Is there anyway to have a Wedding Pavillion Wedding with a real priest?

[msim]

Have always dreamed of a wedding at the Wedding Pavillion, but family would be crushed if it was not "official" in the eyes of the Catholic church. Does anyone know of any priests who will officiate? Or if not outside of a church, is there a priest who will marry a couple from out of state, in his church, so that a reception can be held at Disney? Thanks for any help!!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

The Orlando diocese will not recognize weddings outside the church. The closest you can do is get a retired priest to officiate, but the church still doesn't recognize the union.

 

[alyaki]

NoOrdinaryPrincess is correct upon the diocese's decision (no weddings at Wedding Pavilion count in the eyes of the church). However, if you are willing to have a wedding at one of the Catholic churches local to the Orlando area, you should be fine. Some of them have restrictions as to what days they do weddings, and obviously you'll likely have a venue fee. But you should be able to do reception only through DFTW, and you'll have your Catholic

I believe Corpus Christi may be one of the churches - but note, they mention that you will need to coordinate marriage preparation through your home parish, so you may want to talk to them and your home parish. Holy Cross may also be an option, though they want you to be a registered member for 6 months (you may want to see if they have something similar to Corpus Christi in place though).

In your case, I'd probably contact Corpus Christi and find out what you'd need to do, and when/how you can schedule your marriage ceremony. They seem to be your best bet.

 

[lurkyloo]

I interviewed three Catholic brides who had Disney weddings and each approached this dilemma differently: One got married at her home church and did a vow renewal at Disney, one got married at Disney but did a convalidation ceremony at home afterward, and one got married at a nearby Catholic church and had her reception at Disney. http://disneyweddingpodcast.com/2013/07/17/ceremony-options-for-catholic-couples/

 

[CinderellasBFF]

I went to a wedding this past weekend that faced the same dilemma. She wanted an outdoor wedding, but the catholic church would not recognize it. So what they did was have a private ceremony that morning at church for only the bridal party and immediate family. A second, outdoor ceremony and reception was held that night for family and friends. The priest that married them in the morning would not perform the second ceremony, but they did have someone else from the church do it. So there are options.

 

[msim]

Good grief! It used to be so easy. Thanks everyone! Does anyone know the process/degree of difficulty of getting a civil marriage validated by the Catholic church after a Fairytale Pavillion wedding?

 

[justlook3]

You'd probably have to check with your local priest about those options. I got married 19 years ago and really I doubt this part as changed much. Originally we were to marry in the chapel at my university (Methodist) and then have a convalidition ceremony. Anyway you go, you have to go through Pre-Cana, meet with the priest, etc. We ended up just marrying in our church. Part of the reason I picked the WP for our vow renewal was because it's colors reminded me of that college chapel I so wanted to have my wedding at.
There are like it was said retired priests who will perform a Catholic style ceremony, if you're not particularly religious, that might be enough to appease your relatives? I'm guessing it would not include the full mass but I didn't have a mass either at my Catholic wedding.

 

[BouncyTrouncyFlouncy]

Just be careful how you word your request to whatever priest you talk to as well. Depending on his stance, he may be easily offended. When we first started talking about a Disney wedding, I wanted to make sure we were also married in the church. I knew we wouldn't be able to have a Catholic ceremony outside of the church, so when I approached the priest about just having a small ceremony at home with close family and friends then having a ceremony/reception in FL, he questioned why we wouldn't want everyone to be at the church ceremony to celebrate in our sacrament. I tried to clarify, but he still felt like I was trying to downplay the importance of the sacrament. But, he did approach me the next day asking me if what I wanted was a church ceremony and then do the "party" in FL. I said yes basically, and he was more understanding. He is also more traditional and the pastor of the parish. Other priests might be more open.

We are now talking about doing a church ceremony at home and inviting whoever would like to come with maybe a small cocktail hour after then doing a "vow renewal" ceremony at the Swan and Dolphin with some sort of a reception after (possibly an EPCOT dessert party) and inviting out of town friends and close family and friends (those we feel would actually attend a destination wedding). That way, those who we wouldn't invite to FL or who would not be able to afford to go can still see us marry.

And just to let you know, I looked in to Corpus Christi, and from what I found, a ceremony costs like $2,000 which is outrageous. And you'd still probably have to go through the pre-cana at your own home parish. A ceremony at my parish is like $350 for parishioners and I think $750 for non-parishioners.

 

[MrsDuck]

I was raised Catholic and had a Disney wedding.

