Booking The Church
Decide first where you want to be married. Usually it will be in the bride's parish, but you can arrange otherwise simply by getting a note from her Parish Priest. This is because he or one of his curates will eventually be responsible for all the papers. Don't assume that the church will be free. It's always wiser to check the availability of the church for the date you want before you go booking hotels, and paying deposits. If you are being married outside your own parish, you may be asked to bring a Priest with you to celebrate your marriage. If you have someone in mind, don't forget to let him know before it's too late.

The Papers
There are a number of documents you will need in order to be married. It can seem very complicated but there are various reasons behind all of them.
Baptismal Certificate
This should be a recent copy, i.e. issued not more than six months before the date of marriage. Obviously only a Christian can enter into a Christian marriage, and a Baptismal Certificate proves that you are a Christian. The time factor here is because whenever a person is married the parish where he/she was baptised is notified and this would be included on any certs issued in the future. It's a simple way of covering the legal obligation of making sure that neither person is married to someone else. You will get the Baptismal Certificate from the parish in which you were baptised.
Pre-Nuptial Enquiry
This form is like a small booklet. It has two main purposes.
a. The first purpose is to get some basic details about you as a couple, (name, address, parents, etc.) and to establish that you are legally free to marry.
b. The second purpose is to enable the Priest in your parish to make sure that you have a reasonable understanding of the meaning of Christian marriage, and that you are willing to make a commitment to it.

Once you choose to be married in church your Priest has a share of the responsibility for giving you as good a start as possible. Each person will have the Pre-Nuptial enquiry form filled by the priest in his/her own parish.
Letter of Freedom
A Letter of Freedom is required only if you have lived in a parish other than the present one, for a period of six months or more, since your early teens. The letter of freedom is simply a form stating that there is no record of you having contracted marriage during the period you lived there. It should normally be possible to get this document by post. In general the bride's priest is responsible for all the papers, because the marriage normally takes place in her parish. In the event of the marriage taking place elsewhere, the bride's priest takes responsibility for forwarding the papers to the place of marriage.
Nihil Obstat
In the case of a marriage involving nationals of two different countries, the Church papers should be sent to the local Diocesan Chancellery in the country of origin, and from there to the Diocesan Chancellery in the Diocese where the wedding will take place. A document called a Nihil Obstat will then be issued, stating that everything is in order.

Giving Notice
Couples wishing to marry in a Catholic Church in Ireland (North or South) are required to give a minimum of three months notice. This is not so that the papers can be prepared in time, or to be sure that the Church will be available. The idea is to ensure that couples entering marriage have been seriously considering it for at least that length of time, and that nobody makes the mistake of marrying under pressure or under impulse. In the case of couples where one partner is under eighteen, the notice required, for the same reason, is six months.

Papal Blessing
A papal blessing is a certificate of the Pope blessing of your Marriage in the Catholic church. These certificates are signed for the Pope in Rome and can be obtained from stores which specialise in religious goods.

Inter Church Marriages
Some additional thought is required in the case of an inter-church marriage. Since marriage involves sharing one's life with another person in a very close and intimate kind of way, special consideration needs to be given to aspects of this sharing which may not be as easy as in most other marriages. To this end, the Association of Inter-Church Families organises special pre-marriage preparation courses. In addition to the documents ordinarily required, the Catholic partner requests Dispensation only from the local Bishop to marry a Baptised Christian of another religious denomination. In making this request, the applicant should indicate whether the marriage will take place in a Catholic Church, or in the Church of the other partner. The celebrant will be a minister of the Church in which the ceremony takes place, but he can be assisted by a minister of the other denomination.

The Catholic partner in an Inter-Church marriage makes a verbal undertaking to do everything possible, so far as in me lies, to have the children of our marriage baptised and brought up in the Catholic Church. There is no promise required from the person who is not a Catholic. The Catholic Church recognises that the other partner to the marriage may feel an equal obligation to hand his/her faith to the children, and this also has to be taken into account in the practical decisions which the couple take. At first sight this approach may seem far from ideal, until one looks at the alternatives. One positive aspect of the approach is that it requires that the couple discuss what might be a difficult issue for them, before the marriage takes place, rather than leaving it until perhaps it becomes contentious.

Inter-Faith Ceremony
On the day of your wedding, the inter-faith marriage ceremony is especially yours. Within fairly broad limits, you can plan it for yourself.

• Obviously, it is important to do your planning in consultation with the celebrant, so that he can offer his advice, and so that he knows what you want.
• Normally there will be a Mass, though it is not absolutely necessary that there should be. The celebration of your marriage could be done within a service of prayers and scripture readings. It is appropriate, however, to have the Mass, because it is a celebration of self-giving, and the Communion is particularly a symbol of love and unity.
• Couples sometimes choose not to have a Mass, because the non-Catholic partner and his/her family would not be able to participate fully through the reception of Communion. In this case, it is possible for each partner to have a Mass/Eucharist separately (e.g. earlier in the day), and then to have the marriage service later on.
• In the case of a Mass, there are normally two or three Scripture readings. If there are three, it would normally be one each from the Old and New Testaments, and one passage from the Gospel. The arrangement would be much the same in the case of a marriage service outside of Mass.

Catholic Wedding Mass
The Wedding Mass is falls into five main sections:
1. The Introductory Rites
2. Liturgy of the Word Readings
3. The Rite of Marriage
4. The Liturgy of the Eucharist
5. Concluding Rite & Blessing

Each of these is divided into sub-sections, which are listed here. In each case you can select your favourite from 3 or more alternative forms or options. The full text of all your options and other aspects of the wedding ceremony can be found in
The Complete Massbook Guide available at £1.99 (+50p p&p) from I.M.S., 62 Castle Byrne Park, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Tel. 01-288-7578,
or from IMS (H.O.), 3 Beaumont Place, Ballintemple, Cork, Tel. 021-295208

The overall structure is as follows:

1. The Introductory Rites
Entrance Antiphon (3 forms)
Candle Ceremony - 1 (Optional)
Greeting (3 forms)
Penitential Rite (3 forms)
Opening Prayer (4 forms)

2. Liturgy of the Word
(i.e. The Readings)
Old Testament Reading (12+ forms)
Responsorial Psalm (12+ forms)
New Testament Reading (13 forms)
Alleluia Acclamation (3 forms)
The Gospel Reading (15 forms)
(followed by the Sermon or Homily).

3. The Rite of Marriage
The Address (3 forms)
Declaration of Consent (3 forms)
Blessing of the Rings (4 forms)
Exchange of Gifts (Optional)
Candle Ceremony -2 (Optional)
Prayer of the Newly Married Couple (Optional)
Prayers of the Faithful (Select 5/6 of 21 forms)

4. The Liturgy of the Eucharist
Prayer over the Gifts (3 forms)
The Preface (3 forms)
Acclamation of the People (4 forms)
Nuptial Blessing (4 forms)
Communion Antiphon (3 forms)
Prayer After Communion (3 forms)

5. Concluding Rite
Blessing (3 forms)
Dismissal (3 forms)