 'pretty ones'. It's St Francis de Sales in Patchogue. Very old (late 1800s) and small (but long aisle)...but most importantly, we felt comfortable there. Here are a few pics, many more in my album.