The priest wanted us to get married at home first but I was unwilling to do so. SO, we "settled" for a "blessing" one day after Mass. Our marriage isn't recognized by the Church but for us, it isn't an issue.

Carrie (lurkyloo) has given some good ways to get the best of both worlds. Good luck!

 

[andeesings]

Good grief! It used to be so easy. Thanks everyone! Does anyone know the process/degree of difficulty of getting a civil marriage validated by the Catholic church after a Fairytale Pavillion wedding?

it's not so much getting the civil marriage "validated" by the Catholic Church- it's that in the eyes of the church, you're not married at ALL. So you're talking getting married AGAIN, in the church. And as another poster pointed out, it's expensive. Though someone said they thought the $2000 was a lot, Disney charges $3000 for the wedding pavilion, so if you weren't doing a ceremony in both locations you'd be saving money.

I'm a catholic-- I'm also a cantor. I've sung many a wedding where the bride didn't wear her gown and it was a small gathering of friends and family because it was before the destination wedding (churches can get REALLY annoyed if you try to do it afterwards, but it ALL depends on the pastor of your individual parish. Some are progressive. Where I sing was not (and I'm in a major metropolitan area, too).

Good luck on having the wedding of your dreams!

 

[jlovesee]

We have been married for 12 years, got married at WDW in January 2002. I was and am a practicing catholic, husband is not. I was given the nth degree by my family about being married outside of the catholic church, my aunt even said "well my daughters will never do anything like that" to me. I did it anyway. Personally I feel getting married in a church and then having a wedding at Disney is kind of... not being truthful to yourself. If you want a Disney wedding have a Disney wedding, and have that be your REAL wedding.

The church I go to (and then), required we wait a year after our wedding to get blessed by the church, no one gave me a hard time about it, it was straight forward and easy. IT WAS NOT EXPENSIVE. It was not another wedding, and I do not view it as our wedding date, but I did want to do it to "do it right" an "follow the rules".

12 years later, we are still married, I am happy now with the decision that I made, and am happy I followed my heart to do what I wanted to do. That's the most important thing, DO NOT let others dictate what they want, to become what happens, you will be miserable. Do what you want to do, only then will you truly be happy and that's the whole point.

Jennifer

 

[leelee9878]

Thought I would chime in here since my mom really wants us to get our wedding validated by the Catholic Church. I told her I would think about it afterwards depending on how complicated/expensive it was. A couple churches around me have required donation amounts for services like weddings and christenings and it irks me they call it a donation when they tell you how much it has to be but that's another story.

One of my friends just recently tried to be a godparent but was told they couldn't because they are married and didn't get married in a church. One of the options the church suggested was to renew their vows at the church. They had to pay for the marriage certificate and then had to give a real donation (no set amount required) to the church for the ceremony. They said it was really nice and they had their immediate family there and now they are able to be a godparent.

Considering I personally know someone that went thru with this and it wasn't a big ordeal I am now more willing to get it done then I was before. So with that being said I would contact your local church and ask them if you renew your vows will that fulfill the sacrament and your wedding be recognized by the church.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

I realize this thread is old, but I am wondering if it is better to be married at WDW first or after. Does it depend on your individual parish?

 

[mb187143]

I realize this thread is old, but I am wondering if it is better to be married at WDW first or after. Does it depend on your individual parish?

It is by far easier to do the church wedding first. In our diocese, Philadelphia, it is much more difficult to get the approval to have a convalidation of your marriage. Most pot to have it blessed instead which is not a formal recognition of the marriage by the church here in my parish. That said, we did the WDW wedding first with a convalidation a year later. It took a while to get it approved by our bishop.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

Thank you for your response.

 

[quandrea]

We did a vr in 2011. I really wanted a priest but of course it was not possible. We had a wonderful Episcopal minister who did a really lovely, holy ceremony. If marriage in the Church is important to you, do that first and rest assured that a minister in WDW will make it wonderful.

 

[NewRVLady]

I never realized Catholics cant have garden weddings!

 

[quandrea]

I never realized Catholics cant have garden weddings!

No garden weddings for us!

 

[ahutton]

I interviewed three Catholic brides who had Disney weddings and each approached this dilemma differently: One got married at her home church and did a vow renewal at Disney, one got married at Disney but did a convalidation ceremony at home afterward, and one got married at a nearby Catholic church and had her reception at Disney. http://disneyweddingpodcast.com/2013/07/17/ceremony-options-for-catholic-couples/

We did the convalidation at home after, and did our prep work leading up to our Disney wedding. It was a wonderful experience!!